PumpFun (PUMP) was found to have carried out a large-scale buyback. On the 2nd (Korean time), according to PumpFun data, PumpFun has used 373,476 Solana (SOL) to repurchase PumpFun tokens to date. The total repurchase amount is $67,574,919, equivalent to 5% of the total circulating supply.
Lee Eok-won, a candidate for chair of the Financial Services Commission, said, "We will prepare second-phase legislation for digital assets and a regulatory framework for stablecoins," and added, "Through this, we will guide the sound growth of the digital asset industry." Lee appeared at the confirmation hearing for Financial Services Commission chair candidates held at the National Assembly on the 2nd and said, "We will proceed with a focus on five directions so that finance can perform its proper role." He added, "We will improve systems, regulations, and supervision across the board so that the financial industry can strengthen its productive financial functions, and will also promote the complex development of digital finance on its own."
Gold prices hit a record high. On the 2nd (Korean time), according to TradingView, gold is trading at $3,500 per ounce, up 1.88% from the previous day.
The Ethereum (ETH) Foundation said on the 2nd that it plans to retire its largest testnet, "Holesky," soon and transition to a new network, "Hoodi." According to Cointelegraph, Holesky will be officially shut down within two weeks after the Fusaka upgrade scheduled for the second half of September. The Foundation said, "After the shutdown, Holesky will no longer be supported by client, test, and infrastructure teams." Holesky launched in September 2023 and has been used to validate core functions such as staking infrastructure and validator operations. It was also used to test the Dencun and the recent Pectra upgrades. However, technical issues such as a large-scale inactivity leak occurred earlier this year, and the Foundation launched the new testnet Hoodi in March. Hoodi already supports the Pectra update and will incorporate future upgrades including Fusaka. Meanwhile, the Fusaka hard fork consists of 11 improvement proposals (EIPs) and aims to be applied to the mainnet in November. The core goal is to distribute data availability burdens to validators to improve rollup efficiency. Then in 2026, the "Glamsterdam" upgrade, which halves block time, is also planned.
Crypto (cryptocurrency) influencers are alleged to be engaging in 'undisclosed promotions' by failing to disclose that they received advertising for specific crypto assets. On the 1st (local time), according to crypto-focused outlet The Block, renowned crypto detective JackXBT published a document on X (formerly Twitter) containing price lists, wallet addresses, and other details related to about 200 crypto influencers. JackXBT revealed, "Of these, about 160 actually accepted paid promotions, but fewer than five explicitly stated that they were advertisements." According to the released materials, crypto influencers received promotional fees ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per post. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires influencers to clearly disclose when they run paid advertisements.
Japan's Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) MetaPlanet expressed its intention to continue increasing its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. On the 2nd (Korean time), according to Bitcoin Magazine, MetaPlanet CEO Simon Gerovich said at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting held in Tokyo the day before, "MetaPlanet's current Bitcoin holdings are 20,000. We plan to purchase an additional 190,000." MetaPlanet has been accumulating Bitcoin since May last year, and in about 16 months rose to become the 6th largest Bitcoin-accumulating company. As a financing method, it is pushing to issue a new preferred share called 'MetaPlanet Prefers (Preferred Equity)'. The total number of shares to be issued is 555,000,000 shares, about 880,000,000 dollars in size. CEO Gerovich also presented a plan to use Japan's ultra-low interest rates to grow into Asia's largest issuer of Bitcoin-collateralized bonds. He emphasized, "Japan's low interest rates are a hidden superpower," and added, "In a situation where investors are looking for alternative assets, Bitcoin-collateralized products will be an attractive alternative." Meanwhile, strategic advisor Eric Trump attended the event and praised, "Gerovich is an honest leader, and the combination with Bitcoin is a winning formula."
According to virtual asset (cryptocurrency) data provider Alternative.me, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose 3 points from the previous day to 49. As of 9:06 AM, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading on CoinMarketCap at $109,117, up 0.80% from the previous day. Meanwhile, altcoins were weak. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) and XRP were down 1.80% and 0.15% respectively from the previous day. In addition, Binance Coin (-1.36%), Solana (-1.46%), Dogecoin (-1.19%), TRON (-1.08%), ADA (-0.89%) also fell from the previous day. The Fear & Greed Index is an indicator of market sentiment: the closer to 0, the more extreme the fear; the closer to 100, the more extreme the greed. The index is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin market cap dominance (10%), Google search volume (10%), etc.
The virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market appears to have continued to see institutional buying even amid some adjustments. On the 2nd (Korean time), crypto-focused media CoinRepublic analyzed a CoinShares report and reported that last week net inflows into virtual asset funds approached $2.48 billion (about 3.4 trillion won). As a result, cumulative inflows into virtual asset funds for August reached $4.37 billion. First, Ethereum (ETH) led institutional buying with net inflows of $1.4 billion, as institutions such as Bitmain and Shaplink Gaming recently executed large purchases. Following were Bitcoin ($748 million), Solana ($177 million), and XRP ($134 million). Despite institutional buying, weakness in these virtual assets appears to persist. As of 9:00 a.m. that day, XRP and Solana were trading at $2.76 and $197.29, down 0.11% and 1.59% from the previous day, respectively. However, analysts still say there is upside potential. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez said, "If XRP holds $2.70 and breaks through $2.90, it could rise to $3.70." Another crypto analyst, Crypto Tony, predicted, "If Solana breaks through $213, it could further rise to as much as $250."
Recently, as many companies have engaged in treasury operations to hold virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), a claim has arisen that Ethereum (ETH) is superior to Bitcoin (BTC) as a treasury asset. On the 2nd (Korean time), according to crypto outlet BeInCrypto, Joseph Shalom, co-CEO of Sharplink Gaming, said in an interview, "Sharplink views Ethereum not as mere holdings but as financial infrastructure," and "Ethereum is a programmable platform that will support tokenization, stablecoins, and the future of digital finance." Shalom also asserted that "Ethereum is superior to Bitcoin from a long-term perspective." He added that "Ethereum is suitable for treasury because it can generate returns through staking." Sharplink Gaming is a representative Ethereum treasury company. It began accumulating Ethereum in June this year and currently holds approximately 797,704 Ether.
<Today's Major Economic Schedule> ▶︎2 (Tue) : △Korea August Consumer Price Index(Korea time 08:00, US time 1 19:00) △European Union(EU) August Consumer Price Index(Korea time 18:00, US time 05:00) △US August Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index(Korea time 22:45, US time 09:45) △US August ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index(Korea time 23:00, US time 10:00) <Today's Major Cryptocurrency Schedule> ▶︎2 (Tue) : △Etena(ENA) 40.63 million ENA token unlock
Donald Trump and his family's virtual asset (cryptocurrency) project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), whose token is backed by the Trump family, had the value of the family's holdings revealed as WLFI was listed on major global exchanges. On the 1st (local time), The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family secured assets worth up to 5 billion dollars (about 7 trillion won) through World Liberty Financial. World Liberty Financial completed listings on major global exchanges, including Binance, the world's largest virtual asset exchange, as well as South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb. As of 7:41 a.m. on the 2nd (Korean time), World Liberty Financial is trading on Upbit at 314 won, down 19.95% from the previous day. On Binance, it is trading around 0.23 dollars. The Trump family holds 22.5 billion out of the total WLFI supply of 100 billion tokens. At current market prices, this amounts to about 5.01 billion dollars. That volume was difficult to accurately value before listing, but with 24.6 billion tokens of the initial supply being traded this time, a concrete valuation has become possible.
As gold prices approached the April peak, the market size of crypto assets (cryptocurrencies) backed by gold reached an all-time high. On the 2nd (local time), crypto outlet CoinDesk, citing CoinGecko, reported that the tokenized gold market had surpassed $2.50007 billion (about KRW 3.5 trillion). The main products, Tether's 'XAUT' and Paxos's 'PAXG', have recently seen rapid inflows. XAUT saw 129,000 new tokens issued on the Ethereum network in August, causing its market capitalization to surge to $1.3 billion. PAXG also expanded to $980 million in size due to net inflows of over $140 million since June. The spot price of gold traded at about $3,470 per ounce that day, approaching the all-time high recorded on April 22. Analysts say that preference for safe-haven assets amid uncertainty and the steepening of the US Treasury yield curve are stimulating gold demand.
A negative outlook was issued for the U.S. economy. On the 2nd (Korean time), according to The Daily Hodl, Mark Zandi, chief economist at international credit rating agency Moody's, said in an interview, "Over the next year, the U.S. economy will face difficulties due to high inflation and the effects of the Trump administration's immigration policies." Zandi said, "The Fed is maintaining a wait-and-see stance, but the economic impact of tariffs has not yet fully materialized," and explained, "Rising prices are putting pressure on real incomes and there is a high possibility that consumption will contract." He added, "A recession may be avoidable, but there will be an uncomfortable period over the next 6-12 months," and pointed out, "For example, immigration policies will reduce the labor force, making shocks to the labor market inevitable." According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 3.3% in the second quarter of this year, rebounding from a -0.5% contraction in the first quarter.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) CEO Michael Saylor hinted at additional purchases of Bitcoin (BTC). On the 1st (Korean time), CEO Saylor posted the 'Saylor Tracker Chart' on X. CEO Saylor has a habit of posting that chart whenever Strategy buys Bitcoin. As of 2:06 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was trading at $117,569, down 1.70% from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap.
Recently, the adoption of stablecoins (virtual assets whose value is linked to fiat currencies) has been increasing worldwide. However, there are concerns that insufficient regulation could create greater risks if a financial crisis occurs. On the 1st (Korean time), according to Zhitong Finance, Jean Tirole, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences laureate, warned, "The current regulation of stablecoins is insufficient," and "If this situation continues, stablecoins could collapse in a future financial crisis." He added, "Stablecoins may be regarded by ordinary users as perfectly safe deposits," but pointed out that "if the collapse mentioned earlier occurs in a financial crisis, the state may have to step in and inject tens of billions of dollars in bailout financing." Furthermore, he said, "Currently stablecoins use U.S. Treasuries as collateral assets, but in the future they could set collateral assets to products with higher yields," and diagnosed, "In that case, there would also be problems with safety."
According to Token Mindshare, the token mindshare metric of AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito (a metric that quantifies the influence of specific tokens in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market) Top Gainer, as of the 1st the top 5 virtual asset-related keywords that people are most interested in are World Liberty Financial (WLFI), Bitcoin (BTC), 0G Labs (0G), Surf (SURF), and Falcon (FALCON). World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's virtual asset project that has confirmed listings on multiple crypto exchanges, ranked first. World Liberty Financial will be listed on the world's largest exchange, Binance, at 10 p.m. that day, and is expected to be listed on domestic exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and others. Bitcoin continued to be weak that day, raising investors' concerns. As of 1:21 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was trading at $107,582, down 1.30% from the previous day. The crypto fear and greed index also entered the fear stage amid Bitcoin's weakness. 0G Labs took third place. It is analyzed that investor interest concentrated as it ranked first among virtual assets scheduled for token disclosure. Fourth place went to Surf, which is listed in Kaito's Yapper program. In particular, mentions online increased as the airdrop schedule approached. Finally, fifth place was Falcon. As Falcon's August Yapper leaderboard concluded that day, it is presumed that investors increased in order to claim rewards. In addition, interest was shown in Kaito (KAITO), Evelyn, XRP, Mytosis, Abstract Chain, and others.
MetaPlanet, known as Japan's Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), purchased additional Bitcoin (BTC). On the 1st (Korean time), MetaPlanet said via X (formerly Twitter), "Purchased 1,009 Bitcoin at an average purchase price of 163,311,984 yen." Accordingly, MetaPlanet expanded its Bitcoin holdings to 20,000.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), supported by the Trump family, announced on the 1st that it has launched its stablecoin (a virtual asset whose value is linked to fiat currency) USD1 on the Solana (SOL) network. USD1 is expected to be usable from day one in Solana ecosystem applications such as Raydium (RAY), Bonk.fund, and Camino.
Market attention is focusing as the listing of World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project backed by the Trump family, has been confirmed. Especially since this is the first listing, interest is growing over who will take on the market maker role, and Jump Crypto is emerging as that party. On the 1st (Korean time), on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa said on X (formerly Twitter), "Jump Crypto is estimated to be the market maker for World Liberty Financial," and reported, "World Liberty Financial's multi-sig address transferred 47 WLFI tokens to Jump Crypto 15 minutes ago." Meanwhile, World Liberty Financial is scheduled to be listed on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges, starting with Binance at 22:00 that day, followed by Kraken, Coinone, and others.
XRP (XRP) is expected to enter a new growth phase after ending a long consolidation period. On the 1st (Korean time), according to Block News, Raoul Pal, CEO of Global Macro Investor (GMI), said, "If Bitcoin (BTC) starts the rally first, funds then move into altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH)," and predicted, "XRP is next." Pal said, "If you analyze XRP's chart patterns, they are similar to just before past large-scale rallies," and evaluated, "If it breaks upward, there is a high possibility it will transition to a new growth phase." He added, "With global liquidity expansion and an economic slowdown coinciding, the crypto asset market still has room to rise," and "Altcoins including XRP will enter a mid- to long-term growth phase."
Solana (SOL)'s new upgrade, Alpenglow, appears to be effectively on the path to approval. According to cryptocurrency outlet Cointelegraph on the 1st (Korea time), Solana's Alpenglow upgrade is recording 99% support in a governance vote that began on the 21st. That governance vote will end in two days. Alpenglow is a consensus protocol unveiled in May by Anza, a spin-off from Solana Labs, and is an upgrade that reduces block finalization time from 12.8 seconds to 150ms. This is at the fastest level compared with Google, a web2 search engine, and other blockchains. However, it is uncertain whether Alpenglow will resolve Solana's chronic network downtime issues. The outlet said, "Currently Solana relies on a single Agave client," and "If a vulnerability were found because of this, it could still affect the entire network."
Korea Exchange announced on the 1st that it will hold 'FIA Forum: Busan 2025' with the Futures Industry Association (FIA) at the Signiel Hotel in Haeundae-gu, Busan, on the 10th. FIA (Futures Industry Association) is the world's largest derivatives association based in Washington, D.C., U.S. Around 200 institutions are active as members. This forum is a global derivatives conference that FIA holds in major financial centers in Asia, North America, and Europe in cooperation with the representative exchanges of those regions. Korea Exchange attracted this event to mark the introduction of night trading for derivatives this year and the 20th anniversary of the launch of its Busan headquarters. Major figures from domestic financial institutions as well as foreign exchanges such as CME and Eurex, investment banks such as J.P. Morgan and Barclays, and index providers such as S&P and FTSE Russell are expected to attend. The first session will be held under the theme 'The Current State and Direction of the Korean Derivatives Market.' Park Sang-wook, Deputy Head of the Derivatives Market Division at Korea Exchange, and a director in charge of Asia derivatives trading at J.P. Morgan, among others, will attend. They will assess the current status of the Korean market in terms of liquidity and investor base, and share major achievements in trading infrastructure and regulatory improvements. The second session will cover 'Accessibility of the Korean Derivatives Market from a Global Perspective.' A director in charge of index products at S&P Global and Kim Min-a, Director and Head of Asia Equity Derivatives at CME, among others, will participate to express views on the market's accessibility and its achievements to date, and discuss linkage and cooperation measures with overseas institutions to expand the inflow of global investors. Korea Exchange stated, "We plan to seek the direction for the Korean derivatives market through discussions with various market participants on recent industry trends such as the competition to extend trading hours and virtual assets."
On the 1st (Korean time), Binance announced that it will list World Liberty Financial (WLFI) today at 22:00. The listing was assigned a seed tag (a token that may have higher volatility and risk compared to other listed tokens).
On the 1st (Korean time), according to OnChainLens, the famous Hyperliquid whale 'OG Whale' deposited 1000 Bitcoin (BTC) to Hyperliquid, a decentralized exchange (DEX), and sold them. Based on the price at the time, this was about $108,000,000. The whale reportedly used the proceeds to buy Ethereum (ETH). The day before, the whale had converted 4000 Bitcoin to Ethereum.
Despite continued weakness in the leading virtual asset (cryptocurrency) Bitcoin (BTC), some on-chain indicators still show positive signals for Bitcoin. On the 1st (KST), an XWIN CryptoQuant contributor analyzed in a report, "Although Bitcoin has recently shown weakness, looking at Delta Cap and the Coinbase premium gap, Bitcoin's market structure is becoming increasingly solid." First, according to the contributor, based on a Bitcoin price of US$108,900, Delta Cap is at US$739.4 billion. Delta Cap is an indicator that shows the difference between realized market capitalization and average market capitalization. The contributor explained, "The fact that Delta Cap is currently holding at US$739.4 billion means that Bitcoin is building a firmer base than in past correction periods," and added, "Even with short-term corrections, the market's resilience appears to be strengthening." The Coinbase premium gap is recording +11.6. The Coinbase premium gap is an indicator that shows the price difference between the U.S. market (Coinbase) and the global market (Binance). The contributor said, "The fact that the current figure is positive indicates that demand from U.S. institutional investors is stronger than the global average," and said, "In fact, institutions are buying Bitcoin while paying a premium, which is an indicator suggesting a strong bull market will come." The contributor evaluated, "Considering these two indicators together, Bitcoin currently appears to be stably holding above US$100,000," and "the recent correction can be seen as a buying opportunity rather than a bearish signal."
Cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said on the 1st that it has formed a partnership with the style commerce platform 'Zigzag', operated by KakaoStyle, and will run an event for customers of both companies until the 15th. First, new Bithumb members who register the coupon code from the Zigzag event page in the Bithumb app can receive Bithumb Korean won worth 50,000 won including the welcome mission and a 30,000 won discount coupon. Existing members who complete coupon registration on the Zigzag event page can receive random Bithumb Korean won of 1,000–50,000 won, and will also be given a 3,000 won discount coupon when making purchases of 10,000 won or more. Zigzag members are offered a chance to enter the '10 million won Bitcoin Lucky Drop' event. One entry ticket is provided per account, and up to 5 additional chances can be obtained by sharing the link. Participation conditions are Bithumb membership registration, customer verification (KYC), and linking a KB Kookmin Bank account. Coupon codes can be registered once per account, and the issued Korean won can be used for 30 days after the event ends.
Sonic Labs is entering the U.S. traditional capital markets. On the 1st (KST), according to UBlockchain, Sonic Labs passed its first governance proposal to enter the U.S. traditional capital markets. Under this governance proposal, Sonic Labs will pursue exchange-traded products (ETPs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the underlying Sonic (S) token, and will support the Sonic token treasury of a Nasdaq-listed company. Sonic Labs also plans to establish a U.S. corporation, Sonic USA. Custody required for these plans will be handled by BitGo.
According to crypto asset (cryptocurrency) data provider Alternative, the crypto Fear & Greed Index recorded 46, down 2 points from the previous day. As of 9:35 AM that day, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $107,791 on CoinMarketCap, down 1.07% from the previous day. Altcoins were also weak. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) and XRP (XRP) fell 0.64% and 2.72%, respectively. Binance Coin (-0.48%), Solana (-2.41%), TRON (-0.03%), Dogecoin (-2.35%), Cardano (-2.53%) also fell from the previous day. The Fear & Greed Index is an indicator expressing market sentiment: values closer to 0 indicate extreme fear, while values closer to 100 indicate extreme greed. The index is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin market cap dominance (10%), and Google search volume (10%).