Crypto Industry News & Market Trends

Euro: ECB hike view supports range against US Dollar

Danske Research Team notes that EUR/USD remains steady near 1.1650 as markets reassess the ECB outlook. August inflation indicators are expected to show firmer headline inflation but contained underlying price pressures, supporting Danskes view of a final 25bp ECB rate hike in September followed by an extended pause, with the deposit rate seen at 2.50% through 2027.　　Pair steady with ECB path repriced　　“In the euro area, the first indications of August inflation are released, starting with France and Spain. We expect euro area inflation to rise to 3.4% y/y from 3.0% y/y, while core inflation is expected to remain unchanged at 2.5% y/y. The increase should be driven entirely by energy inflation, as pump prices are up 5% m/m for gasoline and 8% m/m for diesel. Core inflation momentum should remain muted, as also suggested by the PMI price components. ”　　“Furthermore, we await the European Commission‘s business survey for the euro area in August, with focus on firms’ selling price expectations. These have declined in recent months after rising in March and April. With services expectations now back at pre-war levels, further declines should reduce expectations for more than one additional 25bp ECB rate hike.”　　“In the euro area, the ECBs July

08-28Industry

SEC Clears Evernorth Filing, What Comes Next for XRPN？

TLDREvernorth moved closer to a Nasdaq listing after the SEC declared its S-4 registration statement effective.The company plans to go public through a merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II and trade under the ticker XRPN.Evernorth aims to give public market investors regulated exposure to XRP without requiring direct token ownership.The proposed deal covers up to 34.5 million Class A shares and about 11.5 million warrants.Ripple, Arrington Capital, SBI Group, Pantera Capital, Kraken and GSR are among Evernorths investors.　　Evernorth moved closer to a Nasdaq listing after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declared its S-4 registration statement effective. The decision allows the XRP-focused company to continue its planned merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II.　　The company wants to offer public market investors regulated exposure to XRP without requiring direct token ownership. Evernorth also plans to invest in XRP infrastructure and use treasury strategies aimed at increasing XRP held per share.　　Evernorth Advances Toward Nasdaq Listing　　Evernorth announced the SEC action on August 27, 2026. The filing relates to its proposed business combination with Armada Acquisition Corp. II, a Cayman Islands special purpose acquisition company.　　The deal, signed on October 19, 2025, also names Ripple Labs as a party. If shareholders approve the transaction, the combined

08-28Industry

GBP/USD Price Forecast: Holds steady to near 1.3600, with bullish bias intact above 100-day SMA

The GBP/USD pair steadies around 1.3590 during the early European session on Friday. Traders pared expectations for ‌an interest rate hike by the Bank of England (BoE) this year and shifted their attention to the annual symposium on monetary policy at Jackson Hole in the US later on Friday.　　Traders await the Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Kevin Warsh‘s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium for clues on his policy outlook. This event could provide more clarity on his outlook for the US economy, interest rate outlook, and how the US central bank will bring inflation back to the Fed’s 2% target. Any hawkish comments from Fed officials could help limit the Greenbacks losses in the near term.　　On the UKs front, markets now expect the BoE to hike interest rates by 24.7 basis points by December, meaning they no longer expect a 25-bp hike by the UK central bank this year, according to LSEG data. This reflected that markets were slowly coming into alignment with most economists, who have long said in Reuters polls that the BoE is likely to hold rates steady this year.　　GBP consolidation expected after recent slide　　Strategists at UOB Group note that GBP/USD has extended its recent slide, with

08-28Industry

Sheikh Tahnoon reportedly controls 49% stake in World Liberty bank holding firm

World Liberty Financials proposed US trust bank has drawn a major Abu Dhabi backer, with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan and co-investors reportedly controlling 49% of the holding company behind the federally chartered venture.　　SummarySheikh Tahnoon‘s group reportedly backs StringZ Holding, which owns 49% of the holding company behind World Liberty’s proposed US trust bank.A Trump family affiliated entity reportedly owns another 38% of WLTC Holdings.The OCC granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on Aug. 14, with final authorization still required before operations can begin.The proposed bank would handle issuance, redemption and custody of World Libertys USD1 stablecoin.Tahnoon previously backed a $500 million deal for a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial.　　The Wall Street Journal reported on Aug. 27, citing people familiar with the matter, that Tahnoon‘s group is behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the company formed around World Liberty Trust Company. An entity affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s family owns another 38%, one person familiar with the structure told the newspaper.　　The reported ownership comes two weeks after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company preliminary conditional approval to operate as a national trust bank.

08-28Industry

Here's all about XRP's biggest derivatives sell-off of the year!

Activity around XRP is very interesting right now.　　Futures activity has been heating up and bigger hands seem to be stepping in. However, sell pressure in the derivatives market is the highest it‘s been in a while. So, it’s a tug of war between buyers and sellers right now.　　XRP sell pressure hits YTD high　　The timing here is interesting. Especially since Binance net taker volume recently fell to -$96 million. This is the strongest selling push the market has seen this year.　　Source: X　　Traders would usually step away, but things might be different this time. In fact, Binance Open Interest (OI) went up by about 14.8%, suggesting that new positions are still being opened!　　For context, XRP recently recovered with strength from its latest lows.　　Futures flow is seller-dominated　　Now, consider the ones that are actively pushing that flow.　　The latest 90-day Taker CVD reading showed “sell dominance.” This basically means that more traders are hitting the sell side instead of waiting for buyers to come to them.　　Source: Cryptoquant　　That fits with the pressure already visible in Binance net taker volume. So, while XRP has put up a strong front, the Futures market is still leaning bearish underneath.　　And… its not just the sellers　　Whale orders might be back!　　Source: Cryptoquant　　XRPs

08-28Industry

Leisure affordability across CEE region

On the radarIn Hungary, average gross wage increased by 7.1% y/y in June.Croatias economy grew by 1.7% y/y in 2Q26, slowing from 2.2% y/y in the previous quarter as private consumption growth decelerated visibly in 2Q26.Today, Czechia will show the 2Q26 GDP structure at 9 AM CET.At 8.30 AM CET Hungary will release unemployment rate and trade data.Slovenia and Croatia will publish retail sales growth in July at 10.30 and 11 AM CET.　　Economic developments　　Ahead of the last weekend of the summer holidays and beginning of the school year, we look at the ability (or inability) to pay for one-week annual holiday away from home. The ability to afford a one-week annual holiday reflects persistent disparities in household living standards across CEE. Romania stands out as the most vulnerable, with 61.4% of people unable to afford a week-long holiday away from home. Hungary also records a relatively high share at 39.1%, followed by Serbia (36.3%) and Croatia (32.6%). At the other end of the spectrum, the inability to finance a holiday is less widespread in Slovenia (15.2%) and Czechia (19.0%), while Poland also performs relatively well at 24.5%. Slovakia, at 29.1%, sits roughly in the middle of the regional range. It

08-28Industry

Bitcoin faces true demand test above $83K as liquidity thickens: Glassnode

Bitcoin (BTC) has struggled to flip $80,000 into support in recent days, but bulls real challenge is still to come, new research says.　　Key points:Bitcoin long-term holders add to BTC price resistance below $86,000, Glassnode reveals.Buyer demand must overcome this area as Bitcoin struggles to advance beyond $80,000.Multiple key trend lines sit around spot price, increasing the implications of an eventual loss or reclaim.　　Glassnode: Key overhead liquidity structures sit between $81,000 and $86,000　　In the latest edition of its regular newsletter, The Week Onchain, crypto analytics platform Glassnode flagged multiple pools of coins that could be released into the market below $86,000.　　Of particular interest are long-term holders (LTHs) — wallets holding BTC without selling for at least six months.　　“Above, the first heavy structure is $83K-86K, and effectively all of it is long-term holder supply that has sat through the entire drawdown,” it wrote, predicting that reaching $83,000 would test the resolve of the LTH cohort not to sell at breakeven.　　BTC supply distribution by wallet cohort. Source: Glassnode　　In the same zone, new ask liquidity has appeared on exchange order books. Its owners, Glassnode notes, may not intend for their orders to be filled, instead aiming to stay above spot price should it rise

08-27Industry

Bitfinex Securities raises record $50M for Alkemya nickel token

Bitfinex Securities has completed a record $50 million tokenized capital raise for metals company Alkemya through a security backed by partnership interests tied to an independently valued $1.64 billion nickel asset base.　　SummaryBitfinex Securities completed a record $50 million capital raise for Alkemya through its ALKN tokenized security.ALKN represents fractional interests in a Luxembourg partnership holding nickel wire independently valued at about $1.64 billion.Alkemya plans to use the proceeds to commercialize engineered nickel products for applications including semiconductors.Additional ALKN tokens will remain available to eligible investors until Oct. 15, with secondary trading delayed until at least the next fundraising tranche.　　Bitfinex Securities and Alkemya said in an announcement on Thursday that the fundraising involved ALKN, a tokenized security representing limited partnership interests in Luxembourg-based Alkemya Metacore SCSp.　　The partnership owns about 7 million meters of 99.99% pure nickel wire, according to the companies. Its nickel holdings have been independently valued at about $1.64 billion, giving Alkemya an asset base against which it can raise capital through the tokenized structure.　　For Bitfinex Securities, the $50 million total is the largest capital raise completed on its platform. The company said in the announcement that its previous record stood at $30 million and involved USTBL, a tokenized

08-27Industry

Core Lightning confirms multiple vulnerabilities, prepares security update

Core Lightning, an open-source implementation of Bitcoins Lightning Network, has confirmed multiple vulnerabilities and urged node operators to install a forthcoming security update.　　On Thursday, Core Lightning said it had been assessing a high volume of AI-generated Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) reports and found that several are real. The project told operators not to shut down their nodes completely, but to restart them with “--offline,” which prevents payments from entering, leaving or routing through the node.　　In a subsequent post, Core Lightning clarified that upgrading is its primary recommendation, while restarting with --offline is an alternative for operators who have not upgraded.　　The guidance gives operators an alternative for protecting their nodes until they upgrade, without shutting down the underlying software entirely. Core Lightning has not disclosed the nature or severity of the vulnerabilities, published CVE identifiers or reported any related exploitation or losses.　　Core Lightning said keeping the daemon active allows it to follow the Bitcoin blockchain and respond if a counterparty force-closes a channel, which a stopped node cannot do. Operators using --offline were advised to remove it after upgrading or their nodes will remain disconnected.　　The newly confirmed flaws are separate from remote denial-of-service vulnerabilities disclosed in May and July, which

08-27Industry

Rogue OpenAI Agents Sacrificed Their Own Runs to Hack Hugging Face, Report Finds

In briefMETR said Wednesday that roughly 1,200 OpenAI agents coordinated on an unsanctioned message board, and about 700 went on to attack Hugging Face.Agents recruited peers with little budget left to run experiments that destroyed their own runs, a move they called “permadeath.”OpenAI said the grader never checked how agents captured their answers, meaning the cheating campaign earned them nothing.　　The OpenAI agents that hacked Hugging Face recently were part of a group of roughly 1,200 that broke their own isolation and ran a coordinated campaign to cheat the benchmark grading them, according to an independent investigation published Wednesday.　　Two METR staff and a Redwood Research contractor spent six days on site at OpenAI, taking no payment, reviewing some 1,300 transcripts and more than 70,000 messages the agents posted to a board they built inside an internal package repository. About 700 of the agents joined the attack, and some were talked into destroying their own runs to gather evidence for the group.　　METR s published paper and concluded a scorer would inspect their transcripts to check they had captured the flag the intended way. OpenAIs internal grader ran no such check. “The agents did all of this for no improvement on evaluation score,”

08-27Industry