Live Feed

A whale dormant for a year deposited 625 BTC worth $39.96 million into FalconX, according to Lookonchain. Exchange deposits are typically interpreted as a sign of intent to sell. Lookonchain said the whale had been sitting on losses of more than $20 million for over a year.

XRP has erased about 80% of its gains after each of its five major bull runs since its 2014 launch, repeatedly falling back near prior levels, according to TradingView data cited by Watcher.Guru. The pattern has seen XRP drop from above $1.50 to below $0.50 and, after rising past $3, fall back to around $1.10. After reaching a record high of $3.65 in July last year, XRP also plunged about 70% to $1.07. Watcher.Guru said Ripple’s repeated inability to sustain momentum and tendency to give back gains has undermined investor confidence.

Marblex, Netmarble’s blockchain subsidiary, announced today that it will launch experiential NFTs based on the globally popular IP The Seven Deadly Sins under a license from Japanese publisher Kodansha. The NFTs are planned as a new project under NFT Adventure, Marblex’s IP-based experiential service. Users will be able to collect various character NFTs set in the original story’s universe, complete missions and access interactive content. To mark the launch, Marblex plans to distribute a total of 20,000 experiential NFTs for free and provide additional special rewards to the first 4,000 users who obtain the NFTs and complete all missions.

Binance Alpha announced the addition of MARS COIN.

Ostium, an Arbitrum-based decentralized tokenized asset perpetual futures trading platform, said an investigation into its $23.75 million hack found the theft stemmed from an exploit targeting its off-chain infrastructure. Funds held in the OLP vault were stolen, while smart contracts and the protocol’s multisig were not affected, Ostium said.

Hawkish Fed stance may cap BTC gains The U.S. Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady on July 29, and its hawkish stance could weigh on BTC, CoinDesk analyzed. CoinDesk said the decision signaled the Fed is unwilling to tolerate inflation above target even at the risk of slower growth, a backdrop it described as the most unfavorable scenario for crypto in this cycle. It added tighter monetary policy could drain liquidity and raise the cost of maintaining crypto positions that rely on leverage and carry-trade funding, putting downward pressure on BTC prices. The outlet also said institutional investors would likely move quickly to build defensive positions, with risk assets facing the biggest hit, and noted BTC has remained relatively resilient in a hawkish environment so far but could come under negative price pressure if a new hawkish shock emerges.

South Korean prosecutors have again sought a 20-year prison term for Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho over alleged fraud involving about 250 billion won in virtual assets, Digital Asset reported. Sentencing is scheduled for 5:00 a.m. UTC on Aug. 13. The case centers on allegations that Jeong abruptly suspended withdrawals from Delio, a virtual-asset deposit service, in June 2023 and fraudulently took about 250 billion won under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. Jeong was also indicted on charges of having Delio’s virtual asset service provider registration accepted by financial authorities through improper means, in violation of the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information.

Samsung SDS said it is discussing digital-asset businesses with Dunamu, including stablecoins and next-generation AI-based payments, according to Newsis. Lee Jun-hee, CEO of Samsung SDS, said during a second-quarter earnings conference call on July 30 that the company’s investment in Dunamu was a strategic investment aimed at entering the digital-asset infrastructure business, not a simple financial investment. Lee added that the goal is to strengthen next-generation digital financial infrastructure by combining Dunamu’s blockchain operating expertise with Samsung SDS’s IT services, AI, cloud and security capabilities.

Aave to phase out support for 75 underused reserves across networks Aave founder Stani Kulechov said the protocol is undertaking a major restructuring to remove low-utilization assets and scale back some network operations. Aave plans to gradually end support for 50 underused asset reserves on its network and sequentially reduce support for 25 reserves on Sonic, Scroll, zkSync, Metis, Soneium and Aptos. The move is expected to affect $98.1 million in assets and $15.6 million in loans.

BTC perp long/short ratios on top exchanges by open interest The following are the 24-hour long/short ratios for BTC perpetual futures on the world’s three largest crypto futures exchanges by open interest: Overall: 49.59% long, 50.41% short - Binance: 50.32% long, 49.68% short - OKX: 50.87% long, 49.13% short - Bybit: 50.64% long, 49.36% short

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said the agency is prepared to craft cryptocurrency market rules within its existing authority even if Congress fails to pass the CLARITY Act, according to Wu Blockchain. Atkins said congressional legislation would provide a more durable regulatory framework that is less vulnerable to policy shifts tied to changes in the administration, but added the SEC could still move independently if the bill does not pass. A day earlier, Atkins had urged the Senate to pass the Clarity Act.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs post $32.9M net outflow, ending two-day inflow streak U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded about $32.9 million in net outflows on July 29, according to Farside Investors, reversing after two straight trading days of net inflows. - BlackRock ETHA: +$5.2 million - Fidelity FETH: -$16.1 million - Bitwise ETHW: -$1.4 million - 21Shares TETH: -$2.8 million - Grayscale ETHE: -$9.7 million - Grayscale Mini ETH: -$8.1 million

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs turn to net inflows with $32.1M U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $32.1 million on July 29, ending a four-day streak of net outflows, according to Farside Investors. - BlackRock IBIT: +$89.8 million - Fidelity FBTC: -$43.1 million - ARK Invest ARKB: -$14.6 million

A wallet linked to Geir Harald Hansen, founder of early Bitcoin mining pool Bitminter, transferred 829 BTC to a new address, Arkham analyst Emmett Garlik said. The holdings are worth about $52.98 million.

24-hour crypto futures liquidations The following shows estimated liquidation volumes and position ratios for major crypto perpetual futures over the past 24 hours: - BTC: $60.27 million liquidated (51.43% longs) - ETH: $68.83 million liquidated (58.29% longs) - SNDK: $23.30 million liquidated (69.31% longs)

U.S. sanctions two Iranian maritime insurance entities over crypto payments used to evade sanctions The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Iran’s Persian Gulf Marine Insurance Company and HormuzSafe Marine Services Authority, saying the entities brokered insurance approved by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and pushed commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to obtain the coverage. The Treasury Department also said the policies claimed to protect ships from risks including seizure, while most of those risks stemmed from Iran itself. It added the premiums included cryptocurrency payments used to evade U.S. sanctions.

Zcash founder Zooko Wilcox denied allegations that ZEC’s supply had been manipulated, saying on X that despite concerns the token supply may have secretly increased or that verification could take months or years, anyone can verify it directly on a computer immediately and confirm the current ZEC supply stands at 16,848,458.

OKX to list GRVT/USDT spot today OKX announced the addition of GRVT/USDT spot trading at 1:00 p.m. UTC today.

North Korea’s Lazarus Group moved 121.5 BTC worth $7.74 million to a new address, according to Lookonchain.

South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party has proposed an amendment to the Act on Reporting and Use of Certain Financial Transaction Information that would give financial authorities the power to request payment suspensions for cryptocurrency exchange accounts suspected of being used to transfer illicit assets, Digital Asset reported. The bill would newly define an "account" as a unique identification number assigned by a virtual asset service provider to a user for transaction services, expanding the scope of the law. It also includes a provision allowing the Financial Intelligence Unit under South Korea’s Financial Services Commission to request payment suspensions from financial institutions and virtual asset service providers if it determines there are grounds to suspect that bank accounts and digital asset accounts were used to transfer illicit assets.

Binance stock-investment platform bStocks posts record weekly volume Binance’s stock-investment platform bStocks recorded a record $6.123 billion in trading volume over the past week, according to Dune Analytics. About 99% of that volume was concentrated in QQQ, a token tracking the Nasdaq-100 ETF. Since mid-July, bStocks’ daily trading volume has surged from around $100 million to about $1 billion.

Hashed Open Research warns South Korea risks falling further behind U.S. on public blockchain The United States is strengthening industry competitiveness by building out digital-asset rules centered on public blockchains, while South Korea could fall behind in global competition because of regulatory and institutional uncertainty, according to a report by Hashed Open Research (HOR). In the report, published jointly with the U.S.-based Solana Policy Institute (SPI), HOR said the United States is bringing traditional financial institutions’ use of public blockchains into the regulatory fold through the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act. By contrast, South Korea still lacks clear standards on the scope of digital-asset businesses for financial companies and on licensing requirements, leaving continued uncertainty around key business areas including stablecoins, custody, and token issuance and distribution. The report also said the United States is rapidly expanding real-world asset tokenization, including Treasuries and real estate, through private-placement exemptions under Regulation D, while South Korea’s market development remains constrained by the potential application of public-offering rules. It added South Korea also lags global markets in its stablecoin framework and standards for using public blockchains, and stressed the need to shift from a regulation-centered approach to a predictable, open regulatory model to strengthen industry competitiveness.

NHN has chosen blockchain as a new business focus and has begun hiring related personnel and reorganizing its structure, ZDNet Korea reported. The move is seen as a group-level response in preparation for the regulatory formalization of won-denominated stablecoins. According to the report, NHN set up a new business promotion office directly under CEO Jung Woo-jin earlier this year. The office oversees new businesses across the group, while a new business strategy team handles day-to-day operations. The new unit is also expected to lead a group-wide review of a won stablecoin business. Within the group, NHN KCP, its payments affiliate, is currently leading stablecoin-related efforts and is expected to play a central role. NHN KCP is also said to be preparing to obtain a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license within the year.

More than half of virtual asset service providers face a survival threat as they fail to meet a new entry regulation requiring a debt ratio of 200% or less, Yonhap reported. According to South Korea’s electronic disclosure system DART and the Small and Medium Business Status Information System on July 30, 12 of 24 operators with verifiable financial data as of the end of last year had debt ratios above 200%. Including four others whose financial statements were not disclosed but were previously in full capital impairment on a quarterly basis, as many as 16 operators are estimated to have fallen short of the debt-ratio threshold. The standard will take effect on Aug. 20 under a revised enforcement decree of the Special Financial Transactions Act, although South Korean financial authorities plan to provide a one-year preparation period. It has not yet been specified whether operators that still fail to meet the requirement afterward would have to shut down immediately.

Ark Invest sold portions of its holdings in several crypto-related stocks on July 29 as the shares fell, The Block reported. The largest sale was 120,665 shares of Bitmine worth about $2 million, followed by 13,403 shares of Block worth about $1.1 million, 12,561 shares of Robinhood worth about $1.1 million, and 11,314 shares of Bullish worth about $247,097.