SEC proposes blockchain-based ownership records for securities The U.S. SEC on Sept. 1 proposed amending transfer agent rules to let securities ownership be officially recorded on blockchain, a shift that would modernize decades-old requirements for tokenized securities. The plan would also require transfer agents to report how many tokenized securities they manage and which blockchain platforms they use.
TRM Labs says price manipulation attacks hit 32 cases in 2026 so far TRM Labs said it has recorded 32 price-manipulation exploits so far in 2026, already far above 12 cases last year, as attackers pump illiquid tokens, use the inflated assets as collateral, and leave lending protocols with bad debt. The trend is hitting a growing crypto-backed lending market: Tectonic recently lost more than $70 million after TONIC was inflated 100x in about 20 minutes, though a Cronos rollback cut the attacker’s haul to about $6 million.
US spot-Bitcoin ETFs log biggest monthly inflow since July 2025 US-listed spot-Bitcoin ETFs took in $3.5 billion in net inflows in August, their biggest monthly haul in more than a year, as Bitcoin rose 25% and briefly tested levels above $80,000. About 88% of the inflows went to BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s expanded Treasury buyback announcement was cited as a catalyst that weakened the dollar and lifted demand for risk assets.
21 financial institutions plan dollar stablecoin launch in H1 2027 A group of 21 major financial institutions is forming a new company to issue a U.S. dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027, targeting wholesale, institutional and retail use in cross-border payments and digital-asset settlement. The venture says it aims to meet the U.S. GENIUS Act and MiCA where applicable, with plans to expand into other G7 currencies, including a euro-denominated token as an early priority.
Belgian police target crypto wallets in offshore piracy probe Belgian federal police have targeted crypto wallets allegedly linked to designated offshore piracy platforms in a cross-border enforcement action, the government said. The move was framed as a specific criminal investigation into piracy-linked wallets, not a broader crackdown on crypto wallets or self-custody.
Morpho loans hit record $5B as stablecoin borrowing dominates Morpho’s outstanding loans reached an all-time high of $5 billion on Sept. 1, Messari reported, narrowing the gap with lending leader Aave. Stablecoins made up 95% of borrowing, with USDC alone accounting for 62%, while Base has become the protocol’s main growth driver through Coinbase’s Morpho-based crypto-backed lending product.
Memecoin buys on Robinhood Wallet and Fomo were coded as digital media Tests by The Block found users could buy memecoins on Robinhood Wallet and Fomo with Visa and Mastercard credit cards via Apple Pay or Google Pay, with purchases coded as “digital goods media” instead of crypto. The Crossmint-powered transactions earned normal card rewards and often skipped a separate KYC flow; Chase said one Visa purchase was not flagged as crypto and opened a case with Visa, while New York’s attorney general is reviewing the matter.
Fake Claude desktop app spreads RevStealer on Windows Cybersecurity firm Morphisec said a trojanized “Claude Opus 5 Free Desktop” app is distributing RevStealer malware on Windows, targeting data from more than 50 crypto wallets, 12 password managers and web browsers. The fake Electron app uses Anthropic branding, decrypts and runs a hidden payload, exfiltrates stolen data in encrypted records, then deletes itself; stolen session cookies may let attackers access accounts even with MFA.
SEC proposes overhaul of transfer agent rules for blockchain era The SEC has proposed updating transfer agent rules that have changed little since the late 1970s and early 1980s, citing the rise of blockchain-based recordkeeping, tokenized securities and more automated market infrastructure. The plan would revise registration, recordkeeping, safeguarding and transfer requirements, add compliance standards for restrictive legends and third-party providers, and seek public comment 60 days after Federal Register publication.
CFTC issues event contract enforcement guidance The CFTC has released regulatory enforcement guidance for event contract derivatives, tightening scrutiny of prediction markets as trading tied to elections, policy decisions, economic data, court rulings, and geopolitical events grows. The move sharpens expectations around registration, customer access, contract design, surveillance, and market integrity, but does not amount to a blanket ban on compliant venues or all event contracts.
CLARITY Act Senate vote set for Sept. 15 amid doubts over 2025 passage The US Senate is scheduled to vote on the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15 after missing its pre-August recess timeline, but industry participants are increasingly skeptical the crypto market structure bill will pass this year. The measure would split digital-asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC, set company registration rules and impose AML requirements, while disputes over stablecoin interest and ethics rules tied to President Trump’s family crypto businesses remain key obstacles.
Thousands of X users hit by unsolicited password reset emails Thousands of X users, including prominent crypto accounts and at least four CoinDesk staffers, received waves of password reset emails Tuesday, with some users reporting up to 10 messages in a few hours. There is no confirmed evidence that X was breached or that attackers obtained users’ email addresses, since anyone can trigger a reset request using a public username.
Judge drops Solana Labs and Foundation from Pump Fun lawsuit Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed Burwick Law’s claims against Solana Labs, Solana Foundation and their executives in the Pump Fun case, while letting some RICO claims proceed against parent company Baton Corporation and executives Noah Bernhard Hugo Tweedale, Alon Cohen and Dylan Kerler. She also threw out Securities Act claims over memecoins FRED and GRIFFAIN, finding they did not form a “common enterprise” under the Howey Test.
Aave advances cirBTC listing vote for V3 and V4 Core An ARFC to add Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC) to Aave V3 Core and Aave V4 Core on Ethereum has moved to Snapshot, with voting set to start in less than 24 hours. The proposal would enable cirBTC as collateral and includes draft launch parameters covering borrowability, supply and borrow caps, LTV, liquidation settings, reserve factors, interest rate curves, and price feed recommendations.
Singapore proposes opening stablecoin regime to some cross-border issuers The Monetary Authority of Singapore has proposed allowing stablecoins jointly issued by a Singapore entity and a foreign issuer to qualify as “MAS-regulated stablecoins,” if risks are sufficiently mitigated. MAS also said it is considering recognizing a limited number of foreign-issued stablecoins under comparable overseas regimes, partly for cross-border wholesale transactions, revisiting its 2023 domestic-only approach.
Russia starts regulated crypto trading with $3,700 retail cap Russia’s digital asset law took effect on September 1, legalizing regulated crypto trading nationwide under Bank of Russia oversight while limiting retail investors to 300,000 rubles, or about $3,700, a year per licensed broker. Exchanges, brokers and custodians must register and join a self-regulatory organization, while full licensing and compliance rules will phase in by July 1, 2027.
HashKey Exchange lists FDUSD with direct USD trading HashKey Exchange, a Hong Kong digital-asset exchange licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission, has added FDUSD spot trading for professional investors. The new pairs are FDUSD/USD, BTC/FDUSD and ETH/FDUSD, letting users buy the stablecoin directly with US dollars and use it as the quote currency for Bitcoin and Ether trades. First Digital said it plans to expand FDUSD support across more exchanges, blockchain networks and payment services.
August sets 2026 crypto hack record as losses fall to $136.3M Crypto saw 50 major hacks in August, the highest monthly count of 2026, while total losses fell 49.5% from July to $136.3 million, PeckShield said Tuesday. The biggest breach hit Cronos-based lending protocol Tectonic for about $74 million, though only around $6 million reached Ethereum before validators froze the network; Cronos later restored the chain state and resumed block production.
Cronos restarts after Tectonic exploit rollback Cronos has resumed block production after validators halted the network during an exploit targeting Tectonic and rolled the chain back to before the attack. The restart began from block 90,896,189 on Aug. 30 at 23:49:01 UTC, with node operators told to use Cronos v1.7.8 and the latest Aug. 31 mainnet snapshot. Cronos said the chain is fully back online, though bridges, RPC providers, explorers and some protocols may restore service more slowly.
Pi Network targets Sept. 15 for Protocol 27 and native DEX launch Pi Network is testing Protocol 27, its final planned upgrade in the current sequence, adding smart contract authentication, RPC server infrastructure and AMM liquidity pools ahead of a planned Sept. 15, 2026 mainnet launch of a native DEX. The move follows Protocol 26, which required all 421,000 mainnet node operators to update by Aug. 11 or lose connectivity; on testnet, Pi Launchpad’s combined order book and AMM DEX drew 242,000 participants and 15.92 million Test-Pi in liquidity commitments during June SLICE launches.
CME launches crypto indexes tracking altcoins with and without BTC, ETH CME Group has launched two multi-asset crypto benchmarks, including the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index, a 10-token gauge that excludes Bitcoin and Ether and tracks BNB, XRP, Solana, Hyperliquid, Chainlink, Stellar Lumens, Sui, Uniswap, Avalanche and Aave. CME said both indexes run 24/7 with real-time updates every second and are designed for licensing in financial products, funds and derivatives.
Thailand SEC proposes retail access to some overseas crypto derivatives Thailand’s SEC has opened a consultation on letting retail investors trade certain overseas crypto derivatives through local brokers, expanding access only to products that closely match Thai-listed contracts on underlying asset, maturity, leverage and settlement. The foreign exchanges would also need central clearing and recognized regulatory oversight; non-qualifying products would remain limited to institutional investors. Public comments run through Sept. 30.
Solana approves proposal to slow SOL issuance as on-chain activity jumps Solana validators approved SGP-0002 on Aug. 28, accelerating the network’s inflation reduction to 30% from 15% and cutting projected new supply by about 18.9 million SOL over six years. The vote drew a record 60.7% turnout from 1,326 validators and passed with just over 67% support, as network activity also climbed: seven-day average fee revenue reached about 9,200 SOL by Aug. 27 and non-vote transactions hit a record 191 million.
Polymarket seeks $1B round at $21B valuation Polymarket is seeking $1 billion in new funding in a round led by 1789 Capital that would value the prediction-market platform at $21 billion post-money, Bloomberg reported Aug. 31. 1789 plans to invest about $300 million. The raise comes as Polymarket looks to expand its institutional investor base and seeks US approval to offer margin trading.
Strategy resumes Bitcoin buying with $370M purchase Strategy (MSTR) bought 4,603 BTC for $370 million at an average price of $80,318, marking its first Bitcoin purchase since June 22 after a two-week pause. The move follows $432 million in BTC sales across five transactions since May under its monetization program, which the company says is meant to boost cash reserves and support dividend payments.
Zano activates Hard Fork 6 on mainnet Zano’s Hard Fork 6 went live on mainnet at block 3,833,000, adding Gateway Addresses designed to make the privacy chain easier for centralized exchanges, DEXs and bridges to integrate. The upgrade also lets native ZANO bridge non-custodially to transparent chains including Ethereum, Solana and TON for the first time, while standard Zano addresses keep the existing privacy model.
Polygon discloses PoS hard forks that patched validator DoS bugs Polygon Labs said its Austin and Kyoto hard forks fixed several denial-of-service vulnerabilities on the PoS network, including a Heimdall flaw that let a cheap transaction force heavy decoding work across the entire validator set. Kyoto added checks to reject deeply nested protobuf transactions, while Austin capped state-sync gas per block and removed the TxDependency field; nodes must run Bor v2.10.0 and Heimdall v0.11.0 or fall off the canonical chain.
Hyperliquid in talks with Kraken parent for limited US market entry Hyperliquid Labs is in advanced talks with Payward, Kraken’s parent, on a structure that would give registered US traders access to a subset of Hyperliquid-linked crypto perpetual futures through Payward’s CFTC-regulated Bitnomial venue, Bloomberg reported. The plan has been sent to the CFTC, but Hyperliquid’s own app would remain geoblocked in the US, with users trading under US rules on Bitnomial rather than on the offshore platform.
Aave speeds up second round of USDe risk parameter changes Aave has executed the second round of Stablecoin IRM adjustments through its Risk Steward process, raising Slope1 by 20 bps — double the first round’s step — as utilization rises across targeted reserves. The USDe repricing is meant to remove subsidized borrowing; the proposal says it could recover about $19M a year for Ethena stakers, lifting the expected staking rate from 4.8% to 5.3%, while a temporary uOptimal increase adds roughly $116M in borrowing capacity for debt migrations.
CME Group launches two multi-asset crypto benchmarks CME Group on Monday made two cryptocurrency indexes live: the CME CF Crypto Market Index, which tracks 12 assets including bitcoin and ether, and the CME CF Emerging Crypto Index, which excludes BTC and ETH and follows 10 large-cap tokens including BNB, XRP, SOL and LINK. CME said the indexes update every second around the clock and use free-float market-cap weighting, giving institutions new benchmarks for broader crypto exposure beyond the top two assets.
BitMine buys 53,501 ETH, treasury nears 5% of total Ethereum supply BitMine said it bought another 53,501 ETH over the past week, lifting its holdings to 5,901,112 ETH, or about 4.9% of Ethereum’s 120.7 million circulating supply. At roughly $2,500 per ETH, the stash is worth nearly $15 billion, putting the firm 98% of the way to its stated goal of owning 5% of the asset’s supply. BitMine also said 5,067,309 ETH, around 86% of its holdings, is staked.
Australia charges two men over alleged TeamPCP supply-chain attacks Australian authorities charged two Western Australian men on Aug. 26 after an AFP-FBI probe into the alleged TeamPCP cybercrime syndicate, accusing the group of compromising more than 1,000 organizations, stealing over 500,000 credentials and taking at least 300GB of data via malicious code inserted into open-source software components. Police say the men also received cryptocurrency, with the value still under investigation.
CoinGecko: Audited crypto platforms made up 88% of losses in 2025-2026 hacks CoinGecko said crypto platforms lost $3.63 billion across 245 incidents between January 2025 and July 2026, with the 10 biggest attacks making up more than 72.5% of the total. Of those incidents, 147 hit previously audited protocols, which accounted for 88.44% of all funds stolen, underscoring that audits did not prevent the biggest losses.
Ontology pauses mainnet block production over security concern Ontology has temporarily halted mainnet block production after core developers flagged a potential security issue during a routine check, suspending on-chain transactions while validators conduct an emergency review. The team said there is currently no indication of any loss or compromise of user assets, and the chain will stay paused until the assessment is complete and any required upgrades are finished.
Ireland to bar crypto from new state-backed retail investment accounts Ireland will exclude cryptocurrencies and derivatives from a new state-backed savings and investment scheme aimed at moving household money from low-interest bank deposits into traditional markets. The plan, unveiled by Finance Minister Simon Harris, will let tax residents 18 and older hold ETFs, listed shares and corporate bonds under a simplified tax regime, with details due in October and launch set for 2027.
More Markets exploit on Flow EVM drains $9.3M in WFLOW More Markets was exploited on Flow EVM on Aug. 31, with about 15.5 million WFLOW drained from its mFlowWFLOW lending reserve, a loss Blockaid estimated at roughly $9.3 million. Blockaid said the attacker used an Ankr bonded liquid staking token together with More Markets’ E Mode mechanism, and traced a cluster of transactions moving the funds after the attack. There is no indication Flow itself was compromised.
Belgium orders EU domain registrars to hand over pirate operators’ crypto data Belgium’s Department for Combating Online Infringement, acting on Brussels Business Court orders, has told EU domain registrars and a registry to disclose extensive data on alleged illegal sports streaming operators, including names, addresses, phone numbers, IBAN and credit card records, crypto wallet addresses and transaction hashes, plus up to 12 months of logs, device details and IPs. The orders also bar registrars from alerting account holders, while the cross-border reach of the EU Digital Services Act in these cases remains untested.
Robinhood Chain posts record DEX volume as Pons drives half of activity Robinhood Chain logged $874.8 million in DEX volume and 5,521,213 daily transactions on Aug. 30, its biggest day since mainnet launched on July 1. DefiLlama data shows the network also topped Ethereum and Hyperliquid in 24-hour app revenue, trailing only Solana. Pons.family accounted for $445.98 million, or about 51%, of the chain’s volume, underscoring how much the spike was concentrated in one launchpad.
Cronos halts blockchain after Tectonic exploit estimated at $75M Cronos halted its blockchain Sunday after an exploit hit decentralized lending protocol Tectonic, with researcher Weilin Li estimating roughly $75 million was affected. Li said the attacker pumped TONIC’s price about 100-fold in 20 minutes, borrowed other assets, and bridged around $6 million to Ethereum before the halt, leaving most funds on Cronos. Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the company’s app and exchange were unaffected and operating normally.
US spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs top $1.74B in weekly net inflows U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $924.5 million of net inflows last week, while spot Ether ETFs added $815.7 million, signaling a broad pickup in crypto ETF demand after earlier stagnation. BlackRock led both categories: IBIT drew $938.3 million in Bitcoin ETF inflows and ETHA brought in $567 million, extending ETHA’s inflow streak to 10 straight trading days.
South Korea reviews new statutory crypto self-regulatory body South Korea’s financial authorities are considering a separate incorporated association to oversee virtual-asset market self-regulation as part of second-phase talks on the Digital Asset Basic Act, Newsis reported Aug. 31. The plan would create a new legal entity instead of converting DAXA, which lacks corporate legal status, while potentially using DAXA’s rules, operating experience and staff.
UK tax report shows 240 crypto gainers cleared £1M each The UK’s first official data on taxable crypto gains shows 240 people each declared more than £1 million in capital gains in 2024-25, reporting £717 million between them — over half of the £1.38 billion declared by 17,600 taxpayers. HMRC said crypto compliance and education work added an estimated £168 million in capital gains tax for the year and has already led to tens of thousands of warning letters.
Cronos halts blockchain after Tectonic exploit strands most of estimated $75M haul Cronos halted block production on Sunday after an attacker drained Tectonic, the network’s biggest lending protocol, in a breach researcher Weilin Li estimated at about $75 million. Li said roughly $6 million reached Ethereum while around $60 million remained stranded on Cronos after the freeze; Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said the company’s app and exchange were not affected.
Aave Horizon proposal would add HINC as RWA collateral A proposal on Aave Horizon would onboard HINC, the tokenized share class of the Neuberger Securitize High Income Tokenized Fund, as supply-only collateral with USDC, GHO and RLUSD borrowable against it. The key risk term is a planned liquidator backstop equal to 3-5% of borrowed TVL over a three-day liquidation window for the NAV-priced high-yield credit fund, with governance also asked to define how Executive Action bad debt would be allocated.
Charles Schwab to add SOL, AVAX and LINK to Schwab Crypto Charles Schwab said it will add Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink to Schwab Crypto accounts in the coming months, expanding beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The trading service began rolling out to clients in May 2026, and Schwab said it plans to add more established digital assets over time based on client demand.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs log $924M weekly inflows as Friday outflows break streak Spot Bitcoin ETFs took in $924.48 million this week after four straight days of inflows, before a $201.81 million net outflow on Friday ended a nine-day streak amid hawkish remarks from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole. Over the past two weeks, BTC funds have attracted nearly $3 billion, lifting cumulative net inflows to $54.63 billion by Aug. 28. Ethereum ETFs also stayed positive, adding more than $824 million for the week and extending their no-red-day run since Aug. 11.
Sweden challenges VAT refunds at northern crypto-linked data centers Sweden’s Tax Agency is seeking to claw back hundreds of millions of kronor in input VAT from northern data center operators, arguing parts of their activity were crypto mining rather than taxable computing services. The dispute has already produced appellate losses for HIVE Digital’s Swedish units and proposed decisions against Northern Data subsidiaries, adding pressure as both companies shift sites from mining to AI and cloud workloads.
Solana sets Sept. 9 rollout for Transaction V1 Solana plans to activate Transaction V1 on Sept. 9, raising the maximum serialized transaction size to 4,096 bytes from 1,232, Solana Foundation VP of Technology Jacob Creech said on Aug. 30. Creech also said the first of five rent-reduction stages is expected in the week beginning Aug. 31, while Alpenglow remains targeted for October and further slot-time cuts will follow separate validator activations.
Vietnam says five crypto exchange applicants have passed an initial review, but the country has not issued its first license under its digital-asset pilot. Applicants must meet a 10 trillion dong ($383 million) charter-capital threshold and security requirements, while new penalties for unlicensed services and AML failures take effect Sept. 1. Domestic investors will not be fined on Sept. 1 for using overseas or unlicensed platforms; that six-month countdown starts only after the first provider is licensed.
Sber plans to add USDT and Ether to crypto-backed loans Sber, Russia’s largest bank, plans to accept Tether’s USDT and Ether as collateral alongside Bitcoin for crypto-backed lending, deputy chairman Anatoly Popov said. The bank will adapt existing products as Russia’s new crypto law takes effect, adding the assets after the Bank of Russia permits them for public trading. Core provisions of the law start on Sept. 1.
