Today's news tips:
1. The annual rate of the core PCE price index in the United States in July was 2.9%, the highest since February 2025
2. Grayscale submitted S-1 documents for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs to the US SEC
3. Tether’s transition plan for updating legacy blockchains: smart contracts on these networks will not be frozen
4. NFT brand Pudgy Penguins enters the mobile gaming space with the launch of Pudgy Party
5. Source: Musk's lawyer will serve as chairman of a $200 million Dogecoin financial company
6. Binance Wallet's 36th TGE Launches Forest (FOREST)
7. The Ethereum Foundation announced that it will optimize the focus areas and implementation paths of the Ecosystem Support Program (ESP)
8. Zentry (ZENT) is now available on Binance Alpha, with an airdrop threshold of 230 points.
Regulation & Policy
The U.S. core PCE price index rose by 2.9% in July, the highest level since February 2025.
According to Jinshi, the annual rate of the U.S. core PCE price index in July was 2.9%, the highest since February 2025. The expected value was 2.90%, and the previous value was 2.80%.
The U.S. core PCE price index rose by 0.3% month-on-month in July, in line with expectations of 0.30% and the previous value of 0.30%.
U.S. consumer spending grew steadily in July, but inflationary pressures remained stubborn
Despite persistently high inflation, U.S. consumer spending grew at its fastest pace in four months in July, demonstrating resilient demand, according to Jinshi. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday showed that inflation-adjusted consumer spending rose 0.3% month-over-month. Income growth fueled the increase, with goods consumption being the primary driver. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% month-over-month, bringing the year-over-year increase to 2.9%, the highest level since February.
Japan's Financial Services Agency plans new cryptocurrency and innovation unit
According to CoinPost, Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) announced its 2026 budget, organizational structure, and staffing plan on the 29th, announcing a major restructuring of its regulatory system. Specific measures include the reorganization of the General Policy Bureau, the establishment of the Asset Management and Insurance Supervisory Bureau (tentative name), and the creation of dedicated departments specifically dealing with crypto assets and cashless payments: the "Crypto Assets and Innovation Office" and the "Funds Settlement Monitoring Office." In the crypto asset sector, the existing "Crypto Assets and Innovation Advisory Office," the "Funds Settlement Monitoring Office," and the "Settlement and Digital Financial Group Monitoring Office" will be integrated into the newly established department, with overall responsibility for regular market monitoring, compliance with disclosure obligations in sales solicitations, adaptive regulatory implementation, and systemic risk mitigation. Tax reform proposals announced the same day also include exploring the implementation of a separate taxation system for crypto asset transactions, demonstrating the FSA's commitment to building an investor protection system equivalent to that of the stock market from both institutional and organizational perspectives.
Strategy investors drop class action lawsuit alleging false and misleading statements
According to The Block, Strategy investors have decided to terminate their class-action lawsuit, which alleged that the Bitcoin fund management firm made false and misleading statements about its investment strategy. The lawsuit specifically alleges that Strategy exaggerated the profitability of its Bitcoin investment strategy and financial operations while downplaying the volatility risks associated with Bitcoin. Investors also claim that Strategy failed to adequately disclose the impact of adopting new accounting standards. Co-founder Michael Saylor, CEO Phong Le, and CFO Andrew Kang are named as defendants.
Grayscale Submits S-1 Filings for Polkadot and Cardano ETFs to the US SEC
Grayscale has filed an S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch Polkadot (DOT) and Cardano (ADA) ETFs.
According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, Inspector Tsang Kin-wah of the Central District's Technology and Wealth Crime Unit revealed the discovery of a "safe-dealing" stablecoin scam involving a 77-year-old woman who brought HK$3 million in cash to a virtual currency exchange shop on Sharp Bay Street in Sheung Wan to purchase stablecoins. The shop assistant used a fake safe to defraud her of her money. Using footage from Project Sharp Eyes, in-depth investigations, and intelligence analysis, Hong Kong police arrested three male and female scammers within three days of the incident. They are currently charged with obtaining property by deception. The police are currently searching for other suspects and the remaining stolen funds, and further arrests are not ruled out.
(Note: Jiawan is the Cantonese dialect term for a safe or strongbox. It is a security device typically used to store valuables such as jewelry, precious metals, cash, and important documents such as wills and deeds.)
Former CEO and CFO of crypto lender Cred LLC sentenced to prison and fined for wire fraud conspiracy
According to a court announcement, U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup sentenced Daniel Schatt, former CEO of crypto lender Cred LLC, and Joseph Podulka, former CFO, to 52 and 36 months in federal prison, respectively, for wire fraud conspiracy. In addition to the prison sentences, Judge Alsup also sentenced Schatt and Podulka to three years of supervised release each and ordered them to pay a $25,000 fine. The defendants will begin serving their sentences on October 28, 2025. Judge Alsup has scheduled a restitution hearing for October 7, 2025.
According to the plea agreement, Schatt and Podulka conspired to present an incomplete and unreasonably favorable description of Cred's business, thereby misleading, and failed to disclose material negative information about Cred's business challenges and risks that would harm Cred's customers. On November 7, 2020, Cred filed for bankruptcy. During Cred's bankruptcy proceedings, Cred's customers and investors submitted over 6,000 claims totaling over $140 million. According to the government's sentencing memorandum, these claims totaled over $1 billion, based on the estimated valuation of various cryptocurrencies lost by customers in August 2025.
Project News
Luxury brand Gucci now accepts cryptocurrencies such as ETH and DOGE in some of its US stores
According to Crypto Rover, luxury brand Gucci now accepts cryptocurrencies such as ETH and DOGE in some stores in the United States.
Tether's transition plan for older blockchains will not freeze smart contracts on these networks
According to an official blog post, stablecoin issuer Tether today announced an update to its transition plans for five legacy blockchains: Omni Layer, Bitcoin Cash SLP, Kusama, EOS, and Algorand. Over a year ago, Tether announced plans to cease redemptions and freezing of USDT tokens on these legacy blockchains starting September 1, 2025, thereby phasing out support. Based on feedback from the communities of these defunct blockchains, Tether has revised this approach and will no longer freeze smart contracts on these networks. While users will still be able to transfer tokens between wallets, Tether will cease directly issuing and redeeming tokens on these blockchains. This means these tokens will no longer be officially supported like other Tether tokens. Tether remains committed to a smooth transition and will continue to work with the community to ensure transparency and clarity throughout the process.
Binance Futures will delist LEVERUSDT U-margined perpetual contracts
According to an official announcement, Binance Futures will automatically liquidate LEVERUSDT U-margined perpetual swaps at 5:00 PM (ET) on September 3, 2025, and will delist the aforementioned U-margined perpetual swaps trading pairs following the liquidation. Users are advised to close their positions before trading ceases to avoid automatic liquidation.
NFT brand Pudgy Penguins enters mobile gaming with the launch of Pudgy Party
According to The Block, NFT brand Pudgy Penguins has launched a web3 mobile game called Pudgy Party, developed in partnership with Mythical Games. The game features fast-paced mini-games, customization, and digital collectibles. Pudgy Party is available for free download on iOS and Android. A Pudgy Party spokesperson stated that while the new game will not include PENGU tokens at launch, the Pudgy Penguins and Mythical Games teams are exploring "interesting ways" to integrate PENGU, MYTH, and other tokens in the future.
The Ethereum Foundation announced that it is optimizing the focus and implementation path of its Ecosystem Support Program (ESP) and has temporarily suspended open grant applications as part of the transition. This adjustment will buy the Foundation time to redesign its grantmaking model, shifting its focus from reactive to proactive, and supporting the priorities of other teams within the Ethereum Foundation. The Foundation noted that it has continuously optimized its processes and increased efficiency over the past three years, but as a resource-constrained, broad-based open grantmaking program, the influx of applications has consumed a significant portion of its time and energy, making it difficult to free up resources to explore new strategic opportunities.
The Foundation will continue to fund Ethereum public products and accept applications, but will adopt a new approach, with specific details to be announced in a future announcement. The optimized focus areas and implementation path for the ESP will be announced in Q4 2025.
Sources: Musk's lawyer will serve as chairman of a $200 million Dogecoin financial company
According to a Fortune report, citing anonymous sources, Elon Musk's personal attorney, Alex Shapiro, has been listed as chairman of the Dogecoin Digital Asset Pool (DAT), which plans to raise $200 million. The sources stated that investors are receiving pitches from a company called Dogecoin Pool (DAT) that will invest in the token. The company plans to raise at least $200 million. Details regarding the structure and launch timing of the public investment vehicle have not yet been released.
Sources revealed that House of Doge, Dogecoin's official corporate entity, has approved the fund, becoming the "official" investment vehicle for Dogecoin—a practice the fund has also employed with other cryptocurrency foundations to enhance their projects' legitimacy. Launched by the Dogecoin Foundation in early 2025, the Miami-based House of Doge is responsible for developing and promoting the popular memecoin.
Reddit announces the end of its avatar creator program, with the store closing on November 11th
Reddit announced the termination of its Avatar Creator Program and will no longer accept new submissions. However, all remaining submissions will be reviewed by the end of September, and the Avatar Store will remain open until November 11th. Users will still be able to use their purchased favorite avatars, but the collection display on their profiles and NFT transfers will be removed. Reddit emphasized that avatars themselves can still be used as a form of self-expression.
All secondary sales royalties will go entirely to creators. Reddit will update its contract within the next three weeks to pay all secondary sales fees directly to creators. Reddit will also remove the "Vault" feature from its app. Users can export their blockchain wallets by copying a 12-word seed phrase from the "Vault Settings" until January 1, 2026.
Binance Wallet Launches Forest (FOREST) in the 36th TGE
According to the official announcement, Forest (FOREST) will be launched in the 36th phase of Binance Wallet's exclusive TGE. The subscription period is from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm on September 1, 2025 (UTC+8). Eligible users must use Binance Alpha Points to participate. An additional 40,000,000 FOREST will be used for future activities. Specific details will be announced separately.
Zentry (ZENT) is now listed on Binance Alpha, with an airdrop threshold of 230 points.
According to an official announcement, Zentry (ZENT) is now available on Binance Alpha. Users holding at least 230 Binance Alpha Points can claim an airdrop of 4,000 ZENT tokens. This airdrop is available on a first-come, first-served basis. The minimum score will automatically decrease by 15 points every hour while the promotion is ongoing. Please note that claiming the airdrop will cost 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim within 24 hours on the Alpha promotion page; otherwise, they will forfeit the airdrop.
Financing News
Crypto exchange OrangeX completes $20 million Series B funding round
According to AInvest, crypto exchange OrangeX announced the completion of a $20 million Series B funding round, led by Kryptos and joined by SCI Ventures and other major investors. This follows the exchange's previous $10 million Series A funding round in September 2023, also led by Kryptos and joined by NGC Capital, Phase Capital, and SCI Ventures. The new funds will be used to strengthen core infrastructure and accelerate global market expansion.
According to reports, the OrangeX platform provides services such as derivatives trading, spot trading, one-click copy trading, and fiat currency channels for purchasing cryptocurrencies.
Analysis & Opinions
Analyst: Ethereum ETF inflows approach $10 billion since early July
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart wrote on the X platform: "Ethereum ETFs are in an absolute explosion period. Since the beginning of July, its capital inflow has reached nearly $10 billion. In addition, the cumulative inflow of Ethereum ETFs since listing is nearly $14 billion."
Institutional holdings
Florida pension fund discloses $80 million allocation to Strategy shares
According to The Bitcoin Historian, the $205 billion Florida State Retirement Fund disclosed an $80 million allocation to Strategy (MSTR).
According to an announcement from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, International Commercial Clearing Holdings Limited (00147.HK) has signed a subscription agreement with no fewer than six professional investors, intending to issue approximately 2.782 billion new shares at a price of HK$0.18 per share, with an estimated net fundraising of approximately HK$500 million.
The announcement indicates that approximately 90% of the funds raised (HK$450 million) will be used to explore cryptocurrency investment opportunities, including mining, cryptocurrency trading, and investments in computing power generated by mining equipment, as well as to expand into the Web3 sector. The company previously announced a HK$70 million investment in a joint venture focused on crypto-asset-related businesses. The company stated that the funds raised will provide sufficient capital for further expansion of its cryptocurrency-related businesses and other fintech projects in the near future.
Japanese gaming giant Gumi plans to invest approximately $17 million in XRP
Japanese gaming giant Gumi Inc. has announced plans to purchase 2.5 billion yen (approximately $17 million) worth of XRP as part of its efforts to expand its blockchain business, according to The Crypto Basic. The company announced the development in a press release today, following the decision made at a recent board meeting.
Notably, the gaming company will strategically accumulate XRP over a five-month period between September 2025 and February 2026. Commenting on the development, Gumi emphasized that the planned purchase is a strategic move designed to enable it to participate in XRP’s ecosystem.
Earlier in June, it was reported that Gumi spent about US$6.99 million to buy 80,352 bitcoins .
Mining News
Gryphon Mining Company to Merge with Hut 8 Subsidiary to Create Trump-Affiliated Company
Bitcoin miner Gryphon Digital Mining (ticker: GRYP) will merge with a subsidiary of Hut 8 to form the Trump-affiliated American Bitcoin. The announcement stated, "Gryphon shareholders have approved the previously announced stock-for-stock merger with American Bitcoin. Gryphon will conduct a 5-for-1 reverse stock split of its outstanding common stock." A reverse stock split is a corporate action that reduces the number of outstanding shares of a company through a merger, "implemented to meet Nasdaq's minimum purchase price listing requirements." Gryphon stated that the transaction will not affect the company's market capitalization or shareholder value.
The stock split is scheduled to take place on September 2nd (after the US Labor Day holiday). The new shares will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol ABTC, as previously announced, and under the brand name American Bitcoin. Trump's two eldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr., both retain stakes in the cryptocurrency venture. In March, publicly traded Hut 8 (ticker: HUT) announced it would hold approximately 80% of the company's shares, with the remaining 20% held by American Data Centers, an entity backed by Trump's sons.
Important data
In August, the Ethereum network saw over $320 billion in monthly on-chain transfer volume, the highest since May 2021 and the third-highest monthly volume on record. This volume measures the economic throughput on the Ethereum blockchain, including transfers, DeFi interactions, and other transactions. Thirty-day transaction volume also hit a new high, while the number of monthly active Ethereum addresses reached the second-highest level ever, and the total value locked remained near all-time highs. This surge in activity was accompanied by a significant increase in the accumulation of corporate Ethereum treasuries, an increase in spot ETH ETF trading volume, and a drop in average transaction fees to multi-year lows. Ethereum transaction costs were also near a five-year low, supporting higher on-chain usage.
Arbitrum Foundation's multi-signature wallet transfers 10 million ARB to Coinbase Prime
According to on-chain analyst Ember, a multi-signature wallet of the Arbitrum Foundation transferred 10 million ARB (worth $4.99 million) to Coinbase Prime nine hours ago. This wallet unlocks approximately 15 million ARB from the Arbitrum Foundation's vesting contract each month, and transfers 10 million of these to Coinbase Prime.
This wallet began unlocking ARB in July 2023, and to date, a total of 414 million ARB have been unlocked and claimed. 350 million ARB were subsequently transferred to Coinbase Prime, valued at $318 million at the exchange price, or an average price of $0.91.
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (August 29, Eastern Time), the total net outflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$127 million.
The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of US$24.626 million. Currently, the total net inflow of IBIT in history has reached US$58.307 billion.
The second is WisdomTree ETF BTCW, with a single-day net inflow of US$2.2973 million. The current historical total net inflow of BTCW has reached US$42.9367 million.
The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net outflow yesterday was the Ark Invest and 21Shares ETF ARKB, with a single-day net outflow of US$72.0653 million. Currently, ARKB's total historical net inflow has reached US$2.093 billion.
As of press time, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF was US$139.951 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of the total market value of Bitcoin) reached 6.52%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$54.241 billion.
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (August 29, Eastern Time), the total net outflow of Ethereum spot ETFs was US$165 million.
The Ethereum spot ETF with the largest single-day net outflow yesterday was the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF ETH, with a single-day net outflow of US$61.3038 million. The current historical total net inflow of ETH has reached US$1.396 billion.
The second is Fidelity ETF FETH, with a single-day net outflow of US$51.0228 million. The current historical total net inflow of FETH has reached US$2.765 billion.
As of press time, the total net asset value of the Ethereum spot ETF was US$28.575 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of Ethereum's total market value) reached 5.48%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$13.513 billion.
