13 Aug 2025, 02:00

Chainlink Surges Past $21: Whale Buys and SWIFT Partnership Could Ignite a Run to $30

Chainlink (LINK) has surged over 27% in the past week, breaking above $21, as institutional adoption and whale accumulation fuel bullish momentum. The oracle network’s deepening partnership with SWIFT now connects more than 11,000 financial institutions to both public and private blockchains, positioning Chainlink as critical infrastructure in the transition from traditional banking to blockchain integration. Institutional Adoption and DeFi Integration Accelerate Chainlink’s (LINK) Ascent At Chainlink’s recent SmartCon event , the network showcased its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), successfully linking SWIFT’s legacy messaging system with multiple blockchain networks. Trials with major banks, including BNY Mellon and BNP Paribas, demonstrated the real-world potential for moving tokenized assets seamlessly across different chains. The institutional roster continues to expand with collaborations involving the DTCC, Mastercard, and several central banks. Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), parent company of the NYSE, recently integrated its forex and precious metals data with Chainlink oracles, providing high-quality, tamper-proof financial data for DeFi applications. Technical Breakout Puts $30 in Sight From a technical perspective, LINK has broken out of a long-term descending trendline that has capped price action since December 2024. The move followed a double-bottom retest at the $18 level, signaling a shift in momentum. Analysts highlight $24 as the key resistance to watch, clearing it could trigger an accelerated move toward $30–$35. More aggressive projections point to $95–$100 if LINK sustains the breakout from its multi-year symmetrical triangle pattern formed since 2021. Currently trading above $21, LINK has defended critical support levels established during the recent rally, maintaining its bullish structure. Whale Accumulation Signals Confidence On-chain data shows whales have purchased over $13 million worth of LINK in recent sessions, including a notable 510,000 LINK withdrawal from Binance to Compound. The number of daily active addresses has jumped from 5,500 to over 9,400, reflecting growing participation from both retail and institutional players. Decentralized exchange volumes have also spiked, surpassing $1.29 billion in 24 hours, suggesting that demand for Chainlink’s oracle services is driving activity beyond speculative trading. With a $15 billion market cap securing over $59.5 billion in assets, analysts argue LINK remains undervalued. If the bullish trend continues and institutional adoption deepens, a rally toward $30, and possibly far beyond, appears increasingly plausible. Cover image from ChatGPT, LINKUSD chart from Tradingview

13 Aug 2025, 02:00

XRP’s Price Jump Masks a Quiet Decline in Active Users, Data Shows

XRP has experienced strong price performance in recent weeks, climbing over 12% in the past month and reclaiming notable price levels. However, as of the latest trading session, the asset is showing signs of correction. At the time of writing, XRP is valued at $3.17, representing a 1.2% decline over the past 24 hours from its recent high of roughly $3.22. The recent surge in XRP’s value was largely driven by a major legal development. On August 7, 2025, the long-running US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple and its executives officially concluded. The end of the case removed a significant source of uncertainty for the asset and sparked immediate price gains. However, on-chain data suggests that the rally may have been driven more by shifts within the existing investor base rather than by new market participation. Related Reading: XRP Stumbles, But A Recovery Could Be Around The Corner XRP On-Chain Indicators Show Mixed Market Dynamics CryptoQuant analyst CryptoOnchain observed that daily active addresses on the XRP Ledger fell by more than 10% to around 24,701 following the legal resolution. This decline, despite the price increase, indicates that the upward movement was likely supported by capital rotation from existing holders instead of new user adoption. In the analyst’s view, the absence of a fresh wave of participants could limit the rally’s long-term momentum unless broader retail engagement picks up. Exchange flow data offers additional insight. Both Binance and Upbit recorded notable spikes in depositing addresses just before and immediately after the SEC case outcome was announced. Historically, such inflow surges can signal that traders are positioning for profit-taking or short-term speculation. At the same time, withdrawals also rose during this period, implying that some new entrants were building positions. The presence of both trends highlights a mix of motives in market activity, from short-term trading to longer-term accumulation. Liquidity Concentration and Market Outlook Changes in exchange reserves further illustrate the evolving market structure for XRP. After a period of decline, Binance’s XRP holdings have been increasing again, while Upbit’s reserves have maintained a steady upward trend. This reflects a growing role for the Asian market in supporting XRP trading volume. Conversely, OKX now holds almost no XRP, suggesting that most of its reserves have been withdrawn from the exchange. CryptoOnchain noted that the combination of higher prices alongside a drop in active user numbers points toward a market environment dominated by a smaller, concentrated group of traders. If exchange reserves continue to build rapidly, the probability of a short-term correction could increase, especially if profit-taking accelerates. While the resolution of the SEC case has removed a major legal risk for XRP, the sustainability of recent price gains may depend on attracting new market participants and reducing short-term selling pressure. Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

13 Aug 2025, 01:59

Coinbase brings back the stablecoin bootstrap fund to expand USDC liquidity

Coinbase is reopening its revamped Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund for the first time in nearly six years, aiming to boost stablecoin liquidity across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Initially, the fund will provide liquidity to Aave, Morpho, Kamino, and Jupiter, with Coinbase Asset Management overseeing the program. It will supply liquidity in USDC and EURC on behalf of Circle, with plans to add other stablecoins. According to Coinbase’s chief business officer, Shan Aggarwal, the fund’s purpose is to “deploy capital in on-chain protocols to ensure sufficient liquidity for their unique use cases.” The total size of the fund remains undisclosed. The initial focus is on major DeFi platforms: Aave and Morpho on Ethereum, known for lending and borrowing, and Kamino and Jupiter on Solana, recognized for liquidity provision and trade aggregation. In a statement to CNBC, Coinbase emphasized that these moves are part of a long-term strategy to guarantee ongoing USDC availability for both established and emerging networks . This effort aims to lower borrowing costs, minimize trading slippage, and support protocol growth. Coinbase builds on 2019’s success Coinbase has been leveraging its balance sheet to supercharge the growing DeFi ecosystem. This new fund follows its first Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund, launched in 2019. American stablecoin saw a launch to seed liquidity for the USDC when it was still new to the open, decentralized markets. This was simple but very effective in the first phase. Compound, a crypto-based lending and borrowing platform, received $1 million in investment from Coinbase, with another $1 million going to dYdX, a derivatives trading venue. There were no grants; they were working capital redeployed to protocol liquidity pools to lower borrowing costs and speed up trade. The effort didn’t stop there as Coinbase diversified beyond IRL companies last year by including Uniswap (one of the biggest decentralized exchanges) and PoolTogether (a no-loss savings game rooted in the DeFi concept) in the fund. The $1.1 million Binance Balance Injection process was a further onchain staining of USDC utility in everyday activity. The results were significant. These early liquidity injections helped USDC become a fundamental store of value and vehicle currency throughout DeFi. By guaranteeing that traders and borrowers could always access USDC with frictionless, stable rates, this enabled significant trust and adoption in the fund. Today, USDC has evolved into a multi-chain powerhouse. It operates across all the previously mentioned ecosystems and Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, processing billions in daily transactions. Integrated into thousands of smart contracts, it underpins borrowing markets with several billion dollars locked at any given time. Coinbase says the timing of the relaunch matters. “Onchain financial services are at an inflection point,” the company added, arguing that both crypto natives and newcomers are increasingly turning to stablecoin-powered DeFi tools for borrowing, lending, and trading instead of traditional alternatives. Coinbase aims to support emerging projects In addition to more established names, Coinbase intends to support smaller or newer protocols. These projects often have difficulty gaining early liquidity, which may hinder their growth potential. Coinbase said it is seeding the pools and lending markets by injecting them with stablecoins directly to give them a more robust start, at least on its platform. The method would further stabilize interest rates by improving predictability for users of DeFi products. This purchase will allow us to put together even more resources to accelerate the interest and use we are seeing today,” Aggarwal said. He recommended that the liquidity support be token “agnostic” and decided on a protocol-by-protocol basis. Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot

13 Aug 2025, 01:45

Asia Morning Briefing: Polymarket Bettors Foresee $5K ETH by End of August

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas. As Asia begins its trading day, ETH is trading above $4600, up 10% in the last 24 hours, as the possibility of a rate cut in September works its way through the market. Some traders see it likely that ETH could quickly challenge its all-time high of $4876 set in 2021. Polymarket bettors are going a step further; they believe that $5000 is possible before the end of August, and they are also giving a 28% chance of the asset's price crossing $5800 before the month ends. The surge has helped pull bitcoin dominance down from 65% to 59% as traders rotate into altcoins. In a recent report, analysts at Glassnode wrote that ETH is now nearing the +1 standard deviation “Active Realized Price” band around $4.7K, a level that has triggered heavy selling in past cycles. But behind the scenes, there's a growing liquidity sink that might weigh heavily on ETH's next phase of growth. A new CryptoQuant report shows that Ethereum is increasingly serving as a liquidity source for TRON’s USDT ecosystem. On Aug. 9, CryptoQuant data shows that a record $7.7 million worth of ETH was bridged to TRON and converted into USDT, while June 25 saw $19 million worth of ERC20 tokens, mostly USDC, make the same move. Inflows from TRON back to Ethereum remain minimal, highlighting a one-way flow of value that supports TRON’s stablecoin economy but siphons liquidity from Ethereum’s native DeFi activity. Over time, persistent outflows can weigh on spot demand and reduce Ethereum’s ongoing fee revenue and staking rewards as more of the stablecoin economy clears elsewhere. If this trend persists, Ethereum’s role could increasingly resemble that of a wholesale funding layer, powering liquidity for rival networks rather than capturing the transactional activity itself. That dynamic may not derail the current rally in the short term, but it could limit the sustainability of higher valuations if capital flight toward faster, cheaper settlement layers like TRON continues unchecked. But for now, the market has its eyes on $5K ETH. Market Movers BTC: Bitcoin holds $119,943 (+0.4%) with bullish momentum intact, though resistance looms at $123K amid ETF outflows and ETH’s rally, according to CoinDesk's market insights bot. ETH: ETH is trading above $4600 as the possibility of a 50 bps rate cut looms large. Gold: Gold edged up to around $3,350 as U.S. inflation data reinforced Fed rate cut bets, while easing U.S.-China trade tensions limited gains. S&P 500: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs as July CPI data met expectations, boosting bets on a September Fed rate cut and lifting tech stocks. Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 1% after a record close Tuesday. Elsewhere in Crypto Polymarket active traders jump 18% as six-month slump ends, but average trade size falls (The Block) Top crypto VC Matt Huang to lead Stripe blockchain Tempo as CEO, stay at Paradigm (Fortune) Who is Patrick Witt, President Trump's Next Senior Adviser on Crypto? (CoinDesk)

13 Aug 2025, 01:39

Binance aligns with Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs in $250M crypto crime crackdown

Binance has become a member of a new anti-money laundering initiative to tackle terrorism financing and other criminal activity involving cryptocurrency. The partnership brings together high-profile industry players, including Tron and Tether, and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs in the fight against scams, hacks, and money laundering activity affecting billions of dollars in funds belonging to users and businesses around the globe. The team has yielded major dividends in less than a year. It has now frozen over $250 million in illegal cryptoassets (more than double the amount reported seized during their first six months). From major investment frauds and ransomware attacks to blackmailing and terror financing, these assets relate to everything. The achievement highlights the depth of the threat to the crypto sector and the increasingly adept nature of collaborative strike-back in a more organized fashion. T3 FCU freezes illicit crypto worldwide The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU) is a real-time system for tracking and dismantling illicit blockchain transactions through public-private collaboration. Founding members Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs work closely with law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat money laundering, investment fraud, extortion, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes. Pooling resources, the group monitored suspicious deals worth billions of dollars and intercepted high-value assets before disappearing into hidden channels. New figures from the group show the sums are frozen in generic terms, making up thousands of individual cases across over 100 countries. The new T3+ program broadens the reach of that unit by including exchanges, banks, and other industry participants to share intelligence in real time. The WEF has just announced that Binance will be the first to join, introducing global projects, which is a big step forward. Binance’s inaugural collaboration with T3 FCU saw the exchange freeze nearly $6 million tied to long-term online fraud dubbed a “pig butchering” scam, bilking victims into fake investments. This partnership will allow Binance compliance and security teams to work closely with T3 FCU analysts to help flag and freeze suspected funds faster than possible. The founder of Tron, Justin Sun, said the move would broaden existing and new collaborations to curb illicit activity on the blockchain in real time. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that bad actors have nowhere to hide on the blockchain when companies collaborate. Hackers speed up attacks, leaving less time to act The alliance is, notably, timely. More than $3 billion in crypto was stolen in the first half of 2025, according to a report from Swiss blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger. Some of this activity happens in seconds, as hackers have been known to clean out an account within less than 3 minutes from when they first breached it. Breach-to-funds-moved time averages 15 hours. The money is fully laundered in about 23% of cases before the public discovers the hack. The recovery rates are abysmal; in contrast, only 4.2% of the stolen funds were dealt with in the year’s first half. Theft prevention is where centralized exchanges become critical, but in a race against time. The report said that about 15% of the illegal cryptocurrency goes through these platforms, adding that compliance teams typically have around 10–15 minutes to block suspect trades before funds vanish. While in principle, T3 FCU has returned a lot of money, the means are inciting a lot of criticism from the crypto community. Tether froze $86k of stolen USDT. It was only last month that Tether popped up in the news headlines as it froze $86,000 of stolen USDT and prompted once again discussion over centralized control within an otherwise decentralized ecosystem. Finally, critics have cautioned that enabling stablecoin issuers and exchanges to freeze particular transactions could undermine user autonomy. However, supporters say it is an essential tool to shield victims and keep faith in the system. Industry leaders say that the best defence is to work together. Now that Binance is on board, T3 FCU likes to be in a position to respond faster and make the criminal community less agile. KEY Difference Wire : the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage

13 Aug 2025, 01:35

Metaplanet Inc. Expands Bitcoin Holdings by 518 BTC, Reinforcing Commitment to BTC-Centric Strategy

Metaplanet Inc. has acquired 518 BTC, valued at roughly $61.4 million, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 18,113 BTC, approximately $1.85 billion. This strong commitment underscores its Bitcoin-centric strategy and