BlockBeats will compile the key industry news for this week (8.4-8.10) and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and industry trends.

Important News Review

Ethereum Breaks $4,200, Reaching a New High for the Year, with Altcoins Surging

On August 9, Ethereum rose above $4,200, increasing by 2.92% within 3 minutes. Simultaneously, Ethereum-based Altcoins also experienced a widespread surge, including SSV rising 13.24% in 24 hours; ENA rising 12.46% in 24 hours; EIGEN rising 11.88% in 24 hours. Eric Trump, Donald Trump's second son, posted that "it's satisfying to see Ethereum shorts being crushed. Stop betting against Bitcoin and Ethereum—or you'll be mercilessly run over by the market." Related reading: 《Ethereum's Top Shill Master, Why Does He Say ETH Could Reach $15,000?》

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Blockchain Lending Company Figure Technology Submits IPO Application

On August 5th, according to The Information, blockchain lending company Figure Technology has secretly submitted an IPO application. Related reading: 《RWA Milestone, First RWA Coin Stock Figure About to be Listed》

Binance Lists Comprehensive Index USDT-Margined Perpetual Contract

On August 6th, Binance listed the ALL 75x Comprehensive Index USDT-Margined Perpetual Contract. This index tracks all perpetual contracts quoted in USDT on Binance, excluding: ETHBTC perpetual contract; USDT-margined contracts quoted in USDC or other stablecoins; USDT-margined delivery contracts; comprehensive index perpetual contracts; perpetual contract pre-market trading; and BTC-margined perpetual and delivery contracts. The Binance ALL Comprehensive Index is calculated using a weighted average of real-time index prices of all components.

Satoshi Nakamoto Statue in Lugano Thrown into Lake, Tether CEO Petitions Lugano City Government for Restoration

On August 3rd, it was reported that the Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland, was stolen. Later that evening, Satoshigallery, the statue's planner, stated that the Lugano City Government had assisted in retrieving the statue thrown into the lake. The statue, designed by Italian artist Valentina Picozzi, took 18 months of research and 3 months to build. On August 8th, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that they had collected 1000 signatures to petition the Lugano City Government, hoping to restore the Satoshi Nakamoto statue previously thrown into the lake. Related reading: 《Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Thrown into Lake, Is the 'European Crypto Dream' of Lugano Still Alive?》

Base Outage Report: Sequencer Not Correctly Set to Process Transactions, Total Downtime 33 Minutes

On August 6th, Base released an outage report, stating that it experienced a 33-minute block generation interruption on August 5th due to switching to a backup sequencer that was not correctly set to process transactions. The active sequencer began lagging in block generation, prompting Base's Conductor system, which manages sequencer availability and reliability, to switch sequencers. The network has fully recovered, with a total downtime of 33 minutes.

BAGS Founder Spends Around $800,000 to Auction Original Hat of Dogwifhat Meme

On August 8th, BAGS founder Finn spent 6.8 BTC (approximately $800,000) to auction the original hat of Dogwifhat Meme. Shiba Inu Achi is the prototype behind the "Dogwifhat" meme. This is the first and only time the physical hat of the meme has been publicly available, having never been sold before and potentially never to be sold again. To ensure its authenticity and legacy, the photo of Achi and his owner sitting behind the hat was inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain via Ordinals before the auction to verify its origin.

JD Responds to "Exiting Stablecoin Business" Rumor: It's a Rumor, Preparing to Apply for License

On August 5th, market rumors suggested that JD and others might exit the Hong Kong stablecoin business. In response, JD's JD Chain stated that they have noticed the market's false reports and rumors, and are preparing to apply for a Hong Kong stablecoin license.

Binance: EU Users Can Withdraw Crypto via Mastercard

On August 7th, Binance officially stated that European users can convert their cryptocurrencies to fiat and directly transfer/withdraw funds to eligible Mastercard cards.

Metamask Plans to Issue Stablecoin "Metamask USD" with Stripe

On August 6th, according to a governance proposal, MetaMask plans to launch a stablecoin called "MetaMask USD (mmUSD)" in collaboration with Stripe. The stablecoin will be issued by Stripe but will use the "M^0" network for off-chain issuance and settlement. This stablecoin is intended to be a core asset in the MetaMask ecosystem and natively integrated into MetaMask's services. Currently, neither MetaMask nor Stripe has provided official confirmation, and specific details about the stablecoin's structure, launch timeline, or regulatory aspects remain limited.

Caocao Travel Partners with Victory Securities to Explore RWA, Stablecoin Payments, and Compliant Digital Currency Issuance

On August 6th, Caocao Travel signed a virtual asset strategic cooperation memorandum with Hong Kong-licensed financial institution Victory Securities. The two parties will collaborate deeply in three areas: real-world asset tokenization, stablecoin payment applications, and compliant digital currency issuance. Caocao Travel's Executive Director and CEO Gong Xin stated that through blockchain technology and Web 3.0 innovative models, they will accelerate the asset tokenization process of the Robotaxi industry. The next day, Caocao Travel's stock price rose by over 20%, possibly influenced by this news.

Financial Times: Overseas Stock Trading Income Also Taxable, Strengthening Oversight of Personal Overseas Income

On August 4th, the Financial Times reported that taxpayers have recently received notifications from tax authorities requiring them to declare and pay taxes on overseas income. "According to China's individual income tax law, personal stock trading income is considered property transfer income and should be taxed at 20% per transaction. Among these, personal stock trading income on the domestic secondary market is temporarily exempt from individual income tax; however, overseas stock trading income has no tax exemption and must be declared and taxed in the year following the income acquisition."

This Week's Major Financing Rounds: OpenMind, SuperGaming, Rillet, Bit2Me

On August 4th, Silicon Valley-based intelligent machine infrastructure company OpenMind announced completing a $20 million financing round, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Ribbit, Sequoia China, Coinbase Ventures, and multiple notable angel investors.

On the 6th, game development studio SuperGaming completed a $15 million Series B financing round, led by Skycatcher and Steadview Capital, with participation from a16z Speedrun, valuing the company at $100 million.

On the 6th, AI-native ERP platform Rillet announced a $70 million Series B financing round, jointly led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and ICONIQ, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Oak HC/FT, and other early investors.

On the 7th, Tether announced the acquisition of a minority stake in digital asset platform Bit2Me and led a €30 million financing round, expected to be completed in the coming weeks. This financing will support Bit2Me's expansion in the EU and strengthen its operations in Latin America, especially Argentina.

This Week's Popular Articles

《When Securities Firms Set Their Sights on Crypto Trading》

Traditional finance is accelerating its entry into the crypto field. From Robinhood, Charles Schwab, Morgan Stanley to Standard Chartered, these giants are leveraging their compliant qualifications, massive user base, and clearing capabilities to erode the core advantages of crypto trading platforms, depriving them of "asset entry" dominance and forcing them to defend with coin and stock products while actively seeking compliant transformation. Although a few platforms like Bybit and Bitget have made regulatory breakthroughs in European markets, the industry is still anxiously exploring survival strategies, attempting to find new value and development space before being marginalized under the reshaping of traditional capital and institutional forces.

《How Much Does It Cost to Issue a Stablecoin?》

Stablecoins have become a focal point for global financial giants due to interest rate spreads and payment settlement potential. However, issuance is not a low-cost arbitrage, but rather a capital-intensive, high-threshold financial infrastructure that requires massive investment in compliance licenses, reserve custody, system maintenance, and distribution channels. Tether, with its first-mover advantage and deep ties with exchanges, dominates the global non-US market; USDC relies on Coinbase distribution, with insufficient circulation control; PYUSD, despite its brand and funds, struggles to retain users due to over-reliance on subsidies and lack of real-world scenarios. The key to stablecoin success lies in controlling clearing and payment networks, with institutions capable of creating a closed-loop funding system building long-term competitive moats.

《The 8,000 Lost Bitcoins That Trapped a Man's Life》

British engineer James Howells lost a fortune worth about $1 billion today after accidentally throwing away a hard drive containing 8,000 Bitcoin private keys while tidying his room in 2013. For 12 years since, he has continuously negotiated with the Newport City Council, filed lawsuits, proposed high-tech mining solutions, and even planned to buy the landfill, yet never received permission. The lost coin incident changed his career, family, and personality - he divorced his partner, his life became disordered, but he remains obsessed with finding the coins and plans to tokenize the BTC ownership through an ICO. This story has been frequently recounted in the crypto circle, making him synonymous with the "lost coins" legend.

(Note: I've translated the first two paragraphs as an example, following the specified translation guidelines.)

Ray Dalio reviewed the journey from starting in a basement in 1975 to building the world's largest hedge fund during Bridgewater's 50th anniversary celebration, summarizing the core philosophy of "pain + reflection = progress", and highlighting the key roles of diversified investment, principle-driven culture, and talent leverage. He shared experiences from major milestones such as misjudging the 1982 debt crisis, precisely responding to the 2008 financial crisis, and proposing solutions for the European debt crisis, emphasizing humility, proactive action, and transparent communication in uncertainty. Dalio also discussed Bridgewater's expansion debate from a boutique firm to an institutional organization, challenges in technology and team building, and the importance of pandemic response and team humanistic care.

《Solana to Build "On-Chain NASDAQ", Where Will AI Narrative Go?》

Against the backdrop of Ethereum's tenth-anniversary market recovery and intensifying competition, Solana is accelerating its technological and ecosystem layout, launching the Alpenglow upgrade comparable to Ethereum's PoS transition. It optimizes consensus mechanisms, lowers node thresholds, shortens transaction confirmation time to 150 milliseconds, and focuses on decentralized capital markets and high-performance DeFi through the ICM roadmap, targeting competitors like Hyperliquid and Sui. In the AI field, Solana possesses a complete ecosystem from early DePIN infrastructure and AI Agent applications to decentralized AI training and privacy computing. Despite heat being diverted, it still maintains strong competitiveness through high performance, low costs, good liquidity, and diverse ecosystem. Whether it can carry the "on-chain NASDAQ" and AI narratives remains to be tested by the market.

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Which Crypto Exchanges Will Go Public on US Stocks, and What Are Their Valuations?

Against the backdrop of more friendly regulatory policies in the United States and investors refocusing on crypto assets, Kraken, Gemini, and Bullish plan to go public in the US, aiming to replicate the successful IPO of Coinbase in 2021. As a benchmark, Coinbase has shifted from heavily relying on trading fees to diversified revenue streams such as custody, stablecoins, and staking, while maintaining a leading 49% spot trading volume. Kraken has rapidly grown its revenue and expanded its business, Bullish is characterized by institutional clients and global compliance, and Gemini is the smallest in scale with limited trading volume. The report points out that while trading volume is a core reference for valuation, some platforms have inflated volumes through repeated trading, and a comprehensive assessment is needed considering business structure and compliance level. In the future, trading platforms must reduce their dependence on market sentiment-driven trading fees and transform into comprehensive financial "super apps" to break through competition.

Will ZK Break the Blockchain Trilemma? Ethereum Aiming for 10,000 TPS

As Ethereum approaches its tenth anniversary, it reaches a turning point in scaling, with zero-knowledge proof (ZK) and zkEVM technology seen as key to achieving 10,000 transactions per second on L1. In the future, validators will no longer need to recalculate transactions individually, only verifying lightweight ZK proofs, significantly improving gas limits and TPS while maintaining decentralization and security. The roadmap plans to gradually integrate ZK verification on some clients, with periodic automatic gas limit increases, expected to reach 2,000 TPS within four years, and potentially entering the "GigaGas" era by 2031, collaborating with native Rollup and other L2 solutions to expand to millions of TPS, building a global "network of networks" architecture.

Tether May Issue a Dedicated Stablecoin in the US, What Are the Differences from USDT?

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that the Genius Act paves the way for entering the US market, with plans to launch a domestic stablecoin targeting the US market, differentiating from USDT's emerging market positioning, and expanding bank and institutional partnerships through its global distribution network. He noted that stablecoin infrastructure needs to improve user experience and gas payment methods, expecting the Genius Act to drive institutional adoption, and is optimistic about blockchain focused on settlement. Ardoino emphasized that Bitcoin is the best asset, gold has transitional value in high-point hedging and global financial reset, and warned of high leverage risks for some Bitcoin treasury companies.

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