Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Crypto prices slide after PPI report, Gemini launches wallet and onchain dashboard, Vietnam police bust billion-dollar crypto Ponzi ring, FBI warns of fake law firms now trying to scam, Dorsey’s Block has two new product launches that are turning heads, and so much

It’s Finally FRIDAY - Let’s dive in 🍻

Market Snapshot

• Bitcoin price experienced a significant pullback to $118,000 after briefly surpassing Google’s market capitalization to become the world’s fifth-largest asset, highlighting Bitcoin’s growing institutional prominence despite continued volatility

• Ethereum's price is down -3% to $4,600, despite a strong performance over the past month

  • Market analysts warn of potential cooling in Ethereum's rally as profit-taking increases

• U.S. inflation data impacts market sentiment, affecting both cryptocurrency and traditional markets

• Bettors on Kalshi are predicting who will attend Trump and Putin’s meeting today

• Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi

• Sign up with code LIT and get a $20 bonus when you trade $100

Headline Roundup
^{_{The major headlines driving crypto markets}}

• US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says “we are not going to be buying Bitcoin” in new interview - see interview here

• Crypto prices quickly slide after troubling U.S. PPI report - full report here

• Google reverses course, says non-custodial crypto wallets can stay on play Store (TD)

• Ethereum suited for 'Meteoric' stablecoin growth, JPMorgan says (DC)

• Bitwise CIO outlines four catalysts the crypto market hasn’t priced in (TB)

• Ark Invest buys $172M in Bullish, stock soars 83% on NYSE debut (TB)

• 180 Life Sciences soars after $349M Ether bet (TD)

• Canary Capital registers Trump Coin ETF in Delaware (CT)

• Stablecoins Poised to Capture $1T in Global Payments by 2030 (TD)

• Ethereum ICO whale offloads another $5M worth of ETH (TB)

• Norway’s sovereign wealth fund ups indirect Bitcoin exposure in 2025 (CT)

• TeraWulf Jumps 22% on $3.7B AI hosting deal (CD)

• Solana-compatible Star Atlas L1 plots December launch (BW)

• Monero’s network faced unusual activity this week after smaller-cap blockchain project Qubic revealed a brief takeover of Monero’s mining power (TD)

• Former Pump.fun employee Jarett Dunn has pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position, as well as transfer of criminal property (DC)

• Nasdaq-listed Bit Digital reports Q2 revenue drop amid pivot to Ethereum treasury strategy (TB)

Venture Capital

• Crypto funding tops $6B in July (BW)

• USD.AI raises $13M to expand GPU-backed stablecoin lending Led by Framework Ventures with participation from Dragonfly, Arbitrum and others (CD)

M&A Announcements

• Coinbase completes $2.9B cash-and-stock acquisition of Deribit (TB)

• KindlyMD and Nakamoto officially merge, plans to buy one million BTC (BM)

Launches

• Crypto exchange Gemini launches wallet and onchain dashboard for trading and investing (TB)

• Block, Inc. has unveiled Proto Rig, a bitcoin mining system, and Proto Fleet, a free and open-source fleet management software platform (BM)

• Spar launches nationwide stablecoin and crypto payments in Switzerland (CT)

Cybersecurity

• Vietnam police bust billion-dollar crypto Ponzi ring behind Paynet Coin scam (CT)

• Coinbase loses $300K in MEV exploit after misstep with 0x swapper contract (CD)

• BtcTurk halts withdrawals amid suspected $48M crypto hack (CT)

• Fake law firms targeting crypto scam victims, FBI warns (DC)

• Turkish crypto exchange BtcTurk witnesses $48M of suspicious outflows amid hack fears (CD)

• Police have detained convicted drug trafficker Tomas Jirikovsky and seized assets in connection with a $45M Bitcoin donation to the Czech Ministry of Justice (DC)

Extra Reads

• Lost your crypto password or seed phrase? Here’s what actually works in 2025

• Long-term holders have accelerated their selling, impacting market momentum - Here’s who Is Cashing Out of Bitcoin at Record Highs Above $120K

• Someone counter-hacked a North Korean IT worker - Here’s what they found

Chart of the Day

The Axiom trading bot continues to dominate the trading bot market, regardless of which launchpad is winning. Axiom has grown to 60% market share since its inception in February.

Meme Dump

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