Raw News Items
76 itemsAugust 21, 2026
- CryptoSlate
MANTRA Chain stays offline after exploit as Aug. 21 restart hinges on patch test
MANTRA Chain remained halted on Aug. 21 after the team said an attacker exploited a vulnerability in an upstream dependency. Transactions, transfers, and staking are unavailable while the mainnet is paused. MANTRA identified the vulnerable software only as an upstream dependency. In its official inc...
- CoinDeskScore: 90
Bitcoin pushes past $75,000 as rally continues.
"Bears in pain, right now," wrote bitcoin analyst James Check.
- CoinDeskScore: 90
Bitcoin, ether and solana climb as another $1 billion shorts get wiped out
The two-day short liquidation total has reached about $3.8 billion, after Thursday's figure set a record going back to 2021.
- CointelegraphScore: 90
Strategy Bitcoin treasury hits breakeven point as BTC price passes $77K
Bitcoin gains 20% in two days as Strategy sees its BTC treasury climb out of the red.
- DecryptScore: 90
Bitcoin Climbs Higher as $1.2 Billion in Shorts Liquidated
The largest cryptocurrency surged 7.9% in a day to around $77,000, triggering a short squeeze that wiped out roughly $1.21 billion in bearish bets amid a wave of favorable news from Washington.
- DecryptScore: 90
Washington Goes All-In on Crypto: Trump Pushes Clarity, SEC Rules, and CFTC Warnings
Trump urged executives to pass a "fair version" of the Clarity Act, the CFTC warned it would write its own rules if the bill stalls, and the SEC abruptly advanced its first crypto fundraising framework.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Ethereum’s next upgrade turns a 2-second block bottleneck into a roughly 9-second window
Ethereum node operators now have an active public network for rehearsing Glamsterdam’s coordinated execution- and consensus-client upgrade. Platåberget has an open, permissionless validator set, turning the upgrade into a practical test of whether client pairs, validators, builders, and supporting i...
- The BlockScore: 85
Bitcoin breaks through $75,500 while analyst calls current rally ‘premature’
Shawn Young, chief analyst at MEXC Research, said that the crypto market is giving Treasury's intervention 'more credit than it deserves.'
- The BlockScore: 85
MANTRA freezes all transactions and network following unspecified incident
MANTRA Chain has halted the network and all transactions after discovering an incident, the nature of which remains undisclosed.
- CoinDeskScore: 85
Live updates: Bitcoin, ether ETFs pull in $800 million as inflows surge for a second day
Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $606 million on Aug. 20 and ether funds $221 million, both bigger than the prior day, confirming the institutional bid behind bitcoin's run.
- CointelegraphScore: 85
Bitcoin ETFs draw $608M as Ether ETFs see largest inflow since October
Bitcoin ETF inflows pushed August’s total to a 2026 high of $2.07 billion as Bitcoin traded above $75,000 and Ether climbed to $2,357.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Sudden 22% XRP rally triggers forced market wide short-buying, driving XRP toward a make-or-break resistance test
XRP jumped roughly 22% in 24 hours, trading near $1.26 and clearing the level CryptoSlate had flagged in July as the upside target of its breakout setup. That July framework had put $1.18 as the breakout line, with open interest surging as traders positioned for the move. XRP has now cleared the $1....
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Bitcoin is closing in on $80,000 and already destroyed a record $4 billion in short bets
Bitcoin surged toward $80,000 on Friday, extending a three-day rally that has liquidated more than $4 billion in bearish bets and pushed the cryptocurrency to a three-month high. Data from CryptoSlate shows Bitcoin climbed as high as $78,449, gaining more than 10% over the past 24 hours before easin...
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
US rule rewrite looms for $200B on-chain venue Hyperliquid as Trump signals onshore approval
President Donald Trump said Aug. 19 that CFTC Chair Michael Selig is working to bring Hyperliquid to the US in a fully compliant, legal way. Hyperliquid's official interface currently keeps US persons off the platform, part of the regulatory geography that let crypto's largest perpetual futures venu...
- DecryptScore: 85
Morning Minute: CFTC Will Give Crypto Clarity If Congress Won’t
Meanwhile crypto majors and alts continue to soar, with BTC nearing $80k and alts like Pump and ZEC putting up big candles.
- DecryptScore: 85
Bitcoin ETFs Just Had Their Biggest Day Since May—BlackRock Took 83% of It
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $606 million Thursday, the biggest haul since May. And altcoin funds finally showed up too.
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
The latest $1.61 billion crypto ETF surge risks grinding to a halt against a 30-year US Treasury yield spike
Four consecutive sessions of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have revived a regulated demand channel just as the U.S. Treasury offered investors a 2.973% real yield for nearly three decades. The ETF complex drew $1.61 billion from Aug. 17 through Aug. 20, according to Farside Investors. On Aug. 20, Tr...
- CryptoSlateScore: 85
Unresolved $11 million liquidity crash leaves pools exposed as attacker still holds 20.83 BTC on Maya Protocol
The suspected Bitcoin address at the center of Maya Protocol’s Aug. 18 exploit still held about 20.8273 BTC with no outgoing spend on Aug. 21, while no published recovery plan accounted for the much larger estimated impact across the cross-chain liquidity protocol’s pools. Related Reading MAYAChain'...
- DecryptScore: 85
Coldcard Adds New Security Measures After $130 Million Bitcoin Exploit
Coinkite's latest firmware requires users to add their own randomness when generating wallet seeds and fixes additional security issues uncovered during a three-week review.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
Bitcoin tops $77,000 as best week since 2023 pulls altcoins along for the ride
BTC has gained 24% since Monday and reached the level implied by its inverse head-and-shoulders break, with shorts still taking a contrarian position.
- CoinDeskScore: 80
Coldcard ships firmware after $114 million bitcoin theft; says AI helped catch more bugs
Three weeks of review turned up problems unrelated to the flaw that cost users $114 million, but updating still does not make a compromised wallet safe.
- CointelegraphScore: 80
Laser Digital gets Japan’s first crypto exchange approval in 4 years
Nomura-backed Laser Digital Japan received registration to provide domestic liquidity before expanding into institutional crypto trading.
- CointelegraphScore: 80
Bitcoin rally sends crypto stocks soaring as miners, treasury companies jump
Bitcoin’s rally above $79,000 lifted miners and treasury companies, with Canaan, Strive and Metaplanet posting double-digit gains as crypto stocks surged.
- DecryptScore: 80
Strategy Swings From $13 Billion Bitcoin Loss to $1.4 Billion Profit as BTC Rallies
The Bitcoin treasury giant is sitting on roughly $1.4 billion in unrealized gains after Bitcoin climbed above its average acquisition price.
- DecryptScore: 80
Wall Street and Washington Fuel Bitcoin Rally: Here's What's Going On
Institutional buying, improving macro conditions and a friendlier regulatory outlook are supporting Bitcoin's rally, while billions in short liquidations have accelerated the move.
- The BlockScore: 80
Grayscale moves closer to launching first Zcash ETF in US with fresh amended SEC filing
Grayscale is inching closer to launching its Zcash ETF, filing another amendment with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
- The BlockScore: 75
South Korea’s Shinhan partners with Solana Foundation, Etherfuse, Orca for tokenized fund issuance
The agreement covers a proof-of-concept for the issuance and distribution of a Korean won-denominated tokenized fund.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
Attackers drove 63% of early use of Ethereum’s new smart wallet feature
Ethereum's shortcut to smart wallet behavior arrived with a new trust problem: a wallet can make a regular address programmable without moving the user's assets, while the delegated code gains power to act with that account's authority. A peer-reviewed study released for USENIX Security '26 found th...
- CoinDeskScore: 75
Strategy sits on $1.4 billion profit on bitcoin holdings as price surges
Strategy’s common stock rose 10% in Friday pre-market trading to $120, the highest level in two months.
- DecryptScore: 75
Binance Opens the Door to AI Agents That Can Trade Crypto for You
Binance Agent OS connects tools like ChatGPT and Claude directly to the exchange's markets, though safeguards wall agents off from user funds—and leave much of the oversight to users themselves.
- The BlockScore: 75
Bitcoin surge toward $80K points to liquidity-driven momentum shift as ETF flows rebound: Bernstein
U.S. spot bitcoin ETF flows have also rebounded, while Strategy's bitcoin holdings are now back above their average purchase price.
- CointelegraphScore: 75
Standard Chartered wavers on $100K Bitcoin year-end call, says it may be ‘too low’
Standard Chartered’s Geoff Kendrick said Bitcoin could move toward its $126,000 all-time high after Oct. 6 as spot Bitcoin ETF inflows recover.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
US expands Iran-linked hacking case to 17 defendants over HBO’s $6 million Bitcoin ransom plot
US prosecutors have expanded an eight-year-old hacking case tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, adding eight defendants and linking six of them to the 2017 HBO breach that included a $6 million Bitcoin extortion attempt. A 14-count second superseding indictment unsealed Aug. 18 charges...
- The BlockScore: 75
BounceBit to sunset blockchain, migrate to BNB Chain after $3 million exploit
The attacker transferred approximately 286.5 million BB from nine wallets before block production was eventually halted.
- CointelegraphScore: 75
Onchain, in court: What happened in crypto legal news this week
The CFTC ordered a trading ban for former Alameda and FTX executives, and US prosecutors opposed a motion from a US soldier accused of profiting from the removal of Nicolas Maduro.
- CryptoSlateScore: 75
Trump-backed $4 billion USD1 stablecoin has wallet powers its own GitHub does not show
Justin Sun escalated his public fight with Donald Trump-backed World Liberty Financial on Friday, accusing its USD1 stablecoin of carrying administrative powers that allow privileged operators to move funds from frozen wallets without holder consent. On Aug. 21, the Tron founder alleged that World L...
- CoinDeskScore: 75
Crypto advocates join in suing Illinois over digital asset tax
The Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association added another lawsuit against the state for its recently approved 0.2% crypto tax.
- CoinDeskScore: 70
A $2 million bet on XRP volatility crosses the tape as prices surge
An options trader opened a large straddle on XRP, betting on wild price swings by Aug. 28.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
South Korean lawmakers seek expanded FIU powers over unregistered crypto firms
The proposal would let the FIU investigate suspected violations and refer unregistered crypto operators directly to law enforcement.
- The BlockScore: 70
Upbit trading volume spikes 273% as South Korean investors re-enter crypto
One analyst said South Korean capital is slowly moving back to crypto, as investors are 'return-chasing' rather than 'asset-loyal.'
- CoinDeskScore: 70
Nomura-backed Laser Digital wins Japan's first crypto approval in four years
Laser Digital Japan will offer liquidity to domestic crypto providers, with institutional trading services planned to follow as the appetite for crypto in Japan grows.
- CoinDeskScore: 70
The hard truth is that the Clarity Act is an anti-crypto bill
After years of stalled bills, misguided enforcement, and catastrophic collapses, almost any comprehensive crypto legislation began to look like progress. But Clarity is turning that hunger for progress into a political trap, argues Berkeley Law lecturer Hermine Wong.
- The BlockScore: 70
AI adoption in crypto crime rose 40% over the past year, TRM Labs says
Crypto hackers are quickly picking up on AI developments to discover overlooked vulnerabilities and infiltrate IT firms, the report said.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Solana cuts blockchain slot time to 350 milliseconds
Solana reduced its slot time for the first time since genesis as it works toward a 200-millisecond target aimed at reducing network latency.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Crypto Biz: Treasury’s ‘Not-QE’ playbook sends Bitcoin higher
Bitcoin rallied as Treasury bond buybacks fueled the “not-QE” trade, while Metaplanet expanded to the US and Cypherpunk made a $33 million Zcash mining bet.
- CoinDeskScore: 70
Ethena's ENA token surges 48%, but altcoin season will have to wait
ENA is rallying on a $1 billion FalconX deal, while HYPE tests its record, though flat dominance shows this is no broad alt season.
- The BlockScore: 70
XRP leads broad altcoin rally as bitcoin’s biggest weekly gain in two years lifts crypto
Amid this week's crypto rally, HYPE is up nearly 40%, while other altcoins such as XRP, ZEC and LINK have risen over 30%.
- CointelegraphScore: 70
Bitcoin seeks support near $77K as BTC, gold near 100-day highs
Bitcoin volatility eased after BTC hit its highest level since mid-May, while gold joined the cryptocurrency in approaching three-month highs.
- CryptoSlateScore: 70
A $22.9 million capital deficit threatens to derail an energy firm’s pivot to off-grid Bitcoin mining
Olenox Industries is an energy company that acquired Bitcoin miner CS Digital Ventures in May. It reported preliminary July production of 15.13 BTC against a June 30 balance sheet. The balance sheet carried $1.21 million of cash and $26.26 million of current liabilities. However, the output had a gr...
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
SEC’s latest crypto rules only open a few of Wall Street’s ‘million doors’ – Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan doesn't think Washington's crypto-friendly turn is the moment that completely unlocks Wall Street. In an interview with CryptoSlate, he described the real barrier as something far less dramatic than a single landmark bill. The “brutal real answer” is that it comes...
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
Justin Sun keeps World Liberty fight public as its $4 billion stablecoin bank awaits final approval
Justin Sun said on Aug. 20 that a California federal judge rejected World Liberty Financial's attempt to force all of his claims into private arbitration, keeping his individual allegations in open court. The public docket confirms World Liberty filed a motion to compel arbitration and a separate mo...
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
Bitcoin miners are getting a new AI hedge, but it may protect them from the wrong risk
The US derivatives regulator is exploring a market for futures tied to AI computing power just as Bitcoin miners pour hundreds of millions of dollars into data centers, but the contracts may leave their biggest risks untouched. On Aug. 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) opened a con...
- CryptoSlateScore: 65
Holders face permanent token destruction with no guarantee of value as deadline looms for Shade’s privacy protocol
Shade Protocol says only SHD burned before 18:00 UTC on Aug. 21 will qualify for a future Feather allocation, leaving holders hours to choose whether to permanently destroy their tokens for undisclosed terms. The deadline comes amid Shade’s wind-down of its Secret Network applications. Holders enter...
- DecryptScore: 65
Solana Just Got Faster—Is It Bullish for SOL?
Solana has activated the first reduction in its block timing since launch, speeding up transactions on the network.
- CoinDeskScore: 60
MANTRA token plunges 18% to record low as blockchain halts after exploit
The token touched $0.004126 minutes before the network stopped producing blocks, while MANTRA later said an attacker exploited a vulnerability in software used by the chain.
- CoinDeskScore: 60
Treasury's latest measure isn't QE or YCC. Still, bitcoin is skyrocketing. Here's why.
The rally in hard assets isn’t necessarily about what the Treasury is doing, but what its move signals to the market.
- CointelegraphScore: 60
Coldcard strengthens seed generation with firmware update
Coinkite urged Coldcard users to generate new seed phrases, warning that existing vulnerable seeds remain unsafe despite the security upgrade.
- CointelegraphScore: 60
Binance says employees questioned in UAE cleared and released
Binance’s employees were cleared and released after providing statements to UAE authorities about third-party fund flows through a company client account, a spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
- CryptoSlateScore: 60
This Nasdaq-listed crypto firm is swapping fresh Ethereum buys for an AI pivot
Intchains Group is pulling back from fresh Ethereum purchases after its first-half revenue collapsed by 94% and is now focused on redirecting capital toward a new mining chip and early-stage AI initiatives. On Aug. 20, the Nasdaq-listed altcoin mining-machine maker said revenue fell to RMB11.1 milli...
- CointelegraphScore: 60
Ray Dalio says to buy ‘a bit’ of Bitcoin amid potential debt crisis
The hedge fund founder with an estimated net worth of $15 billion recommended that investors overweight Bitcoin and gold rather than bonds.
- The BlockScore: 55
Strategy shares hit two-month high as STRC rebounds toward $100 alongside bitcoin
Amid a two-month puase on BTC buys, Strategy shares (MSTR) rallied alongside bitcoin as STRC continued its recovery toward its $100 target.
- CointelegraphScore: 50
Capital.com plans UAE spot crypto services after affiliate wins licence
UAE clients will be able to buy and hold crypto through Capital.com’s app, expanding beyond price exposure through contracts for difference.
- CointelegraphScore: 50
MANTRA token sinks 18% to record low amid blockchain halt
The token recovered to about $0.0044 after setting a new low, while exchanges paused deposits and withdrawals from the halted MANTRA Chain.
- CoinDeskScore: 50
Analysts split on whether Bitcoin's surge past key levels signals a new bull run
Market watchers say sudden sharp price spikes and forced short liquidations are the classic signs of a bottom, though macro risks still remain.
- DecryptScore: 50
XRP Erases Its Most Bearish Signal—And the Ripple-Linked Coin Is Flying
The token spent all August trapped under a bearish crossover. Today it closed above both moving averages for the first time since the pattern formed.
- CointelegraphScore: 50
Digital Asset, Paul Ryan foundation target US state benefits with Canton pilot
The RISE program would use the Canton Network to combine and distribute state-administered benefits across three US states beginning in 2027.
- CoinDeskScore: 50
Pass the Clarity Act
Reopening a settled provision four weeks before a vote would sink the bill, argues Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association.
- CointelegraphScore: 50
Bitget CEO sees Bitcoin near current levels at year-end, doubts US will buy BTC
Gracy Chen says macroeconomic uncertainty could keep Bitcoin within $10,000 to $20,000 of current levels, while US government purchases remain unlikely within the next two years.
- CoinDeskScore: 45
Ripple backs an RLUSD credit fund amid XRP's best week in months
Clearpool and Cicada Partners are building an institutional lending product using RLUSD, though the XRP Ledger features underpinning it are still awaiting activation.
- CryptoSlateScore: 40
Zcash miner buys 9.4% of merger target that warns failed deal could end in liquidation
Fortitude Mining, Digital Currency Group's Zcash-focused miner, bought a 9.4% stake in Nasdaq-listed HeartSciences for about $1 million, giving its proposed merger partner cash for operating expenses while shareholder approval remains pending. The Aug. 12 private placement covered 411,522 HeartScien...
- CryptoSlateScore: 40
BTCS used Ethereum to repay Aave debt and ended Q2 with just $317,000 in cash
Nasdaq-listed Ethereum infrastructure company BTCS swapped ETH into USDT to pay down Aave loans in the second quarter and ended June 30 with $317,113 in cash and stablecoins. It also held about $88.1 million in other current digital-asset categories, making the issue less a lack of assets than how m...
- The BlockScore: 40
Anchorage CEO says AI agents need bank accounts for ‘The Jetsons’-like future
The firm has built an agentic banking platform with a 'know-your-agent' setup to facilitate AI-driven transactions.
- The BlockScore: 40
Avalanche’s Nahas: Token prices are down, but ‘I’ve never seen more opportunities’ in crypto
Ava Labs CBO John Nahas says crypto prices are down, but real-world adoption is creating more opportunities across the sector.
- The BlockScore: 40
Crypto is still in ‘winter’ price-wise but it’s an ‘institutional summer,’ STS Digital CEO says
STS Digital CEO Maxime Seiler says token prices have lagged institutional adoption as bitcoin futures basis converges toward risk-free rates.
- DecryptScore: 30
Most Americans Say Trump's Crypto Profits Cross the Line: Poll
A Reuters/Ipsos survey found 63% of Americans view the Trump family's crypto profits as inappropriate, with even half of the president's fellow Republicans saying his business interests sway his decisions.
- CoinDeskScore: 20
Bitcoin faces $80,000 test as thinner weekend liquidity looms
Your day-ahead look for Aug. 21, 2026