Fantom experienced a 17% increase in value, positioning it as the leading performer in the cryptocurrency market.
Fantom (FTM), a blockchain platform optimized for decentralized finance applications, soared 17% in value on the morning of Aug. 22, exchanging hands at $0.461 per price data from crypto.news. The crypto asset’s daily trading volume jumped more than double from the past day, hovering around $284 million, while its market cap stood at $1.29 billion, ranking it 62nd among the top largest cryptocurrencies.
FTM 24-hour price chart– Aug. 22 | Source: crypto.news
The token’s price has jumped by 67% since its drop to $0.276 on Aug. 5, when the crypto and stock markets crashed, leading to over $1 billion in liquidations. Despite the latest price surge, FTM is still down 86.6% from its all-time high of $3.46 recorded in October 2021.
Fantom‘s current price at $0.4621 positions it above the upper Bollinger Band at $0.4520, signaling a potential breakout from typical volatility levels. This position above both the middle band at $0.3655 and the upper band suggests an unusual upward momentum in the market, indicative of a strong bullish sentiment.
FTM Bollinger Band and RSI – Aug. 22 | Source: crypto.news
Given that FTM price exceeds the upper Bollinger Band, there could be concerns about the asset becoming overbought, but the Relative Strength Index at 61.93, while elevated, still does not firmly categorize the asset as overbought, which would typically be indicated by an RSI over 70. This suggests that while the buying momentum is strong, there may still be room for upward movement before the asset enters potentially overbought territory.
The scenario reflects a market that has possibly reacted to positive stimuli, propelling the price above usual resistance levels but not yet to a point of reversal based on overbuying. This can attract further interest from traders looking to capitalize on the momentum, potentially pushing the price even higher in the short term.
However, traders should also be cautious of any rapid changes that could lead to a quick retracement if the price adjusts back into the normal range of the Bollinger Bands.
Drift, an on-chain trading protocol, has introduced prediction markets as part of its expanding suite of products.
The Solana (SOL)-based platform revealed its new predictions market feature in an announcement on Aug. 19.
Drift’s prediction market product will function similarly to Polymarket, offering users the chance to bet on the outcome of events such as the U.S. election. However, Drift’s B.E.T goes a step further by integrating decentralized finance.
With Drift’s B.E.T, users can earn yield on their bet trades as the event unfolds and reaches its resolution. Additionally, users can hedge their predictions through “structured bets,” allowing them to go long on a prediction market while simultaneously shorting Bitcoin (BTC).
Unlike Polymarket, which offers prediction trades via the USDC (USDC) stablecoin on Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC), Drift supports over 30 tokens, including yield-generating stablecoins and liquid staking tokens on Solana.
Growing predictions market
Drift’s announcement of its prediction market on Solana follows the protocol’s unveiling of an earn product and election center in July. The election center allows political meme coin enthusiasts to swap $TREMP and $KAMA meme coins.
Prediction markets continue to attract attention, especially with the upcoming U.S. elections and other significant events around the world.
For example, Polymarket currently has more than $624 million in bets on the 2024 U.S. presidential election. As of Aug. 19 at 11:40 am ET, Kamala Harris has recently surged ahead, with 51% of trades in her favor, while 47% of traders see Donald Trump winning a second term in the November election.
It’s been an “exceptionally eventful month” for Bitcoin (BTC). BTC whale transactions reached a four-month high while the market “purged” short-term holders. The unrealized losses for speculators touched crypto assets worth millions of US dollars. Such wipeouts reiterate the pressing need to foster long-term adoption.
Meanwhile, investors are ‘buying the dip,’ and spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded some of the highest single-day inflows.
So, the short-term bleeding and apparent mayhem coexist with overall bullishness and demand. And as David Canellis of Blockworks recently wrote:
“…We may be finally ready to put the worst dramas in crypto history to bed, for good.”
Rising above the typical numbers-go-higher (or lower) view, Bitcoin is experiencing a renaissance, mainly from the asset perspective: It’s outgrowing the ‘digital gold’ image and expanding on the utility front.
BTC is finally a ‘productive asset’ thanks to the evolution of Bitcoin defi, or BTCfi. Plus, Layer-2s like Stacks bring programmability to the world’s most decentralized and secure blockchain. Bitcoin is becoming the home for new-age dApps—Stacks is dominating this $1 trillion opportunity. And there’s a lesson in being early and consistent here.
Slowly at first, then all at once
Bitcoin and the economics it supports are based on the principle of low-time preference. It’s a feature, not a bug. Rome was not built in a day. But it is easy to lose sight of this reality amidst all the noise in crypto.
BTCfi started getting the hype and attention it deserves after Ordinals and BRC20 launched in 2023. They were indeed the first practical evidence that Bitcoin can be much more than a store of value. Yet the primitives for a fully functional BTCfi have been in production for much longer. Stacks launched in 2013, for instance, and created Clarity in 2021, the programming language for Bitcoin-compatible smart contracts.
More importantly, they developed the proof of transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism, enabling L2 chains to inherit Bitcoin’s security without additional energy expenditure.
“People have attributed the paucity of innovation to a lack of #BTC functionality…But is there another way? A way to bring smart contracts more directly to Bitcoin without needing changes in the core?
These early innovations laid the foundation for the now-booming Bitcoin L2 ecosystem, which currently has over $2 billion in TVL. Nevertheless, the need to scale Bitcoin on the second layer became truly apparent only when Runes sent the network’s fees through the roof after the halving.
Remember when we told you that Bitcoin fees will do a 500x?
Yeah we’ve been working on Bitcoin L2s for a reason. Happy halving everyone!
That’s the nature of lasting technological change. They emerge slowly at first, then all at once. And when that happens, visionaries who thanklessly build real solutions—before others even start caring—hit the home run.
Is it working or not? — That’s the question
Despite its merits, being early is not the endgame. The crypto community has seen enough lip service over the years. They want actual results now. It ultimately boils down to the question of impact, and that’s great.
Most existing Bitcoin L2s fail to solve the Impossible Trinity. They are either loosely linked to the Bitcoin L1 at best or highly centralized at worst. Only a few projects like Stacks have made the right trade-offs, even if that meant angering a few maxis. Commitment to the core Bitcoin ethos separates L2s that are hosting dApps and those relying solely on marketing gimmicks or speculative price action.
Stacks took a giant leap forward in this direction with its performance-enhancing Nakamoto Release with a trustless two-way BTC pegging mechanism, a.k.a. sBTC. The impact of this move is reflected in Stacks’ growing number of monthly active accounts, which reached an all-time high of over 1.2 million in Q2 2024.
Moreover, Stacks currently has a TVL of over $68 million, as most of the top Bitcoin dApps are building on this platform. Slowly yet steadily, they are helping improve Bitcoin’s TVL-to-market-cap ratio, which was a mere 0.2% in May 2024, vs. Ethereum’s 17%.
Alongside the evolution of Bitcoin dApps, top VCs and investors are backing the production of AI-powered interoperability and bridging solutions. These tools will further improve Bitcoin’s liquidity situation. AI Agents, for example, will allow users to seamlessly move funds to the Bitcoin ecosystem even without complex technical understanding or know-how. This means they can better integrate Bitcoin dApps into their workflows while simultaneously benefitting from other chains.
It won’t be a zero-sum game anymore, which is great for holistic growth. Given such developments, the next ‘defi Summer’ on Bitcoin is a tangible, almost imminent reality. It’s no longer an optimist’s fantasy.
BTCfi has found its inflection drivers, and it can soon become at least as big as defi on Ethereum. Ideally, though, it can be way bigger thanks to Bitcoin’s over 54% market dominance.
The biggest appeal of BTCfi innovations is that they primarily enhance and expand the underlying native asset. It is not a zero-sum game where projects extract the maximum value at the cost of end-users and devs.
Rather, it’s a collective effort to ensure grassroots empowerment and financial freedom. Bitcoin-based dApps are the means to a greater end. They represent a philosophy where tech becomes the engine for individual sovereignty and freedom, not just an enabler of selfish, short-term gains. It’s a question of bringing meaningful change to the lives of the next one billion crypto users and beyond. That will lead to a better world, financially and otherwise.
Analysts at Chainalysis say illicit blockchain activity has dropped nearly 20% YTD, yet stolen funds and ransomware inflows continue to rise.
Illicit crypto activity has declined nearly 20% year-to-date, a positive sign for the growing legitimacy of the sector, according to a mid-year report from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
Despite the decline, there are still concerning trends in specific types of cybercrime, the firm noted, saying that funds stolen in crypto heists nearly doubled to $1.58 billion and ransomware inflows rose by 2% to $459.8 million in the first half of 2024.
Hacking activity since January 2024 | Source: Chainalysis
Chainalysis attributes the surge in stolen funds to a resurgence in attacks on centralized exchanges, pausing a trend where hackers had focused on decentralized finance. The New York-headquartered firm noted that while the overall number of hacking incidents has only “marginally outpaced” that of 2023, the average value stolen per event has soared by nearly 80% in 2024, driven partly by rising crypto prices.
“The average amount of value compromised per event has increased by 79.46%, rising from $5.9M per event from January to July of 2023 to $10.6M per event thus far in 2024, based on the value of the assets at the time of theft.”
Chainalysis
Ransomware also continues to be a persistent threat, with 2024 on track to surpass last year’s record $1 billion in ransom payments. Chainalysis says 2024 has seen the largest ransomware payment ever recorded at approximately $75 million to the Dark Angels ransomware group.
Maximum ransom payment by year | Source: Chainalysis
The ransomware landscape has fragmented somewhat following law enforcement actions against major players like ALPHV/BlackCat and LockBit. However, some affiliates have migrated to less effective strains or launched new ones, increasingly targeting “larger businesses,” according to the report.
Chainalysis cautions that while the overall decline in illicit activity is encouraging, the continued rise in stolen funds and ransomware payments underscores the evolving tactics of cybercriminals.
Elephant in the room
Centralized crypto exchanges are not only frequent targets for hackers but also play a significant role in laundering stolen assets. Chainalysis previously found that trading platforms have received nearly $100 billion worth of crypto from known illicit addresses since 2019, pointing to a troubling lack of international cooperation on anti-money laundering efforts.
According to the firm, nearly 30% of all crypto from illicit addresses eventually ends up at sanctioned services, including the Russian exchange Garantex. The peak was in 2022, when $30 billion of “dirty crypto” interacted with such services, underscoring the persistent challenges in combating crypto-based money laundering.
As rumors swirl about the Trump Organization’s new crypto initiative, the company’s president Eric Trump hints it will involve “digital real estate.”
The Trump Organization, the real estate powerhouse led by the family of former President Donald Trump, is reportedly gearing up for a new foray into the crypto space.
In an Aug. 14 interview with the New York Post, Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, provided a glimpse into the upcoming project, indicating that it will focus on “digital real estate.” While he did not clarify whether this would involve non-fungible tokens, tokenized real-world assets, or another type of digital property, he hinted at the venture’s potential impact, suggesting it could introduce a new form of “collateral” that “anyone can get access to and do so instantly.”
“I don’t know if people realize what a shake up that is for the world of banking and finance. I hope we can help change that.”
Eric Trump
He further emphasized the potential social impact of the initiative, noting that “over half” of the U.S. population “cannot be banked.” Per Eric Trump, the technology behind this new venture could enable individuals to be “almost instantaneously” approved or denied for loans based on mathematical assessments, rather than traditional banking policies.
The Trump Organization teases defi venture
In early August, Donald Trump Jr. published a post on X, saying the crypto market should be ready for an announcement that will “shake up” the ecosystem. Meanwhile, Eric Trump confessed in a separate X post that he had truly fallen in love with crypto/DeFi” and that a big development around this was coming.
Adding to the speculation, real estate mogul and Trump ally Steve Witkoff posted on X, praising the potential of crypto and decentralized finance. The crypto community has been abuzz with theories that the Trump Organization might be planning a project related to RWA, possibly allowing investors to purchase tokenized shares of Trump’s real estate holdings. However, the company has yet to make any official statements confirming these rumors.
Renzo Protocol is expanding its liquid restaking expertise to the Jito ecosystem on Solana.
According to an announcement on Aug. 14, Protocol revealed it was launching ezSOL, the first liquid restaking token on Solana (SOL).
Having made inroads in the decentralized finance world with liquid restaking expertise for Ethereum (ETH)-based protocols EigenLayer and Symbiotic, Renzo is now taking the LRT market further forward with ezSOL on the Jito (JTO) Network.
ezSOL joins ezETH and pzETH, the LRTs on EigenLayer and Symbiotic, respectively.
The launch of the new liquid restaking token is in collaboration with the Jito Foundation.
What’s the big deal?
Renzo is Ethereum’s third-largest liquid restaking protocol by total value locked. According to DeFiLlama, Renzo’s TVL is currently over $1.29 billion, trailing Puffer Finance with over $1.33 billion and ether.fi with over $5 billion.
Meanwhile, Jito Network is a platform that allows users to earn from maximum extractable value (MEV) and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols on Solana. This focus on MEV and DeFi is powered by JitoSOL, the largest liquid staking token in the Solana ecosystem.
Renzo seeks to bring maximum value for these stakers, and the restaking option offers just that. The expansion will enable JitoSOL holders to mint ezSOL using their JitoSOL tokens, allowing them to benefit from the compounding of rewards across staking, restaking, and MEV extraction.
Additional usability for SOL in DeFi
Apart from boosting network liquidity, ezSOL unlocks new DeFi opportunities for the community, including lending, automated market making, and aggregators.
The LRT token will help power all these strategies, providing capital efficiency while allowing users to retain their exposure to restaking. Renzo says this composability will bolster the overall flexibility and usability of Solana’s native token, SOL.
Using ezSOL on Solana will benefit from the blockchain network’s low fees and fast transaction settlement.
Blockchain startup Parfin has secured $10 million in its Series A round, aiming to drive global expansion and bridge traditional finance with blockchain.
Mastercard-incubated Blockchain infrastructure firm Parfin has successfully closed the first tranche of its Series A funding, raising $10 million.
In a press release shared with crypto.news, the startup revealed that the round, led by ParaFi Capital, also saw contributions from Framework Ventures, L4 Venture Builder, and Núclea, with total funding projected to reach $16 million by the end of the second closing.
The proceeds from the funding are expected to help Parfin further develop its enterprise-grade blockchain platform, Rayls, increase its workforce, and accelerate its global expansion efforts throughout 2024. Parfin co-founder Marcos Viriato highlighted the strategic impact of the funding, noting that it will allow the firm to “help more banks and financial institutions realize new sources of revenue and stay relevant by leveraging the efficiency, security, and transparency of digital assets.”
Synchronizing defi with tradfi in Latin America
Founded in 2019 by Marcos Viriato, Alex Buelau, and Cristian Bohn, Parfin aims to bridge the gap between decentralized finance and traditional finance, offering financial institutions the regulatory compliance and privacy they need while capitalizing on blockchain technology.
In May, Parfin was selected for Mastercard’s Start Path program, which supports blockchain and digital asset startups with tailored training, collaboration opportunities, and access to Mastercard’s network and customers. To date, the company has raised a total of $38 million and serves clients including Banco BV, Núclea, and B3 Digitas, the digital asset services subsidiary of the Brazilian Stock Exchange.
Additionally, Parfin’s Rayls platform is now part of a pilot program with Brazil’s central bank, testing Ethereum‘s virtual machine privacy and scalability solutions for central bank digital currency initiatives.
Decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol THORChain experienced a price surge of 14% on Aug. 14 morning, making it one of the leading gainers in the crypto market.
With a one-day trading volume above $272 million, THORChain (RUNE) gained nearly 13.6% and exchanged hands around $3.70 at the time of writing. RUNE allows crypto users to exchange digital tokens across several blockchains, including Bitcoin.
RUNE 24-hour price chart — Aug. 14 | Source: crypto.news
This recent uplift in THORChain‘s market performance is partly due to its new partnership with Kujira, which aims to enhance the liquidity within Kujira’s suite of decentralized finance applications. This collaboration seeks to bolster growth and stability for both platforms.
A distinctive feature of their partnership is the community-driven token raise, which contrasts with traditional fundraising methods by allowing wider community involvement. The initiative is designed to manage existing financial obligations and synchronize the economic interests of both the Kujira and THORChain communities, fostering a stronger interconnection and resilience within their ecosystems.
Additionally, the partnership encompasses strategic and operational adjustments to mitigate similar financial issues in the future.
THORChain has also formed alliances with SwapKit and Noble to integrate stablecoins into the THORChain AppLayer. Noble will facilitate this integration by providing native USDC issuance, enhancing the user experience by simplifying deposits into the AppLayer with single-click functionality.
These collaborative efforts are indicative of a larger trend in the defi space, where platforms are joining forces to improve liquidity, user engagement, and overall financial stability.
Additionally, Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge past the $61,000 mark on Aug. 13 likely played a significant role in THORChain’s upturn. BTC, the largest cryptocurrency, rose by over 3%, with trading volumes around $29.2 billion.
BTC’s market cap also increased by 3.14% to $930 billion as of press time. This surge in Bitcoin’s metrics came a day after spot BTC exchange-traded funds experienced net positive flows, which were more than five times greater than those of spot Ethereum ETFs.
Meanwhile, the global crypto market cap also saw a 2.3% increase in the last 24 hours, standing at $2.14 trillion at the time of writing.
Decentralized exchange aggregator OpenOcean has expanded its services to Rootstock, a decentralized finance protocol built on Bitcoin.
Why is this important?
The integration introduces the first DEX aggregator to Rootstock, a smart contracts network on Bitcoin (BTC) that offers compatibility with Ethereum (ETH). OpenOcean and Rootstock announced the integration in a press release on Aug. 13.
Rootstock’s EVM-compatible platform allows OpenOcean users to tap into Ethereum’s crypto economic potential while benefiting from Bitcoin’s security.
“This expansion not only aligns with our mission to provide comprehensive, efficient, and user-friendly trading solutions across all of our supported blockchains but also empowers our users to utilize the trust of the Bitcoin network in a way that was not possible before,” Guy P., Rootstock head of growth, said.
OpenOcean offers its crypto trading services across more than 35 blockchains, integrating 99% of liquidity pools, including those from Uniswap (UNI). The integration with Rootstock also enables full trading for top coins and trading pairs.
Growing focus on Bitcoin DeFi
Bitcoin’s ecosystem continues to experience significant growth as more users leverage their BTC holdings. In February, crypto venture capital firm Pantera Capital released a report highlighting the potential for a DeFi explosion on the flagship blockchain network.
According to analysts at the firm, Bitcoin-based decentralized applications represent an “untapped” half a trillion-dollar market.
In April, Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali said that BTC adoption could benefit greatly from the huge traction for Bitcoin layer 2 protocols. Satoshi Protocol and Merlin Chain are some of the platforms that have launched projects aimed at enhancing Bitcoin’s DeFi ecosystem.
