BTC Market — Following a significant drop to $56,078.54 on August 16, BTC entered a consolidation phase, fluctuating narrowly between $59,000 and $60,000. On the 22nd, it briefly surpassed $60,000 before retreating to around $59,700. The 1-hour chart shows BTC still consolidating above $60,000. Moving averages suggest an unclear short-term trend, with trading volume declining after the sharp drop, indicating strong market hesitation. [1]
ETH Market — In the past week, ETH has largely mirrored BTC’s performance. Since August 16, ETH experienced a sharp decline, followed by a rebound, then another pullback before stabilizing around $2,600. The market has seen frequent short-term fluctuations, but the overall trend remains unclear. Key support lies at $2,500, with resistance near $2,800. [2]
ETF — U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen consistent net inflows since August 15, with a cumulative net inflow of $186 million this week. In contrast, Ethereum spot ETFs have experienced consistent net outflows since August 15, with a cumulative net outflow of $35.01 million this week. [3]
Altcoins — Over the past week, the overall cryptocurrency market cap has risen to $2.24 trillion, marking a 5% increase. The Tron ecosystem has been particularly noteworthy due to the recent popularity of SunPump, with several ecosystem tokens surging over 20%. [4]
Macroeconomic Data — On August 21, revised U.S. Non-farm Payroll (NFP) for March was released. In the 12 months leading up to March, the U.S. added 818,000 fewer jobs than previously reported, reducing the average monthly job growth by 68,000. This indicates a slowdown in U.S. employment growth, suggesting potentially weaker economic growth than expected and increasing the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September this year. [5]
This week, Bitcoin’s price oscillated within a narrow range of $56,765 to $60,957, while various altcoin sectors exhibited mixed results. Data from Coingecko and Gate.io reveal that three sectors — the Tron ecosystem, Masternodes, and Cross-chain Interoperability—made notable strides, climbing approximately 14.7%, 8.2%, and 6.2% respectively over a seven-day period. These sectors share a common thread: they feature innovative narratives and technological advancements in their respective domains, aligning with current market trends and drawing significant investor interest and capital inflows. [6]
Tron Ecosystem— TRON, a blockchain project launched in 2017, comprises its native cryptocurrency TRX, the recently trending Meme launch platform Sunpump, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform JUST, and the acquired P2P file-sharing platform BitTorrent. As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), the sector experienced substantial gains over the past 7 days. The blockchain’s native token TRX surged 22.9% [7], while SUN skyrocketed 62.3%, BTT climbed 16.9%, and JST rose 15%. [8]
Masternodes — Masternodes are dedicated servers in blockchain networks (also known as “mainnet nodes”) that perform specific tasks such as processing private transactions, instant payments, and governance voting. Unlike regular nodes, Masternodes typically require node operators to lock up a certain amount of cryptocurrency as collateral and earn rewards for providing services. As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), this sector overall rose 8.2% over 7 days, with SYS performing particularly well [9], up 111.6%. Other projects in this category, such as FLUX, VIC, and ONT, increased by 16.9%, 8.7%, and 5.2% respectively. [10]
Cross-chain Interoperability— Cross-chain interoperability enables different blockchain networks to interact and exchange data seamlessly. This functionality allows users to transfer assets or execute smart contracts across multiple blockchains, fostering resource and functionality sharing. As a result, it breaks down the isolation between blockchains and drives the overall development of the blockchain ecosystem. This sector maintained its upward momentum from the previous week. As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the sector as a whole climbed by 6.2% in the past 7 days. Notably, SYN rose 9.4% [11], while RUNE, ACX, and CELR each gained over 5%. ROUTE and SIS performed even better, surging by more than 10%. [12]
According to CoinGecko data, the top performers over the past 7 days are as follows: [13]
SX(SX Network) — SX Bet is an on-chain prediction market. On August 14th, it announced the launch of a US presidential election prediction section, allowing users to leverage their bets based on short-term fluctuations in odds. Recently, possibly influenced by the addition of Crypto, Degen Crypto, and Politics betting sections, its token price surged, with a 7-day increase of 119.1% and a circulating market cap of approximately $61.1 million. SX Bet is a single-bet sports prediction platform built on Ethereum, where users cannot freely trade bets before the outcome of the predicted event is finalized. It operates on SX Chain, which is built on the Arbitrum Orbit stack. [14] \
RARE(SuperRare) — Possibly due to major exchanges listing RARE contracts, the token’s price skyrocketed, achieving a 252.4% increase over seven days, with a circulating market cap of about $190 million. Recently, the NFT market has shown signs of recovery, with blue-chip NFTs like Cryptopunk and BAYC experiencing significant price increases. The trading volume on the SuperRare platform has also grown significantly. As the platform’s native and fee token, RARE is expected to see increased demand as platform trading volume rises. [15]
AAVE(Aave) — Aave is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that allows users to lend, borrow, and earn interest on a variety of crypto assets through smart contracts on a blockchain. Aave has recently experienced a series of positive developments. On July 25, the community proposed a new initiative to enhance the system’s security and efficiency by introducing a novel Atoken defense mechanism and an Aave buyback program. This proposal also incentivizes borrowing, significantly optimizing revenue distribution. On August 17, Aave V3 was announced to be launching on the ZKsync Era mainnet. On August 21st, the number of daily active addresses on Aave reached a new high in nearly a year. Driven by these positive developments, AAVE has seen a 32.5% increase in the past week, with a circulating market capitalization of approximately $2.1 billion.[16]
Sun Pump Generates Over $1.2 Million in Protocol Revenue in 10 Days
Sun Pump is a MEME token launch platform on the Tron blockchain. Similar to Pump.Fun, users can create tokens with one click on SunPump. When a token’s market cap exceeds $69,420, liquidity is automatically added to Sunswap, a decentralized exchange on Tron. Since its launch, the protocol has generated over $1.2 million in revenue, which will be used to buy back and burn SUN tokens, returning value to the protocol. As of August 21, 21,964 tokens have been issued, with 411 successfully adding liquidity on Sunswap, resulting in a 1.87% success rate. [17]
According to Gate Research, Sun Pump platform has attracted 59,313 unique participating addresses. Grouping wallets by transaction volume reveals that the $100-$1K category has the most users, with 26,490 wallets. Small wallets (<$100) make up the majority, totaling 19,790 wallets and accounting for the largest share. Large wallets (>$100K) total 1,711. Retail investors are concentrated in small and medium wallet categories, especially in the $100-$10K range. These categories have a large number of wallets, reflecting active retail participation in the market. The large wallet category is mainly controlled by a small number of big players or trading bots, with limited quantity but high transaction volumes.
Since Sun Pump’s launch, the daily number of tokens issued has steadily increased, while PumpFun’s token issuance has shown a declining trend. Sun Pump’s share of token issuance reached 64.4% on August 21, capturing a portion of PumpFun’s market share. Possible reasons for this include:
Stablecoin Market Cap Hits New High, Laying Foundation for Further Crypto Market Recovery
In the past 7 days, the market capitalization of stablecoins reached $165 billion, marking a new high in the latest bull-bear cycle since the second half of 2023. [18] As shown in the figure below, there is a correlation between the total supply of stablecoins and BTC price. After the BTC price peak in the previous bull market, investor enthusiasm was ignited, with large amounts of capital converting to stablecoins for crypto activities and on-chain transactions. However, subsequent events such as the LUNA and UST death spiral and Celsius filing for bankruptcy protection caused market panic, leading to liquidity withdrawal and a rapid decline in stablecoin capitalization, which continued to decrease during the following bear market. Entering 2024, influenced by factors such as ETF capital inflows and macroeconomic expectations, BTC price has shown impressive growth, reaching new highs. A large amount of withdrawn capital and new funds have begun to return to or enter the crypto market, further increasing the scale of stablecoins. [19]
As of August 22, the total inflow of US Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $17.55 billion, bringing significant buying demand for BTC and serving as a key factor in this round of BTC price increase. Besides BTC, the US has also approved ETH spot ETFs, but the inflow situation is not optimistic and has not yet formed a significant positive impact on ETH price. Considering the difficulty of ETF applications, tokens that can obtain liquidity through this method are rare. The main sources of liquidity for most altcoins can be summarized as: converting in-market profits to stablecoins for purchases or minting stablecoins with off-market funds for purchases. An increase in stablecoin market cap often indicates an increase in potential liquidity for in-market altcoins. Increased liquidity often signifies increased demand, which is positive for prices. Therefore, the recent new high in stablecoins has also laid the foundation for further market recovery.
As shown in the figure above, the growth rate of stablecoin market cap in this bull round is much lower than that of the previous one, which may be related to the current macroeconomic policy impact. Although the US July unadjusted core CPI annual rate was 3.2%, falling for the 4th consecutive month to the lowest level since April 2021, meeting market expectations, whether the economy can achieve a soft landing still requires further observation. The current monetary policy remains unclear. Moreover, interest rate cuts will not start until at least September, and external funds still need to wait for further macroeconomic signals.
User Loses 4,064 BTC in Suspected Theft, Funds Quickly Transferred
On August 19, ZachXBT posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a suspected theft involving a community user’s transaction. The stolen funds amounted to 4,096 bitcoins (approximately $238 million), all held by address bc1…m8am. Gate Research tracked this large BTC movement. [20]
As shown in the figure below, the 4,096 bitcoins at bc1…m8am were equally divided into 2,032 BTC and sent to two addresses. One portion was directed to four Bitcoin addresses, while the other underwent dozens of complex transfers before reaching Railgun, ThorChain, KuCoin, ChangeNow, eXch, and Avalanche Bridge. Through address tracing, it was discovered that the Bitcoin source of one of the addresses was directly related to three Genesis Global Trading accounts. Although this transfer is suspected to be theft, it has not been officially classified as such. Gate Research continues to monitor this incident. [21]
Fractal Bitcoin Mainnet Launch Imminent, UniSat Support Fuels Ecosystem Growth
Fractal Bitcoin, an innovative scaling solution based on Bitcoin’s core code, is set to launch its mainnet on September 1. Developed by the UniSat team, this project aims to significantly enhance transaction processing capacity and speed while maintaining full compatibility with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem. The core idea is to use recursive creation of infinite expansion layers to achieve this goal. On August 19, Fractal Bitcoin activated BRC-20 services on its testnet, allowing users to experience token deployment and minting operations. This has led to a substantial increase in active users. As of August 21, the 24-hour active addresses on Fractal Bitcoin’s testnet exceeded 8.3 million, making it one of the hottest projects in the current Bitcoin ecosystem.
In terms of compatibility, Fractal Bitcoin is fully compatible with existing Bitcoin wallets, tools, and mining equipment due to its development based on Bitcoin’s core code. Performance-wise, Fractal Bitcoin’s block confirmation time is approximately 30 seconds, 20 times faster than the Bitcoin mainnet. Regarding security, all transaction records on this project can ultimately be traced back to the Bitcoin mainchain, ensuring transaction security and auditability. In terms of flexibility, Fractal Bitcoin has the ability to dynamically adjust the number of expansion layers, automatically regulating based on network congestion to ensure transaction efficiency.
From the project concept and implementation mechanism, Fractal Bitcoin adheres to the “orthodox expansion” route based on the Bitcoin chain. It adopts innovative multi-layer recursive expansion structures and mechanisms like Cadence merged mining, successfully achieving a significant increase in Bitcoin transaction throughput. However, Fractal still needs to undergo widespread adoption, long-term security verification, and deep integration with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem. The project’s future development is worth long-term attention.
Babylon Mainnet Phase One Officially Launches
Babylon is a blockchain protocol built on the Cosmos SDK, aiming to use Bitcoin as a decentralized staking asset to enhance the security of Proof of Stake (POS) chains. In December 2023, it announced an $18 million Series A funding round, and in May of this year, it completed a $70 million funding round led by Paradigm. Babylon’s technical architecture adopts an innovative three-layer structure. The core component is a POS public chain compatible with Cosmos IBC, which uses a special BTC staking protocol to connect with the POS chain, solving issues like remote attacks and centralization. It also ensures data integrity and consistency through checkpoint and timestamp mechanisms.[22]
Its architecture is divided into three layers: Bitcoin layer, Babylon layer, and POS chain layer.
According to official news, the first phase of Babylon’s mainnet will launch soon, with an initial staking cap of 1,000 BTC, a maximum stake of 0.05 BTC per address, and adopting an on-demand unbonding mechanism and points system.[23] Participants in staking can expect to earn staking rewards and early participation bonuses. Additionally, multiple projects like pStakeFinance have announced partnerships with Babylon, and Bitcoin DeFi protocols based on Babylon such as BIMA and Lombard are set to launch soon, offering opportunities for those participating in early mainnet staking to explore more possibilities in the Babylon ecosystem.
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the total net asset value of BTC ETFs reached $55.96 billion, accounting for approximately 4.63% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization, with cumulative net inflows exceeding $17.56 billion. On August 21, BTC ETFs saw a daily net inflow of over $39 million, bringing the total net inflow for the week to more than $189 million. The IBIT ETF managed by BlackRock has accumulated net inflows of over $20 billion. [24]
On August 21, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released non-farm payroll data, revealing a substantial downward revision of 818,000 in non-farm employment. This indicates a weakening job market, which has bolstered expectations for a September rate cut. Consequently, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) briefly dipped below 101. In this rate-cutting climate, Bitcoin and gold— viewed as alternative assets —are perceived to have safe-haven qualities. This perception has sparked strong allocation interest from institutional investors. [25]
Furthermore, according to the U.S. 13F institutional holdings report, the second quarter saw a total of 1,924 institutional holders of BTC ETFs, an increase of about 30% compared to the 1,479 institutional holders in the first quarter. While hedge funds were the main institutional holders in the first quarter, investment advisory companies became the primary holders in the second quarter. According to the 13F filings, as of June 30, Goldman Sachs held $418 million worth of BTC ETFs, becoming the third-largest holder of IBIT. Morgan Stanley held nearly 7 million shares of IBIT, valued at approximately $238 million (an increase of about $188 million in the second quarter). Bitwise statistics show that about two-thirds of institutional holders continued to hold or increase their BTC ETF positions in Q2. Overall, institutional investors are optimistic about the medium to long-term price trends of BTC ETFs, and the total market value of BTC ETFs is expected to continue rising. [26]
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the total net asset value of ETH ETFs was $7.38 billion, with cumulative net outflows of $45.808 million. ETH ETFs saw a net outflow of approximately $37.97 million this week. On August 21, ETH ETFs experienced a net outflow of $17.97 million, mainly due to the continued net outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE. Currently, Grayscale’s ETHE still has a net asset value of over $4.85 billion, and ETH ETFs may continue to face selling pressure in the short to medium term.
Over the past week, the market capitalization of stablecoins saw a slight decrease of 0.65%, settling at $166.832 billion. USDT continues to dominate, accounting for roughly 70% of the market share. Tronscan data reveals that on August 20, Tether Treasury minted 1 billion USDT each on the Tron and Ethereum chains—a total of 2 billion USDT in a single day. These newly minted tokens, while authorized, haven’t been issued yet. They’re primarily earmarked for the upcoming phase of USDT asset reserves. [27]
Bitcoin Buy/Sell Ratio
As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), the total contract liquidations across the network in the past 24 hours exceeded $125 million, with long contract liquidations surpassing $68.64 million. Over the past 7 days, the Bitcoin buy/sell ratio has been negative for more than half of the time, with the current ratio at approximately 0.82. This indicates that market participants, especially short-term investors, hold a pessimistic view on Bitcoin’s short-term price trend amid recent market fluctuations. [28]
Weighted Funding Rate
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the weighted funding rate for Bitcoin positions is 0.0002%, while for Ethereum positions it’s -0.0004%. Over the past seven days, Bitcoin’s weighted funding rate has been generally negative. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have been experiencing continuous fluctuations, but the overall contract market remains relatively calm without any large-scale liquidation events. In the past 24 hours, the total open interest across the network has increased by 1.65% to 54.82 billion yuan, with a rise in the accumulated total of open contracts. Currently, the long/short ratio for Bitcoin/Ethereum contracts across the network is predominantly short. [29][30]
Airdrop project to watch this week: MyShell [31]
MyShell is a decentralized AI consumer layer with its Layer 2 network supported by EigenDA and Optimism. It aims to connect users, creators, and open-source AI model researchers to unlock the potential of AI Dapps. Currently, MyShell has about 50,000 creators and over 1 million registered users. The project raised $5.6 million in seed funding at a $57 million valuation in October 2023, and secured an additional $11 million in Pre-A funding led by Dragonfly in March 2024.
The MyShell ecosystem is built on three core components: Self-developed open-source AI models: The project has independently developed multiple open-source AI models. Open AI development platform: Using native development and modular toolkits, MyShell allows individuals to easily build AI applications. Creators can quickly turn their ideas into fully functional AI applications. Fair value distribution ecosystem: Creators can not only gain commercial value when their applications are used but also receive native incentives from the platform. MyShell provides high-quality voice synthesis technology through its self-developed instant voice cloning method, OpenVoice.
$SHELL, the native token of the MyShell ecosystem, has a total supply cap of 1 billion, with 40% of the tokens allocated for community incentives. Currently, MyShell is hosting a points carnival season event where users can earn different types of points by completing various tasks, including regular points, spreader points, creator points, and sponsor points. Each type of point can be exchanged for $SHELL tokens at a certain rate at the end of the season.
How to Participate
Here’s how users can participate in the MyShell airdrop:
Regular Points
Spreader Points
Sponsor Points from AlppStore Interaction
Creator Points
Note:
The airdrop program and participation methods may be updated at any time. Users are advised to follow the project's official channels to get the latest information. At the same time, users should participate with caution, be aware of risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the subsequent distribution of airdrop rewards.
This week saw several successful funding rounds across various sectors, including infrastructure, DeFi, and gaming. RootData reports that from August 15 to August 21, 10 projects announced funding, with 7 securing seed investments. Here are the top three projects by funding size: [32]
Story Protocol — Completed an $80 million Series B round on August 21. It’s a revolutionary on-chain intellectual property management platform that leverages Web3 technology to provide creators with a programmable, transparent, and efficient IP management and monetization environment. Their innovations also include a “programmable IP license” developed in collaboration with legal teams, creating a modular “story Lego” ecosystem. Applications based on this protocol can track the origin of works, facilitate contributions or recombinations by multiple creators, while capturing value, driving an on-chain renaissance.
Chaos Labs — Announced the completion of a $55 million Series A funding round on August 15. Haun Ventures led the round, with participation from F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, Spartan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, and PayPal Ventures. As a crypto startup focused on on-chain risk management, Chaos Labs plans to use this funding to accelerate new product development and expand its risk management platform. The platform currently offers enhanced observability tools, innovative risk oracles, and real-time parameter recommendations. The company’s founder, Omer Goldberg, has an Israeli special forces background and has successfully developed Monte Carlo simulation systems.
Fabric Cryptography — Announced a $33 million Series A funding round on August 19, led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx. The funds will support further development of their computing chips, software, and encryption algorithms. Founded by MIT and Stanford alumni, Fabric Cryptography focuses on developing cryptographic hardware, particularly specialized chips for zero-knowledge proof technology. Their key innovation is the Verifiable Processing Unit (VPU), a custom silicon chip with a cryptography-specific instruction set architecture. This chip aims to accelerate and support mathematical constructs for any cryptographic algorithm, significantly improving speed and reducing costs compared to traditional CPUs, GPUs, and fixed-function cryptographic devices. Fabric Cryptography plans to begin VPU chip production later this year to meet growing computational demands in AI and blockchain applications, potentially revolutionizing the cryptography field. The company has already received tens of millions of dollars in VPU pre-orders, indicating strong market interest in their technology.
According to Token Unlocks data, several significant token unlock events are scheduled for the upcoming week (August 23 - August 29). Here are the top 3 unlocks for the week: [33]
Details of the unlocks are as follows:
$YGG is scheduled to unlock on August 27, with a total value of $5.61 million, accounting for 3.71% of the circulating supply. This unlock may exert some pressure on the market, especially considering the relatively high percentage of YGG tokens being unlocked. Investors should pay attention to market sentiment and potential selling pressure.
$ENA plans to unlock on August 25, with a total value of $4.5 million. However, the percentage being unlocked is relatively low, only 0.82% of the circulating supply. Despite the large unlock amount, the impact on the market may be limited due to the low percentage, making the risk relatively manageable.
$AGIX is set to unlock on August 28, with a value of $3.25 million, accounting for 1.56% of the circulating supply. Due to AGIX tokens’ limited availability on trading platforms, liquidity is poor. Token holders should monitor this event closely.
The upcoming week will see several key events in the blockchain and crypto industry. The release of important macroeconomic data is expected to have a significant impact on the sector.
Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s Speech at Jackson Hole Symposium
Powell will deliver a speech on the U.S. economic outlook at the Jackson Hole symposium. Investors are likely to closely analyze Powell’s words to gauge whether the Federal Reserve might adjust interest rates in September. The global economy currently faces the dual challenges of inflationary pressures and slowing economic growth, and the Fed’s decisions will have far-reaching effects on global markets. If Powell hints at a potential rate cut in September, it could drive market growth. [34]
Activation of the “Nakamoto” Upgrade for Bitcoin L2 Network Stacks
The Stacks network is set to activate its “Nakamoto” upgrade, marking a significant milestone for Bitcoin L2 solutions. This upgrade aims to address issues related to security, scalability, and MEV on the Stacks chain, enhancing its performance and security. [35]
Arweave AO Launches Temporary Data Storage Solution ArFleet
ArFleet is scheduled to officially launch on Thursday, August 29th at 11 AM during an Arweave community event. This solution is designed to provide efficient and reliable data storage services. The event will introduce the ArFleet protocol and demonstrate its functionality, presented by the main developers AO/ACC. A Q&A session will follow the main presentation. [36]
References
Gate Research
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BTC Market — Following a significant drop to $56,078.54 on August 16, BTC entered a consolidation phase, fluctuating narrowly between $59,000 and $60,000. On the 22nd, it briefly surpassed $60,000 before retreating to around $59,700. The 1-hour chart shows BTC still consolidating above $60,000. Moving averages suggest an unclear short-term trend, with trading volume declining after the sharp drop, indicating strong market hesitation. [1]
ETH Market — In the past week, ETH has largely mirrored BTC’s performance. Since August 16, ETH experienced a sharp decline, followed by a rebound, then another pullback before stabilizing around $2,600. The market has seen frequent short-term fluctuations, but the overall trend remains unclear. Key support lies at $2,500, with resistance near $2,800. [2]
ETF — U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen consistent net inflows since August 15, with a cumulative net inflow of $186 million this week. In contrast, Ethereum spot ETFs have experienced consistent net outflows since August 15, with a cumulative net outflow of $35.01 million this week. [3]
Altcoins — Over the past week, the overall cryptocurrency market cap has risen to $2.24 trillion, marking a 5% increase. The Tron ecosystem has been particularly noteworthy due to the recent popularity of SunPump, with several ecosystem tokens surging over 20%. [4]
Macroeconomic Data — On August 21, revised U.S. Non-farm Payroll (NFP) for March was released. In the 12 months leading up to March, the U.S. added 818,000 fewer jobs than previously reported, reducing the average monthly job growth by 68,000. This indicates a slowdown in U.S. employment growth, suggesting potentially weaker economic growth than expected and increasing the likelihood of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in September this year. [5]
This week, Bitcoin’s price oscillated within a narrow range of $56,765 to $60,957, while various altcoin sectors exhibited mixed results. Data from Coingecko and Gate.io reveal that three sectors — the Tron ecosystem, Masternodes, and Cross-chain Interoperability—made notable strides, climbing approximately 14.7%, 8.2%, and 6.2% respectively over a seven-day period. These sectors share a common thread: they feature innovative narratives and technological advancements in their respective domains, aligning with current market trends and drawing significant investor interest and capital inflows. [6]
Tron Ecosystem— TRON, a blockchain project launched in 2017, comprises its native cryptocurrency TRX, the recently trending Meme launch platform Sunpump, the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform JUST, and the acquired P2P file-sharing platform BitTorrent. As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), the sector experienced substantial gains over the past 7 days. The blockchain’s native token TRX surged 22.9% [7], while SUN skyrocketed 62.3%, BTT climbed 16.9%, and JST rose 15%. [8]
Masternodes — Masternodes are dedicated servers in blockchain networks (also known as “mainnet nodes”) that perform specific tasks such as processing private transactions, instant payments, and governance voting. Unlike regular nodes, Masternodes typically require node operators to lock up a certain amount of cryptocurrency as collateral and earn rewards for providing services. As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), this sector overall rose 8.2% over 7 days, with SYS performing particularly well [9], up 111.6%. Other projects in this category, such as FLUX, VIC, and ONT, increased by 16.9%, 8.7%, and 5.2% respectively. [10]
Cross-chain Interoperability— Cross-chain interoperability enables different blockchain networks to interact and exchange data seamlessly. This functionality allows users to transfer assets or execute smart contracts across multiple blockchains, fostering resource and functionality sharing. As a result, it breaks down the isolation between blockchains and drives the overall development of the blockchain ecosystem. This sector maintained its upward momentum from the previous week. As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the sector as a whole climbed by 6.2% in the past 7 days. Notably, SYN rose 9.4% [11], while RUNE, ACX, and CELR each gained over 5%. ROUTE and SIS performed even better, surging by more than 10%. [12]
According to CoinGecko data, the top performers over the past 7 days are as follows: [13]
SX(SX Network) — SX Bet is an on-chain prediction market. On August 14th, it announced the launch of a US presidential election prediction section, allowing users to leverage their bets based on short-term fluctuations in odds. Recently, possibly influenced by the addition of Crypto, Degen Crypto, and Politics betting sections, its token price surged, with a 7-day increase of 119.1% and a circulating market cap of approximately $61.1 million. SX Bet is a single-bet sports prediction platform built on Ethereum, where users cannot freely trade bets before the outcome of the predicted event is finalized. It operates on SX Chain, which is built on the Arbitrum Orbit stack. [14] \
RARE(SuperRare) — Possibly due to major exchanges listing RARE contracts, the token’s price skyrocketed, achieving a 252.4% increase over seven days, with a circulating market cap of about $190 million. Recently, the NFT market has shown signs of recovery, with blue-chip NFTs like Cryptopunk and BAYC experiencing significant price increases. The trading volume on the SuperRare platform has also grown significantly. As the platform’s native and fee token, RARE is expected to see increased demand as platform trading volume rises. [15]
AAVE(Aave) — Aave is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that allows users to lend, borrow, and earn interest on a variety of crypto assets through smart contracts on a blockchain. Aave has recently experienced a series of positive developments. On July 25, the community proposed a new initiative to enhance the system’s security and efficiency by introducing a novel Atoken defense mechanism and an Aave buyback program. This proposal also incentivizes borrowing, significantly optimizing revenue distribution. On August 17, Aave V3 was announced to be launching on the ZKsync Era mainnet. On August 21st, the number of daily active addresses on Aave reached a new high in nearly a year. Driven by these positive developments, AAVE has seen a 32.5% increase in the past week, with a circulating market capitalization of approximately $2.1 billion.[16]
Sun Pump Generates Over $1.2 Million in Protocol Revenue in 10 Days
Sun Pump is a MEME token launch platform on the Tron blockchain. Similar to Pump.Fun, users can create tokens with one click on SunPump. When a token’s market cap exceeds $69,420, liquidity is automatically added to Sunswap, a decentralized exchange on Tron. Since its launch, the protocol has generated over $1.2 million in revenue, which will be used to buy back and burn SUN tokens, returning value to the protocol. As of August 21, 21,964 tokens have been issued, with 411 successfully adding liquidity on Sunswap, resulting in a 1.87% success rate. [17]
According to Gate Research, Sun Pump platform has attracted 59,313 unique participating addresses. Grouping wallets by transaction volume reveals that the $100-$1K category has the most users, with 26,490 wallets. Small wallets (<$100) make up the majority, totaling 19,790 wallets and accounting for the largest share. Large wallets (>$100K) total 1,711. Retail investors are concentrated in small and medium wallet categories, especially in the $100-$10K range. These categories have a large number of wallets, reflecting active retail participation in the market. The large wallet category is mainly controlled by a small number of big players or trading bots, with limited quantity but high transaction volumes.
Since Sun Pump’s launch, the daily number of tokens issued has steadily increased, while PumpFun’s token issuance has shown a declining trend. Sun Pump’s share of token issuance reached 64.4% on August 21, capturing a portion of PumpFun’s market share. Possible reasons for this include:
Stablecoin Market Cap Hits New High, Laying Foundation for Further Crypto Market Recovery
In the past 7 days, the market capitalization of stablecoins reached $165 billion, marking a new high in the latest bull-bear cycle since the second half of 2023. [18] As shown in the figure below, there is a correlation between the total supply of stablecoins and BTC price. After the BTC price peak in the previous bull market, investor enthusiasm was ignited, with large amounts of capital converting to stablecoins for crypto activities and on-chain transactions. However, subsequent events such as the LUNA and UST death spiral and Celsius filing for bankruptcy protection caused market panic, leading to liquidity withdrawal and a rapid decline in stablecoin capitalization, which continued to decrease during the following bear market. Entering 2024, influenced by factors such as ETF capital inflows and macroeconomic expectations, BTC price has shown impressive growth, reaching new highs. A large amount of withdrawn capital and new funds have begun to return to or enter the crypto market, further increasing the scale of stablecoins. [19]
As of August 22, the total inflow of US Bitcoin spot ETFs reached $17.55 billion, bringing significant buying demand for BTC and serving as a key factor in this round of BTC price increase. Besides BTC, the US has also approved ETH spot ETFs, but the inflow situation is not optimistic and has not yet formed a significant positive impact on ETH price. Considering the difficulty of ETF applications, tokens that can obtain liquidity through this method are rare. The main sources of liquidity for most altcoins can be summarized as: converting in-market profits to stablecoins for purchases or minting stablecoins with off-market funds for purchases. An increase in stablecoin market cap often indicates an increase in potential liquidity for in-market altcoins. Increased liquidity often signifies increased demand, which is positive for prices. Therefore, the recent new high in stablecoins has also laid the foundation for further market recovery.
As shown in the figure above, the growth rate of stablecoin market cap in this bull round is much lower than that of the previous one, which may be related to the current macroeconomic policy impact. Although the US July unadjusted core CPI annual rate was 3.2%, falling for the 4th consecutive month to the lowest level since April 2021, meeting market expectations, whether the economy can achieve a soft landing still requires further observation. The current monetary policy remains unclear. Moreover, interest rate cuts will not start until at least September, and external funds still need to wait for further macroeconomic signals.
User Loses 4,064 BTC in Suspected Theft, Funds Quickly Transferred
On August 19, ZachXBT posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a suspected theft involving a community user’s transaction. The stolen funds amounted to 4,096 bitcoins (approximately $238 million), all held by address bc1…m8am. Gate Research tracked this large BTC movement. [20]
As shown in the figure below, the 4,096 bitcoins at bc1…m8am were equally divided into 2,032 BTC and sent to two addresses. One portion was directed to four Bitcoin addresses, while the other underwent dozens of complex transfers before reaching Railgun, ThorChain, KuCoin, ChangeNow, eXch, and Avalanche Bridge. Through address tracing, it was discovered that the Bitcoin source of one of the addresses was directly related to three Genesis Global Trading accounts. Although this transfer is suspected to be theft, it has not been officially classified as such. Gate Research continues to monitor this incident. [21]
Fractal Bitcoin Mainnet Launch Imminent, UniSat Support Fuels Ecosystem Growth
Fractal Bitcoin, an innovative scaling solution based on Bitcoin’s core code, is set to launch its mainnet on September 1. Developed by the UniSat team, this project aims to significantly enhance transaction processing capacity and speed while maintaining full compatibility with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem. The core idea is to use recursive creation of infinite expansion layers to achieve this goal. On August 19, Fractal Bitcoin activated BRC-20 services on its testnet, allowing users to experience token deployment and minting operations. This has led to a substantial increase in active users. As of August 21, the 24-hour active addresses on Fractal Bitcoin’s testnet exceeded 8.3 million, making it one of the hottest projects in the current Bitcoin ecosystem.
In terms of compatibility, Fractal Bitcoin is fully compatible with existing Bitcoin wallets, tools, and mining equipment due to its development based on Bitcoin’s core code. Performance-wise, Fractal Bitcoin’s block confirmation time is approximately 30 seconds, 20 times faster than the Bitcoin mainnet. Regarding security, all transaction records on this project can ultimately be traced back to the Bitcoin mainchain, ensuring transaction security and auditability. In terms of flexibility, Fractal Bitcoin has the ability to dynamically adjust the number of expansion layers, automatically regulating based on network congestion to ensure transaction efficiency.
From the project concept and implementation mechanism, Fractal Bitcoin adheres to the “orthodox expansion” route based on the Bitcoin chain. It adopts innovative multi-layer recursive expansion structures and mechanisms like Cadence merged mining, successfully achieving a significant increase in Bitcoin transaction throughput. However, Fractal still needs to undergo widespread adoption, long-term security verification, and deep integration with the existing Bitcoin ecosystem. The project’s future development is worth long-term attention.
Babylon Mainnet Phase One Officially Launches
Babylon is a blockchain protocol built on the Cosmos SDK, aiming to use Bitcoin as a decentralized staking asset to enhance the security of Proof of Stake (POS) chains. In December 2023, it announced an $18 million Series A funding round, and in May of this year, it completed a $70 million funding round led by Paradigm. Babylon’s technical architecture adopts an innovative three-layer structure. The core component is a POS public chain compatible with Cosmos IBC, which uses a special BTC staking protocol to connect with the POS chain, solving issues like remote attacks and centralization. It also ensures data integrity and consistency through checkpoint and timestamp mechanisms.[22]
Its architecture is divided into three layers: Bitcoin layer, Babylon layer, and POS chain layer.
According to official news, the first phase of Babylon’s mainnet will launch soon, with an initial staking cap of 1,000 BTC, a maximum stake of 0.05 BTC per address, and adopting an on-demand unbonding mechanism and points system.[23] Participants in staking can expect to earn staking rewards and early participation bonuses. Additionally, multiple projects like pStakeFinance have announced partnerships with Babylon, and Bitcoin DeFi protocols based on Babylon such as BIMA and Lombard are set to launch soon, offering opportunities for those participating in early mainnet staking to explore more possibilities in the Babylon ecosystem.
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the total net asset value of BTC ETFs reached $55.96 billion, accounting for approximately 4.63% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization, with cumulative net inflows exceeding $17.56 billion. On August 21, BTC ETFs saw a daily net inflow of over $39 million, bringing the total net inflow for the week to more than $189 million. The IBIT ETF managed by BlackRock has accumulated net inflows of over $20 billion. [24]
On August 21, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released non-farm payroll data, revealing a substantial downward revision of 818,000 in non-farm employment. This indicates a weakening job market, which has bolstered expectations for a September rate cut. Consequently, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) briefly dipped below 101. In this rate-cutting climate, Bitcoin and gold— viewed as alternative assets —are perceived to have safe-haven qualities. This perception has sparked strong allocation interest from institutional investors. [25]
Furthermore, according to the U.S. 13F institutional holdings report, the second quarter saw a total of 1,924 institutional holders of BTC ETFs, an increase of about 30% compared to the 1,479 institutional holders in the first quarter. While hedge funds were the main institutional holders in the first quarter, investment advisory companies became the primary holders in the second quarter. According to the 13F filings, as of June 30, Goldman Sachs held $418 million worth of BTC ETFs, becoming the third-largest holder of IBIT. Morgan Stanley held nearly 7 million shares of IBIT, valued at approximately $238 million (an increase of about $188 million in the second quarter). Bitwise statistics show that about two-thirds of institutional holders continued to hold or increase their BTC ETF positions in Q2. Overall, institutional investors are optimistic about the medium to long-term price trends of BTC ETFs, and the total market value of BTC ETFs is expected to continue rising. [26]
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the total net asset value of ETH ETFs was $7.38 billion, with cumulative net outflows of $45.808 million. ETH ETFs saw a net outflow of approximately $37.97 million this week. On August 21, ETH ETFs experienced a net outflow of $17.97 million, mainly due to the continued net outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE. Currently, Grayscale’s ETHE still has a net asset value of over $4.85 billion, and ETH ETFs may continue to face selling pressure in the short to medium term.
Over the past week, the market capitalization of stablecoins saw a slight decrease of 0.65%, settling at $166.832 billion. USDT continues to dominate, accounting for roughly 70% of the market share. Tronscan data reveals that on August 20, Tether Treasury minted 1 billion USDT each on the Tron and Ethereum chains—a total of 2 billion USDT in a single day. These newly minted tokens, while authorized, haven’t been issued yet. They’re primarily earmarked for the upcoming phase of USDT asset reserves. [27]
Bitcoin Buy/Sell Ratio
As of August 22, 2:00 (UTC +0), the total contract liquidations across the network in the past 24 hours exceeded $125 million, with long contract liquidations surpassing $68.64 million. Over the past 7 days, the Bitcoin buy/sell ratio has been negative for more than half of the time, with the current ratio at approximately 0.82. This indicates that market participants, especially short-term investors, hold a pessimistic view on Bitcoin’s short-term price trend amid recent market fluctuations. [28]
Weighted Funding Rate
As of August 22, 02:00 (UTC +0), the weighted funding rate for Bitcoin positions is 0.0002%, while for Ethereum positions it’s -0.0004%. Over the past seven days, Bitcoin’s weighted funding rate has been generally negative. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum have been experiencing continuous fluctuations, but the overall contract market remains relatively calm without any large-scale liquidation events. In the past 24 hours, the total open interest across the network has increased by 1.65% to 54.82 billion yuan, with a rise in the accumulated total of open contracts. Currently, the long/short ratio for Bitcoin/Ethereum contracts across the network is predominantly short. [29][30]
Airdrop project to watch this week: MyShell [31]
MyShell is a decentralized AI consumer layer with its Layer 2 network supported by EigenDA and Optimism. It aims to connect users, creators, and open-source AI model researchers to unlock the potential of AI Dapps. Currently, MyShell has about 50,000 creators and over 1 million registered users. The project raised $5.6 million in seed funding at a $57 million valuation in October 2023, and secured an additional $11 million in Pre-A funding led by Dragonfly in March 2024.
The MyShell ecosystem is built on three core components: Self-developed open-source AI models: The project has independently developed multiple open-source AI models. Open AI development platform: Using native development and modular toolkits, MyShell allows individuals to easily build AI applications. Creators can quickly turn their ideas into fully functional AI applications. Fair value distribution ecosystem: Creators can not only gain commercial value when their applications are used but also receive native incentives from the platform. MyShell provides high-quality voice synthesis technology through its self-developed instant voice cloning method, OpenVoice.
$SHELL, the native token of the MyShell ecosystem, has a total supply cap of 1 billion, with 40% of the tokens allocated for community incentives. Currently, MyShell is hosting a points carnival season event where users can earn different types of points by completing various tasks, including regular points, spreader points, creator points, and sponsor points. Each type of point can be exchanged for $SHELL tokens at a certain rate at the end of the season.
How to Participate
Here’s how users can participate in the MyShell airdrop:
Regular Points
Spreader Points
Sponsor Points from AlppStore Interaction
Creator Points
Note:
The airdrop program and participation methods may be updated at any time. Users are advised to follow the project's official channels to get the latest information. At the same time, users should participate with caution, be aware of risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the subsequent distribution of airdrop rewards.
This week saw several successful funding rounds across various sectors, including infrastructure, DeFi, and gaming. RootData reports that from August 15 to August 21, 10 projects announced funding, with 7 securing seed investments. Here are the top three projects by funding size: [32]
Story Protocol — Completed an $80 million Series B round on August 21. It’s a revolutionary on-chain intellectual property management platform that leverages Web3 technology to provide creators with a programmable, transparent, and efficient IP management and monetization environment. Their innovations also include a “programmable IP license” developed in collaboration with legal teams, creating a modular “story Lego” ecosystem. Applications based on this protocol can track the origin of works, facilitate contributions or recombinations by multiple creators, while capturing value, driving an on-chain renaissance.
Chaos Labs — Announced the completion of a $55 million Series A funding round on August 15. Haun Ventures led the round, with participation from F-Prime Capital, Slow Ventures, Spartan Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Galaxy Ventures, and PayPal Ventures. As a crypto startup focused on on-chain risk management, Chaos Labs plans to use this funding to accelerate new product development and expand its risk management platform. The platform currently offers enhanced observability tools, innovative risk oracles, and real-time parameter recommendations. The company’s founder, Omer Goldberg, has an Israeli special forces background and has successfully developed Monte Carlo simulation systems.
Fabric Cryptography — Announced a $33 million Series A funding round on August 19, led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx. The funds will support further development of their computing chips, software, and encryption algorithms. Founded by MIT and Stanford alumni, Fabric Cryptography focuses on developing cryptographic hardware, particularly specialized chips for zero-knowledge proof technology. Their key innovation is the Verifiable Processing Unit (VPU), a custom silicon chip with a cryptography-specific instruction set architecture. This chip aims to accelerate and support mathematical constructs for any cryptographic algorithm, significantly improving speed and reducing costs compared to traditional CPUs, GPUs, and fixed-function cryptographic devices. Fabric Cryptography plans to begin VPU chip production later this year to meet growing computational demands in AI and blockchain applications, potentially revolutionizing the cryptography field. The company has already received tens of millions of dollars in VPU pre-orders, indicating strong market interest in their technology.
According to Token Unlocks data, several significant token unlock events are scheduled for the upcoming week (August 23 - August 29). Here are the top 3 unlocks for the week: [33]
Details of the unlocks are as follows:
$YGG is scheduled to unlock on August 27, with a total value of $5.61 million, accounting for 3.71% of the circulating supply. This unlock may exert some pressure on the market, especially considering the relatively high percentage of YGG tokens being unlocked. Investors should pay attention to market sentiment and potential selling pressure.
$ENA plans to unlock on August 25, with a total value of $4.5 million. However, the percentage being unlocked is relatively low, only 0.82% of the circulating supply. Despite the large unlock amount, the impact on the market may be limited due to the low percentage, making the risk relatively manageable.
$AGIX is set to unlock on August 28, with a value of $3.25 million, accounting for 1.56% of the circulating supply. Due to AGIX tokens’ limited availability on trading platforms, liquidity is poor. Token holders should monitor this event closely.
The upcoming week will see several key events in the blockchain and crypto industry. The release of important macroeconomic data is expected to have a significant impact on the sector.
Federal Reserve Chair Powell’s Speech at Jackson Hole Symposium
Powell will deliver a speech on the U.S. economic outlook at the Jackson Hole symposium. Investors are likely to closely analyze Powell’s words to gauge whether the Federal Reserve might adjust interest rates in September. The global economy currently faces the dual challenges of inflationary pressures and slowing economic growth, and the Fed’s decisions will have far-reaching effects on global markets. If Powell hints at a potential rate cut in September, it could drive market growth. [34]
Activation of the “Nakamoto” Upgrade for Bitcoin L2 Network Stacks
The Stacks network is set to activate its “Nakamoto” upgrade, marking a significant milestone for Bitcoin L2 solutions. This upgrade aims to address issues related to security, scalability, and MEV on the Stacks chain, enhancing its performance and security. [35]
Arweave AO Launches Temporary Data Storage Solution ArFleet
ArFleet is scheduled to officially launch on Thursday, August 29th at 11 AM during an Arweave community event. This solution is designed to provide efficient and reliable data storage services. The event will introduce the ArFleet protocol and demonstrate its functionality, presented by the main developers AO/ACC. A Q&A session will follow the main presentation. [36]
References
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