What is New in the On-chain Economy this week?

August 2024 was a "hullabaloo" downpour of emotions in the on-chain economy. The market contended with a mix of bullish and bearish trends. Bitcoin maintained its dominance and neared a new all-time high, but the broader market experienced a downturn, particularly for altcoins and Real-World Assets. Thankfully, on-chain theft incidents decreased in August, and the total losses for 2024 reached a substantial $1.2 billion. Several presales, including BlockDAG, Tokero, Artemis, and DTX Exchange, showcased potential for early investors. What do they say about the early birds catching the worm?

As we move into September, it will be interesting to observe how the market navigates these "hullabaloo" signals and, hopefully, how the broader market regains momentum. I will keep you updated even to the tiniest details.

Here are some exciting stories from the last week of August

Meta warns of looming ‘quantum apocalypse’ for modern encryption, cryptography standards

Tech giant Meta is making efforts to prevent a “quantum apocalypse” that poses an impending threat to modern cybersecurity and encryption standards across industries — including the cryptography model used in blockchain technology. Meta engineers highlighted during the firm’s latest Metatech Podcast that the risks posed by quantum computing are significant enough to warrant immediate and pressing attention, as finding solutions could take a vast amount of time due to current technological limitations. - Read more here

Vitalik Buterin advocates blockchain identity for fairer crypto airdrops

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sees crypto airdrops as a promising initial use case for blockchain-based identity frameworks. In an Aug. 28 post on X, Buterin outlined the goals of airdrops as distributing tokens to genuine community members, rewarding project contributions, and ensuring fairness. He suggested that projects could leverage ZK-based identity, credential, and attestation frameworks to achieve these aims Read more here - Read more here

Ethereum Foundation disburses $8.5M in grants for Q2, backing 98 projects

Nearly $9 million in grants were distributed to 98 projects, raising the yearly spending to foster the Ethereum ecosystem to $20 million. Most of the projects that received support from the EFESP are labeled “Community & Education,” with 41 getting boosted by the Ethereum Foundation (EF), including events such as ETH conventions and small meetups worldwide - Read more here

Vitalik Buterin praises Polymarket as platform smashes growth records

Web3 prediction platform Polymarket is experiencing unprecedented growth, fueled largely by the upcoming 2024 US presidential election. The platform has already achieved its highest trading volumes and user participation to date this month, solidifying its status as a significant player in the prediction market space. Despite the praise and growth, many have criticized the platform for treading too close to traditional gambling. Read more here - Read more here

Argentina introduces Ethereum education in high schools

The Ministry of Education in Argentina has partnered with the ETH Kipu Foundation to integrate Ethereum and blockchain technology into the Buenos Aires high school curriculum, according to a recent announcement. The program aims to equip Buenos Aires high school students with knowledge of Ethereum and blockchain technology. This move is expected to prepare the participants for a tech-driven economy and position Argentina ahead of other Latin American countries - Read more here

Elon Musk, Tesla beat Dogecoin manipulation lawsuit

Elon Musk and his electric automotive company, Tesla, have won the dismissal of a lawsuit that accused them of manipulating the price of Dogecoin – Read more here

OpenSea Received Wells Notice from SEC Alleging NFTs as Securities

OpenSea, one of the leading NFT marketplaces, is preparing for a lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) - Read more here

Nigeria’s SEC grants two crypto companies licences

The Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to two cryptocurrency exchanges, Quidax and Busha, by granting them provisional licences, also known as “Approval-in-Principle.” This is part of the SEC’s accelerated regulatory incubation program (ARIP), designed to bring companies that started operations before the May 2022 rules on virtual asset service providers into the fold. With this approval, Quidax and Busha join an ARIP cohort as digital asset exchanges, alongside four digital asset offering platforms — Trovotech, Wrapped CBDC, HousingExhange, and Dream City Capital — and one digital asset custodian, Blockvault Custodian - Read more here

Pig butchering' gains traction among crypto scammers, causing billions in losses

Crypto fraudsters are abandoning complicated Ponzi schemes in favor of “pig butchering” scams, which have seen a marked uptick in 2024. These schemes often combine romance scams and investment fraud to persuade victims to provide ever larger sums of crypto to scammers over a sustained time period. - Read More here

Stacks Network Launches Nakamoto Upgrade, Promising Faster Bitcoin Transactions

The long-awaited Nakamoto upgrade for the Stacks (STX) network, a layer-2 solution for Bitcoin, has finally begun. This significant development, which commenced on Wednesday, is set to dramatically enhance transaction speeds and bring about substantial changes to the network's architecture. - Read more here

TON Blockchain Resumes Operations After Outage Caused by DOGS Token Airdrop

The Open Network (TON) blockchain is back in action after a brief but significant disruption that halted block production for several hours. The TON Foundation?announced?the network's return to normal operations on August 28 at 5:30 am UTC. The interruption was attributed to an unusual surge in network activity following the airdrop of DOGS, a new meme coin designed to capture the essence of the Telegram community. This unexpected congestion pushed the network to its limits, causing several validators to struggle with clearing old transaction data and ultimately leading to a loss of consensus - Read more here

ETH Struggles Despite 36% Surge in DApps Volume, Investor Sentiment Remains Cautious

Ethereum (ETH) has seen a modest rebound, gaining 7.5% after dipping to $2,396 on August 27. Ethereum (ETF) has seen a modest rebound, gaining 7.5% after dipping to $2,396 on August 27. However, it has retraced most of the gains and is down 0.44% over the past 24 hours, reflecting ongoing investor unease. Despite increased activity on the Ethereum network, ETH’s price remains far below the $3,800 levels it reached in early June. Read more here - Read more here

El Salvador’s $135M Bitcoin bet now worth $400M—President Bukele says we have done well

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele believes that the country’s bet on Bitcoin was a success but its adoption has fallen short. He also told TIME in an interview that the government has done well converting the $135 million BTC bet to $400 million - Read more here

Binance to support Cardano’s network upgrade

The Cardano network is ready for the Chang hard fork, part of the transition to the Voltaire era of decentralized network governance. Binance has announced it is ready to support the upcoming Cardano (ADA) network upgrade and Chang hard fork on Sept. 1 after failing to prepare for the original Aug. 27 deadline in a timely manner. Read more here - Read more here

Aptos network integrates Nillion for privacy-preserving apps

Aptos is integrating privacy platform Nillion to support privacy-preserving applications on the layer-1 blockchain network. Aptos can support applications such as confidential decentralized finance (DeFi), private artificial intelligence assistants, secure social media, private gaming and collectibles, and more. Read more here - Read more here

Solutions without problems: How many Ethereum layer 2s are too many?

Developers might have good intentions when building the next super-fast, low-gas-fee, easy-to-use blockchain, but in the long run, it’s counterproductive as it creates a more fragmented ecosystem. Read more here - Read more here

BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF Marks First Loss Since May—Cause for Concern?

BlackRock’s IBIT lost $13.5 million on Thursday, marking its first net outflows in nearly four months amid negative outflows among U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has experienced more than $13 million in net outflows, marking the first time since May the investment vehicle has lost more funds than it has gained. According to data from investment management firm Farside Investors, the Ishares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), which is the largest spot Bitcoin ETF by total assets, saw net outflows of roughly $13.5 million on Thursday. - Read more here

HNT, TRX, and AAVE defy Bitcoin’s slide with strong August gains

August proved challenging for Bitcoin, which ended the month with negative returns. his downturn was exacerbated in the altcoin market, where most tokens experienced declines, except for a few standout projects: Helium, Tron, and Aave. Read more here - Read more here

Australia Becomes Fastest Growing Bitcoin ATM Market – More Inviting to Crypto Users

The?Australian Bitcoin ATM market is the third largest,?with 1,160 installations. Thanks to CoinFlip (a Chicago-based ATM provider),?Australia’s Bitcoin ATM installations have grown by 176%?since 2022. Becoming?the fastest-growing Bitcoin ATM market?might attract more visitors who want to spend their crypto assets freely. Read more here

Bitcoin’s hash rate stabilizes at historic highs post-halving, signaling strong miner confidence

Bitcoin’s mean hash rate has demonstrated consistent growth over the past year, with significant increases observed in 2024. Historically, the hash rate has often paralleled Bitcoin’s price movements, reflecting miners’ confidence and the broader market sentiment. The recent charts indicate that, following a post-halving surge, Bitcoin’s hash rate is stabilizing at historically high levels, around 650 EH/s, despite price fluctuations. Read More here - Read more here

Trump’s pro-Bitcoin stance helps secure 12-point lead over Harris, FDU poll finds

Former President Donald Trump’s engagement with the crypto community is significantly bolstering his chances to win the 2024 presidential race, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) poll released on Aug. 30. The FDU poll indicated that Trump holds a notable lead among voters who own crypto or related assets, outpacing Vice President Kamala Harris by 12 points in the 2024 US Presidential race. Read More Here - Read more here

Whewww!!!

Feeling the heat, huh? August has been a scorcher! Let's hope September brings some relief. That's all I have for you today. I will see you next week with more exciting updates! Don't forget to like, share and follow me on all social media platforms @koderholic

Toodles!