Circle’s USDC accounted for 63% of salaries paid in crypto in 2024, outpacing USDt despite its trading dominance, according to Pantera’s global compensation survey.

Crypto salaries triple in 2024 as stablecoins dominate payrolls: Report

XRP storms into the spotlight as Galaxy Digital anchors it in a $3.56 billion 
portfolio, backed by a $97 million Ripple equity stake, signaling massive 
institutional conviction. XRP Featured in Galaxy’s $3.56B Portfolio Alongside 
$97M Ripple Equity Position Galaxy Digital Ltd. disclosed in its U.S. 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 10-Q filed on Aug. […]

XRP Among Top Crypto Holdings of Galaxy Digital as Ripple Stake Becomes Strategic Centerpiece

The Ethereum (ETH) blockchain is experiencing a renewed surge in network 
activity, recently reaching a fresh all-time high (ATH) in daily transactions. 
However, despite this increase in on-chain fundamentals, ETH&#8217;s price continues 
to trade below major resistance levels, raising concerns that bullish momentum 
may be fading. Ethereum Network Activity Picks Momentum According to a 
CryptoQuant Quicktake post by contributor CryptoOnChain, Ethereum’s daily 
transaction count &#8211; highlighted in pink in the below chart &#8211; has surged to a 
new ATH of approximately 1,550,000 transactions per day. This sharp increase 
in daily transactions, particularly noticeable over the past few months, 
points to intensified on-chain usage and overall network engagement. In 
addition to transaction count, other metrics also reflect a spike in activity 
&#8211; most notably, the number of unique Ethereum addresses. As of August 5, the 
total number of unique Ethereum addresses stood at 332,122,674, marking an 
increase of 207,454 new wallets compared to the previous day. While some of 
these may belong to existing users creating new addresses, the majority likely 
represent new participants entering the Ethereum ecosystem. Related Reading: 
Ethereum Rally Not Fueled By Bitcoin Dump, On-Chain Signals Show CryptoOnChain 
emphasized that despite these bullish on-chain signals, Ethereum’s price has 
not followed suit. As shown in the above chart, ETH’s price &#8211; highlighted in 
orange &#8211; remains subdued, failing to break above prior highs or key resistance 
zones. This disconnect between rising network fundamentals and lagging price 
action may indicate that the market is in an accumulation phase, the analyst 
said. CryptoOnChain further suggested that Ethereum could be setting the stage 
for a significant bullish breakout, with potential upside targets reaching as 
high as $5,000. Is ETH Price Headed For A New ATH? In a separate analysis 
posted on X, crypto analyst Titan of Crypto shared the following ETH monthly 
chart, noting that the asset is “compressing within a massive monthly 
triangle.” According to the analyst, a successful breakout from this pattern 
could potentially drive ETH toward $8,000. For the uninitiated, the triangle 
pattern is a chart formation that occurs when price action consolidates 
between converging trendlines, forming a shape that resembles a triangle. It 
typically indicates a period of indecision that often resolves with a breakout 
in the direction of the prior trend, signaling continuation or reversal 
depending on the context. Related Reading: Is Ethereum Gearing Up for a Major 
Move? Analysts Split on What’s Next Another well-known analyst, Gert van 
Lagen, echoed a similar outlook. He noted that ETH may be positioning for a 
powerful breakout, with a projected price target of up to $9,000, citing 
growing technical and fundamental support. Meanwhile, on-chain exchange data 
also supports a bullish narrative. Over the past two weeks, more than 1 
million ETH has been withdrawn from centralized exchanges &#8211; fuelling 
speculations about a potential supply crunch. At press time, ETH trades at 
$3,590, down 1.1% in the past 24 hours. Featured image from Unsplash, charts 
from CryptoQuant, Etherscan, X, and TradingView.com

Ethereum Price Lags Despite All-Time High In Daily Transactions – What’s Next For ETH?

A blistering Senate crypto bill sparks alarm over regulatory confusion, as 
Ripple’s legal chief warns it could subject XRP and similar tokens to endless 
SEC control. Ripple Legal Chief Warns Senate Crypto Draft May Destroy Market 
Clarity Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, submitted a formal 
response to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, […]

Ripple Legal Chief Warns Crypto Bill Could Lock XRP in Endless Regulatory Limbo

CryptoQuant analyst Maartunn used today’s price weakness to publish a 
granular, 10-part “Bitcoin Market Analysis” on X that dissects the post-ATH 
landscape with on-chain detail and a clear technical line in the sand. 
“Bitcoin broke its all-time high, but here’s the catch: long-term holders are 
[starting] to sell into the strength,” he wrote, adding that what matters now 
is how the market digests that supply above and around the breakout zone. In 
his framing, the first stress test is underway. Is The Bitcoin Bull Run Over? 
The thread anchors around one headline-grabbing datapoint: “the LTH selling 
pressure includes the 80,000 BTC sold by the Satoshi-era wallet.” That 
description is Maartunn’s interpretation of July’s extraordinary movement of 
eight “ancient” wallets that shifted roughly 80,000 BTC after ~14 years of 
dormancy via Galaxy Digital. Beyond the drama of this single entity, Maartunn 
argues that behavior across the holder spectrum is what’s driving the tape. 
“Retail is stepping in after the ATH,” he noted, describing a familiar pattern 
of late-cycle enthusiasm that followed Bitcoin’s push through $120,000 in mid- 
July. That surge set a new record near $123,000 before momentum faded; spot 
prices are now revolving around $113,000–$115,000. Related Reading: Bitcoin Is 
Secretly Tracking This Market Signal: Weiss Crypto The bid didn’t vanish 
entirely. “Fresh capital did help the ATH-breakout buyers,” Maartunn wrote, 
pointing to balance-sheet demand “from firms like Strategy and Metaplanet.” 
Those purchases are verifiable. Strategy—the rebranded MicroStrategy—disclosed 
21,021 BTC bought between July 28 and Aug. 3 at an average of ~$117,256, 
lifting its holdings to ~628,791 BTC. Tokyo-listed Metaplanet added 463 BTC on 
Aug. 4, taking treasury holdings to 17,595 BTC. Even so, those corporate flows 
“weren’t enough to hold Bitcoin around the ~$120k level,” the analyst said. 
Where the thread turns more cautionary is on short-term hands. “Short-Term 
Holders started to puke and sell at a loss,” Maartunn wrote, quantifying 
realized-loss waves of 52,230 BTC (July 15–18), 42,493 BTC (July 24–28), and 
70,028 BTC “after July 31.” He called the last episode notable “not just [for] 
the size, but the duration,” arguing that prolonged STH loss-realization is a 
pressure valve that typically needs time to exhaust. These are Maartunn’s on- 
chain tallies; they have not been separately published by data vendors in 
aggregate form. The flows picture from listed products has begun to rhyme with 
that stress. “ETFs are also seeing outflows,” he observed. Multiple trackers 
confirm a downswing: CoinShares logged the first net weekly outflow in 15 
weeks (-$223 million) with Bitcoin funds leading at -$404 million, while daily 
tallies this week show US spot Bitcoin ETFs bleeding for several sessions, 
including about -$196 million on Tuesday. Framing differs by window, but the 
direction is clear: the bid from ETFs is wobbling at the margin. Related 
Reading: Bitcoin Risks Another Crash Following Recovering Into Bearish FVG 
Zone Technically, Maartunn fixes attention on the former breakout zone. 
“Bitcoin is finding support around its previous ATH — roughly $112K,” he 
wrote, pointing to a confluence between chart structure and on-chain price- 
distribution. His on-chain map “backs it up,” flagging “strong support in the 
$108K–$112K range,” an area where a large volume of coins last changed hands. 
Context matters. Bitcoin’s July all-time high sits around $123,000 on major 
benchmarks—an extension of 2025’s institutional-heavy advance—so calling 
$112,000 a “previous ATH” refers to the nearer-term breakout plateau that 
preceded price discovery, not the absolute record. That nuance is why Maartunn 
concludes with a conditional: “So far this cycle, we haven’t seen any previous 
ATH break down… Until that changes, this looks like a normal pullback. But if 
we do break below a former ATH ($112k), that’s a real shift in market 
behavior.” In the near term, the credibility of that ~$108,000–$112,000 
“shelf” will likely be decided by whether supply from profit-taking long-term 
holders, loss-realizing short-term holders, and ETF redemptions continues to 
outweigh balance-sheet demand and organic spot inflows. If the shelf holds, 
Maartunn’s base case is “a normal pullback” that bleeds off excesses from the 
ATH push. If it fails decisively, he argues, the cycle would be showing its 
first meaningful breach of a prior breakout—an observable change in behavior 
rather than a narrative turn of phrase. At press time, BTC traded at $114,238. 
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Bull Run Already Over? Whales Are Bailing, Retail’s Late

Bakkt plans to convert a traditional Japanese firm into a Bitcoin investment 
vehicle. Marusho Hotta, a little-known Tokyo Stock Exchange company, is set 
for a radical makeover as Bakkt takes a 30% stake, installs its own CEO, and 
rebrands it…