1. Cornell University Professor Warns Misleading Promises and Hype Are Heightening Cryptocurrency Risks

According to NewsBitcoin, Eswar Prasad, a professor at Dyson College at Cornell University and a senior researcher at the Brookings Institution, expressed great concern about the risks posed by the booming cryptocurrency market in a review article published in the “New York Times”. Although Bitcoin recently surged to record highs and received political support from figures such as former US President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris, Eswar Prasad warned: In any case, today's cryptocurrencies pose greater risks to investors and financial institutions than before. He pointed out that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deregulation has made it easier for retail investors to enter the cryptocurrency market, but generally they don't fully understand the risks involved. Eswar Prasad further emphasized the dangers of centralization in the crypto ecosystem, pointing out that the collapse of FTX and Binance's legal disputes are examples of how centralized power undermines the basic principles of decentralized finance. He also emphasized that “risk may spread from decentralized finance to traditional finance and vice versa,” thereby making the entire financial system vulnerable.

2. Bitcoin long-term holders bought over 0.1845 million BTC during the recent market pullback

According to data disclosed by Bitcoin Magazine, during the recent market pullback, Bitcoin long-term holders purchased more than 0.1845 million BTC, worth about 11.1 billion US dollars.

3. Bitcoin reserves on centralized exchanges fell to their lowest level since November 19, 2018

According to Bitcoin.com, according to CryptoQuant.com data, 99,308 bitcoins (worth 5.96 billion US dollars) have been withdrawn from centralized exchanges (CEX) since July 11, 2024, and CEX's Bitcoin reserves have fallen to their lowest level since November 19, 2018. Currently, CEX holds 2,679,880 bitcoins, which are worth approximately $161 billion based on the Bitcoin price on August 11. Furthermore, Ethereum reserves have also been reduced to their lowest level in many years; currently, CEX holds 16.8 million ethers, which is a sharp drop of 18.64 million compared to the all-time high of 35.44 million ethers set on June 4, 2020. The media commented that the continued decline in CEX's BTC and ETH balances indicates that cryptocurrency investors are increasingly leaning towards self-escrow solutions, which could have a long-term positive impact on the price growth of these tokens.

4. Currently, over 41% of WBTC is used for loans, and the biggest use case (acceptor) is MakerDAO

According to ai_9684xtpa monitoring, WBTC currently supports the Ethereum/Base/Kave/Osmosis/tron network, of which the Ethereum main network accounts for 99.8%. As of today, 154,726 WBTC (worth 9.45 billion US dollars) have been minted, accounting for 0.78% of Bitcoin's total market value. According to Dune panel data, currently over 41% of WBTC is used in the lending ecosystem, with the largest usage scenario (acceptor) being used in MakerDAO, and nearly 32% for Direct transactions. WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin) is an ER20 token issued on the Ethereum network, and its value is linked to Bitcoin one-to-one; each WBTC has a corresponding Bitcoin as a reserve and is managed through a custodian agency (currently Bitgo) to ensure that WBTC holders can exchange it for Bitcoin at any time. WBTC was first proposed in 2017, and officially released and put into use in 2019. By 2020, it had already broken through 2.1 billion dollars in BTC. As previously reported, BitGo and Bit Global have partnered to create a joint venture to diversify WBTC's escrow business and cold storage business across multiple jurisdictions, and BitGo will become a minority shareholder in the new joint venture. The joint venture will continue to use the same BitGo multi-signature technology and cold storage technology used to protect Bitcoin since 2019, with the only difference being able to distribute keys at multiple locations around the world. The transition period for this hosting change is 60 days. BiT Global is a global escrow platform headquartered in Hong Kong, operated under regulation, registered as a Trust and Corporate Service Provider (TCSP), and has strategic partnerships with JustinSun and the TRON ecosystem. Subsequently, MakerDAO plans to launch a proposal to reduce the size of WBTC collateral to address the potential risk of changes in escrow rights.

5. OSL executive says Hong Kong cryptocurrency ETF faces systemic market hurdles

According to TheBlock, Gary Tiu, executive director of OSL and head of regulatory affairs at the Hong Kong Cryptocurrency Exchange, said on Sunday that Hong Kong's cryptocurrency spot exchange funds face systemic barriers, that is, the market generally lacks incentives for ETFs; therefore, in Hong Kong, especially in terms of funds and structured products, there is usually a very rich layer of intermediaries between issuers and final investors — brokers, banks, private banks, retail banks, etc., and some intermediaries make a lot of money by distributing financial products; this has led the Hong Kong market to favor unlisted products, and ETFs, on the other hand, allow anyone to trade in the market. Therefore, ETFs provide very few incentives to stock brokers. The commission is about a few basis points, or about 1% to 2% of the commission for selling structured products. Therefore, it believes that Hong Kong's incentive system is one of the reasons why ETFs are difficult to develop as a financial instrument. Furthermore, Tiu said that Hong Kong generally still has a negative attitude towards Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrencies. “I think there's still some prejudice in the eyes of regulators and financial institutions, which view Bitcoin ETFs as a unique risk category requiring extra caution,” Tiu said.

6. Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Yau Dagen: The Hong Kong Government plans to strengthen digital asset supervision within 12-18 months in the future

According to Cointelegraph, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council member Qiu Dagan revealed Hong Kong's strategic plan to attract technological talents, build new infrastructure, and establish strong legislative supervision. He revealed that Hong Kong's stablecoin sandbox testing has begun, and the Hong Kong government plans to strengthen supervision and enforcement of laws relating to digital asset financial products within one to one and a half years. The next phase will encourage project parties to explore more innovative financial products in Hong Kong, which marks an important step towards its mission to become a global fintech center.

7. Fox Business Reporter Eleanor Terrett: Trump Jr. is likely to launch a tokenized real estate project

According to Fox Business Correspondent Eleanor Terrett's post on the X platform, if Trump Jr.'s crypto project did design Steve Witkoff, then speculation would be doubled that it would be a tokenized real estate project. According to public information, Steve Witkoff is an American real estate investment tycoon, founder and chairman of the New York developer Steven Witkoff Group. He successfully developed the 701 TSQ building project in Times Square in New York.

8. Bitcoin reserves on exchanges hit a five-year low, and $5.96 billion was withdrawn within 30 days

In the past month, 99,308 BTC worth $5.96 billion were withdrawn from exchanges starting July 11, 2024. Currently, cryptoquant.com data shows that centralized exchanges hold 2,679,880 BTC, which is worth approximately $161 billion based on the Bitcoin exchange rate on Sunday, August 11th. The last time reserves were this low was during the Bitcoin bear market on November 19, 2018.

9. Bitcoin mining difficulty is expected to decline on August 14

Following July 31, Bitcoin mining difficulty reached a record high of 854,784 (17:13:32), and the mining difficulty increased by 10.5% to 90.67T. According to current indicators, the difficulty level is expected to drop on August 14, with a drop of between 4% and 5.3%.

10. 10x Research: Bitcoin may usher in a major shift in the 0.06 million to 0.07 million dollar trading range

In its market analysis, 10x Research said that at critical times in the economy and financial markets, it is particularly challenging to explain trends, as old claims are being questioned and new ones are gradually being formed. Traders and investors must keep a close eye on market signals during this time. Crucially, we recognize that markets tend to focus on one mainstream narrative before moving on to the next topic. Understanding this dynamic is critical to effectively following market transformation. Market concerns turned to Mt in early July after German addresses sold BTC at the end of June. Gox's upcoming payouts. With the attack on Trump and his subsequent selection of Bitcoin holder JD Vance as his vice presidential candidate, the story took a dramatic turn. Bitcoin's price is closely linked to these political developments as Trump's chances of getting elected soar to 70%. However, President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2025 US presidential election on July 21, and this trend came to an abrupt end. Bitcoin once again broke through the $0.07 million mark after discussions on Bitcoin's strategic reserves emerged, which made people look forward to Trump's speech at the Nashville Bitcoin Conference. Unfortunately, this speech didn't have the publicity effect. Bitcoin's rally ended when the US government transferred $2 billion worth of bitcoin. The trading range of 0.06 million to 0.07 million dollars has remained stable, but

11. Nigerian cryptocurrency advocates file lawsuit to overturn cryptocurrency ban

Nigerian cryptocurrency advocate James Utudor has filed a lawsuit challenging the Nigerian government's restrictions on owning, using, and trading digital assets such as bitcoin and stablecoins. Utudor alleges that the lawsuit lists the Nigerian President, Minister of Finance, and Attorney General as defendants to lift the ban on cryptocurrencies and ensure that all Nigerians can use cryptocurrencies without restrictions.

12. Robinhood, Coinbase, and others oppose CFTC regulation of the political prediction market

A rule amendment proposed by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) may threaten the operation of rapidly developing political prediction markets such as Polymarket in the US, triggering strong opposition from cryptocurrency and fintech companies. Opposition came from companies such as Gemini, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase, as well as individuals such as well-known blogger Scott Alexander. Industry insiders believe that the CFTC's proposal exceeds its own regulatory powers. Steve Humenik, senior vice president of Crypto.com, said that the CFTC is neither a gambling regulator nor an election regulator, and is not qualified to regulate this market. Dragonfly Capital's legal practice argues that the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron law, which means the CFTC must ensure that it has the power to oversee these contracts. Meanwhile, Cameron Winklevoss, one of Gemini's founders, called on the CFTC to withdraw this proposal and reformulate it with industry stakeholders. Cryptocurrency companies generally believe that this move by the CFTC will seriously damage the rights of US citizens to access these powerful markets, and are calling on the CFTC to reconsider its proposal.