Compiled by: ChainCatcher

What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?

U.S. strikes Iranian oil tankers push up oil prices, Bitcoin falls nearly 1% to $79,700

According to ChainCatcher, Bitcoin's price has dropped nearly 1% to about $79,700 due to escalating conflicts between the U.S. and Iran pushing up oil prices. The U.S. Central Command confirmed on Saturday that it struck three Iranian oil tankers located near Khark Island, near Jask, and in the Gulf of Oman. Admiral Brad Cooper stated that if Iran attacks U.S. vessels, the U.S. will impose a higher economic cost. The U.S. Central Command updated maritime blockade data, stating that since resuming operations on July 14, it has diverted 92 commercial vessels, disabled 3, and boarded 2 for inspection. Oil prices rose by 1% in both European and American markets, with WTI at $92.72, marking a cumulative increase of over 6% in the past seven days. The rise in oil prices could exacerbate global inflation, making it more difficult for central banks, including the Federal Reserve, to lower interest rates. Additionally, last Friday's U.S. employment data for August was stronger than expected, reinforcing expectations for a rate hike by the Federal Reserve, but Trump immediately posted on Truth Social calling for a rate cut, stating that a strong nation means lower interest rates. This uncertainty may dampen risk appetite for Bitcoin and the broader market. Furthermore, late Sunday night, the Liquid Network, used by exchanges for settlement layers, suffered an attack amounting to $320 million.

Vitalik refutes Silicon Valley investor's claim that "AI will kill BTC": The probability of hash algorithms or PoW being compromised is extremely low

According to ChainCatcher, Silicon Valley angel investor Liron Shapira posted on X this morning, stating: "I assert (with 50% confidence): AI will undermine the security and robustness guarantees that people once thought Bitcoin had, and within the next two years, BTC prices will plummet by over 50%." Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin refuted this, stating: "I hold the completely opposite view. My fundamental reason is that, in the long run, I am quite optimistic about network security, and I believe the main challenge lies in how to smoothly navigate the transition period. Moreover, I believe BTC can at least handle all issues that do not require social consensus to resolve (such as upgrading clients, mining pools, etc., to address network layer attacks), and I think the probability of hash algorithms or proof-of-work mechanisms being genuinely compromised is extremely low. I wanted to bet with you, but considering my current asset allocation (I guess you hold the same view on Ethereum ETH), I have already staked about 90% of my wealth on this bet."

Zcash price hits a new high since 2016, market cap surpasses $20 billion

According to ChainCatcher, Zcash (ZEC) price has risen to its highest level since 2016, with a market cap exceeding $20 billion. According to CoinGecko data, ZEC once reached $1,249.28 before falling back to about $1,195, having increased by about 45% over the past week and 138% over the past 30 days. However, the current price is still below the historical high of $3,191.93 set on October 28, 2016. This round of increase is mainly driven by Grayscale converting its Zcash Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The product code is ZCSH, which began trading on August 25 on NYSE ARCA, allowing investors to gain exposure to ZEC through brokerage accounts. As of last Friday's close, the ETF was priced at $83.77, with assets under management reaching $463.2 million. Zcash allows users to choose between public and "shielded" transactions, the latter using zero-knowledge proofs to verify payments without disclosing the sender, receiver, or transaction amount. Grayscale's research director Zach Pandl stated in an analysis on August 31 that this could become a "must-have" feature for privacy-focused users. Pandl pointed out that artificial intelligence may increase the demand for financial privacy by making it easier to associate public blockchain transactions with user identities.

Korean brokerage warns that Samsung and SK Hynix memory inventory is below 10 days

According to ChainCatcher, Korean brokerage KB Securities warned that Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's inventory of memory semiconductors has fallen to less than 10 days' supply, and available supply will be significantly insufficient next year. The agency reported on Monday that investment in AI infrastructure is expanding at an unprecedented pace, leading to a severe supply shortage in the memory chip market. A key factor is the transition to HBM4, which requires about three times the wafers of traditional DRAM, and limited wafer production capacity will reduce the available capacity for traditional DRAM. KB Securities expects that next year, demand for DRAM and NAND will exceed supply by more than 10 percentage points. Research director Kim Dong-won stated that AI servers will consume HBM, server DDR5, and enterprise-grade solid-state drives, potentially leading to a historic shortage. Global hyperscale data center operators have raised their AI infrastructure investment expectations for next year to $1.3 trillion, a 60% increase from last year. The agency expects that next year, memory semiconductors will account for 57% of total investment in AI infrastructure, up from 14% last year, with TrendForce estimating this ratio could reach as high as 68%. Samsung Electronics' stock price has dropped nearly 28% from its peak, while SK Hynix has fallen nearly 40%.

Galaxy Research: Coldcard attackers continue to transfer funds, about 45% of stolen assets have entered mixing or cross-chain paths

According to ChainCatcher, Galaxy Research stated that the attackers in the Coldcard "Wave 3" attack are still continuously transferring the stolen funds. During this phase, the attackers created 293 2-of-2 multi-signature vaults for each victim's assets. The first batch of funds was transferred across chains to Ethereum via THORChain; the latest round of transfers has begun entering the CoinJoin mixing process. Currently, the Wave 3 attackers are processing the largest amounts of stolen funds in order of the stolen amounts, having sequentially transferred vaults ranked 1 to 11. The next 10 vaults that have not yet been transferred hold a total of 30.81 BTC, while vaults ranked 61 to 293 hold a total of 33.77 BTC. So far, the attackers have transferred about 45% of the stolen assets from this exploit, with funds flowing to Ethereum (via THORChain) or entering CoinJoin mixing transactions. Additionally, this fund transfer has revealed a previously unknown vault: 58 addresses spent together in a 2-of-2 multi-signature format identical to Wave 3 and were further transferred by the Wave 3 attackers to a jump address funding CoinJoin. The on-chain analysis team currently marks this vault as "cause = open," but believes it likely also belongs to Coldcard victims, meaning the number of vaults involved in Wave 3 may increase to 294, raising the previously reported total amount stolen from Coldcard vulnerabilities to about 1,806 BTC. Currently, about 82% of the stolen BTC remains in addresses initially controlled by the attackers, while about 18% has been transferred, with fund flows indicating it may be undergoing laundering.

TSMC and others expand production, driving top five semiconductor engineering firms' orders over 880 billion yuan

According to ChainCatcher, companies like TSMC and Micron are increasing capital expenditures to expand production, driving the total orders of the top five semiconductor engineering firms, including HanTang, YaXiang, FanXuan, YangJi, and ShengHui, to over 880 billion yuan, setting a new record. TSMC recently stated at a semiconductor exhibition that it is building up to 20 wafer fabs, with overall capacity expansion significantly increasing compared to the past, but still unable to meet customer demand. U.S. tariff policies have driven demand for manufacturing plants in the U.S. YaXiang's order amount of 440.073 billion yuan is the highest, with Chairman Yao Zu-Xiang noting that the total amount of projects undertaken in Singapore over the past four years has reached 600 billion yuan, with expectations for new projects to follow. HanTang's order amount of about 193.937 billion yuan has also reached a new high, benefiting from continued factory construction by major clients like TSMC and Micron. FanXuan's order amount has reached a new high of 135.1 billion yuan, with Chairman Gao Xin-Ming revealing that order visibility extends at least to 2028, and related projects for clients in 2029 and 2030 are already in planning. FanXuan has deployed materials, manpower, and local construction teams to support clients' simultaneous expansion needs in Taiwan, Arizona in the U.S., Japan, and Germany, and is investing in the development of technologies like CoPoS. ShengHui's order amount exceeds 60 billion yuan, with Taiwan accounting for 68%, and semiconductor orders accounting for 63%. In the first half of the year, after-tax net profit was 2.944 billion yuan, with earnings per share of 23.73 yuan, setting a new high for the same period. YangJi's after-tax net profit in the first half of the year was 2.317 billion yuan, with earnings per share of 17.46 yuan, and the order amount is about 51.77 billion yuan, with order visibility reaching the end of 2027.

Cross-chain infrastructure Router Protocol announces shutdown, plans to burn 303 million ROUTE tokens

According to ChainCatcher, Router Protocol, a cross-chain infrastructure project supported by Coinbase Ventures, announced it will shut down all operations by September 30 and plans to permanently burn 303,333,198 ROUTE tokens held in its treasury, accounting for about 30% of the total supply of nearly 1 billion tokens. The team released a statement on X stating that over the past year, they attempted commercialization, licensing, and acquisition negotiations, but failed to achieve sustainable operational results. Router sees the flow of funds from the crypto space to AI and the decline in cross-chain asset transfer fees as core challenges facing operations. As activities concentrate on fewer networks and standardized infrastructure, demand for its services has declined. The team stated that bridging economic profits are thin, fees have been compressed, and costs have never stopped. As part of the shutdown, Router will negotiate with centralized exchanges to stop supporting the ROUTE token, and delisting arrangements and withdrawal processes may vary across exchanges. Router raised $4.1 million from investors such as Coinbase Ventures and Polygon in 2021 and launched the proof-of-stake-based Layer 1 blockchain Router Chain in July 2024, but it was shut down in September 2025 due to infrastructure costs, validator inflation, and security risks. The team also disclosed two security incidents in 2025: in February, a vulnerability incident where about 80% of the value was recovered through negotiation, and a July chain-level vulnerability loss that could not be recovered.

The Wall Street Journal: Former U.S. President Biden's son plans to launch meme coin LAPTOP

ChainCatcher reports that, according to The Wall Street Journal, Hunter Biden, the son of former U.S. President Joe Biden, will launch a meme coin named LAPTOP, named after his laptop incident, set to go live on the Base network under Coinbase on September 9. The founding team of the project, including Hunter Biden, will hold 30% of the total token supply (1 billion tokens), with that portion locked for 6 months and fully unlocked over two years; another 20% of the tokens will be airdropped in two batches to users who previously lost money on the Trump meme coin TRUMP, Hunter Biden's Substack subscribers, and users on the mailing list maintained by video journalist Andrew Callaghan; the remaining 20% will be used for charitable donations, liquidity, and distribution to exchange partners and market makers, as well as to cover the accounting, legal, administrative, and compliance costs of the token foundation. It is reported that the founding team has also agreed on a destruction mechanism that includes 30 preset events, where if the relevant events achieve preset results within the specified time (such as the Democratic Party winning the 2028 presidential election, Bitcoin hitting a new historical high, LAPTOP's fully diluted valuation exceeding TRUMP, etc.), up to 30% of the token supply can be destroyed; if not achieved, the tokens will be donated to charities proportionally. The report notes that Hunter Biden has recently been frequently participating in podcasts, news programs, and writing Substack articles discussing his views on cryptocurrency, and has commented on the controversy between the Trump family's crypto project World Liberty Financial and Sun Yuchen.

Malone Lam, the mastermind behind the $240 million BTC theft case, will attend a plea agreement hearing this Tuesday

ChainCatcher reports that, according to Apnews, a young crypto scam gang stole over 4,100 BTC in August 2024 through a "social engineering" attack, worth over $240 million at the time. After the theft, gang members quickly began extravagant spending, including purchasing sports cars, renting luxury homes, flying on private jets, and hiring security personnel, with the alleged mastermind, 22-year-old Singaporean Malone Lam, reportedly spending over $569,000 in one night at a nightclub in Los Angeles. Investigations revealed that the suspects impersonated Google and crypto trading platform Gemini staff to trick victims into giving up Google Drive access and security codes, thereby transferring their Bitcoin. They then moved the funds through multiple trading platforms and money laundering intermediaries. Their lavish lifestyle eventually drew the attention of law enforcement. One suspect was exposed when their IP address was revealed while hiding nearly $30 million in stolen crypto assets, leading police to track down the luxury home they rented in California. Another suspect was found with $37 million worth of stolen crypto assets. Lam is accused of using the stolen funds to purchase a $2 million watch and over 30 Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris. A total of 18 defendants have been charged, and Lam is expected to attend a plea agreement hearing this Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Justice has already made rulings against several accomplices, and the related cases are still ongoing.

Data: Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $987 million last week, marking three consecutive weeks of net inflows

ChainCatcher reports that, according to SoSoValue data, the Bitcoin spot ETF had a net inflow of $987 million last week. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net inflow last week was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a weekly net inflow of $692 million, bringing IBIT's total historical net inflow to $64.06 billion; followed by Ark & 21 Shares ETF ARKB, with a weekly net inflow of $138 million, currently totaling $1.46 billion in historical net inflow. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the highest net outflow last week was Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC, with a weekly net outflow of $47.9921 million, bringing GBTC's total historical net outflow to $27.65 billion. As of the time of publication, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $101.25 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market cap relative to total Bitcoin market cap) of 6.33%, and total historical net inflows reaching $55.62 billion.

Data: Ethereum spot ETF saw a net inflow of $218 million last week, marking three consecutive weeks of net inflows

ChainCatcher reports that, according to SoSoValue data, the Ethereum spot ETF had a net inflow of $218 million last week. The Ethereum spot ETF with the highest net inflow last week was Blackrock ETF ETHA, with a weekly net inflow of $136 million, bringing ETHA's total historical net inflow to $12.87 billion; followed by Blackrock ETF ETHB, with a weekly net inflow of $81.8506 million, currently totaling $775 million in historical net inflow. The Ethereum spot ETF with the highest net outflow last week was Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETHE, with a weekly net outflow of $36.9659 million, bringing ETHE's total historical net outflow to $5.38 billion. As of the time of publication, the total net asset value of Ethereum spot ETFs is $15.57 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market cap relative to total Ethereum market cap) of 5.2%, and total historical net inflows reaching $13.19 billion.

Changjiang Electronics Technology plans to raise 6.5 billion yuan to expand AI packaging capacity

ChainCatcher reports that Changjiang Electronics Technology, a leading testing and packaging company in China, announced on September 7 that it plans to raise no more than 6.5 billion yuan (approximately $968 million) through a private placement of shares to expand advanced packaging capacity for AI chips and related technology research and development. This fundraising will mainly focus on building production lines for high-density system-level packaging and wafer-level packaging aimed at AI computing chips to meet order demands from clients such as Nvidia and AMD. Changjiang Electronics Technology stated that the bandwidth and heat dissipation requirements for packaging technology for AI chips have significantly increased, and existing capacity is nearing full operation. This fundraising plan still requires approval from the shareholders' meeting and regulatory authorities.

Senator Cynthia Lummis: If the Clarity Act fails to pass in this Congress, the next opportunity for market structure legislation may not come until 2030

ChainCatcher reports that U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that if the Clarity Act does not pass in this Congress, the next real opportunity to reintroduce market structure legislation will not come until 2030. Completing this work now could avoid wasting job opportunities, investments, and tax revenue in the coming years.

CITIC Securities: Strong non-farm payrolls offset Waller's speech, market awaits CPI

ChainCatcher reports that CITIC Securities' research report states that in August 2026, the number of new non-farm jobs in the U.S. was significantly higher than expected, with notable contributions from the leisure and hospitality and healthcare sectors, and a rebound in local government education jobs. In the private sector structure, the goods-producing sector has added jobs for the sixth consecutive month, possibly reflecting demand for data center construction in the U.S. Employment in the financial and information technology sectors has declined, reflecting the impact of AI. The unemployment rate in August remained at 4.1%, rounded to two decimal places at 4.14%, with the labor force participation rate rebounding from 61.4% to 61.6%, while the continuous decline in participation rates for those aged 45-54 still needs to be observed. The strong non-farm data for August and the dovish remarks from Federal Reserve Governor Waller offset each other, and the market is again pricing in a 60% probability of a rate hike in September, with a focus on the August CPI to be released on September 11.

SideSwap: Customer cashed out 4000 L-BTC minted from a vulnerability

ChainCatcher reports that SideSwap issued a statement saying that today at 14:05 UTC, a customer sent 4000 L-BTC to its peg-out service. The service processed the order as usual, with L-BTC being destroyed on Liquid and accompanied by valid peg-out authorization, and at 14:28 UTC, Liquid Federation paid 3996 BTC to the customer's Bitcoin address. Blockstream later confirmed that this L-BTC was minted from a vulnerability in Elements software. SideSwap's peg-out authorization keys and systems were not compromised, and the service could not distinguish these tokens from other L-BTC. SideSwap is a non-custodial service, and user wallets are unaffected, with assets controlled by the user's own keys. Liquid has been suspended by the Federation, and SideSwap's exchange, peg-in, and peg-out will be paused until the network is restored. Peg-outs that have been completed on Bitcoin are unaffected. Unfinished peg-ins or peg-outs can send transaction IDs to hello@sideswap.io for separate processing. Please do not send new peg-in or peg-out deposits until the service is restored.

Decentralized perpetual contract exchange Antarctic Exchange completes $7 million financing at a $70 million valuation, with participation from Valisa Capital Markets and others

ChainCatcher reports that, according to Dealroom, the decentralized perpetual contract exchange Antarctic Exchange in Singapore has completed a $7 million financing at a valuation of $70 million, with investors including Valisa Capital Markets, Lucidity Capital, and Republic Crypto, as well as proprietary traders entering the crypto asset space for the first time. The platform targets retail derivatives traders, offering tools similar to centralized exchanges. The founding team comes from former executives of OKX, Binance, and MEXC.

Ethereum will include Frame Transactions in the 2027 upgrade, allowing users to pay Gas without holding ETH

ChainCatcher reports that, according to CoinDesk, Ethereum core developers have included EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions) in the 2027 Hegotá upgrade plan. During the core developer call on August 27, the proposal was marked as "Scheduled for Inclusion," meaning it will become part of the network update rather than just a candidate proposal. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, one of the ten authors of the proposal, stated on X on Sunday night that Frames have made significant progress in the past few months. Frames aim to address the issue where users hold stablecoins but cannot transfer them due to a lack of ETH. It splits transactions into independent steps such as authorization verification, fee payment, and instruction execution, allowing the sender and payer accounts to no longer have to be the same. For example, payment applications can cover fees themselves or settle ETH bills on behalf of users after collecting stablecoins, while the Ethereum network still prices in ETH, and users do not need to purchase ETH. Unlike existing wallet solutions that rely on third-party services, Frames will achieve this capability through the standard Ethereum transaction process. Additionally, Frames will bundle operations that need to be executed simultaneously, such as authorization and submission in token transactions, and authorization will be revoked if the transaction fails; it also allows accounts to customize transaction approval rules, enabling the replacement of private keys or the adoption of quantum-resistant keys without needing to migrate funds to a new address. Currently, the specification is still a draft, and details may be adjusted before the Hegotá upgrade, with users unable to use Frames yet.

Binance Research: Total crypto market cap rose 17.6% in August to $2.7 trillion, ETF inflows hit strongest year-to-date

ChainCatcher reports that Binance Research's monthly market report shows that the total crypto market cap rose 17.6% in August to $2.7 trillion, with ETF fund inflows marking the strongest performance since 2026. BTC rose 24.8% in seven days, ranking as the top weekly gain since 2020. In terms of user asset allocation, the proportion of crypto allocation among stockholders increased from 64% to 72%, while stablecoin allocation decreased by 22%; the share of TradFi perpetual contract trading volume fell from 40% to 20%, with funds and trading activity significantly flowing back into crypto assets.

Binance launches Binance AI, opens public beta for users

ChainCatcher reports that, according to an official announcement, Binance has launched the AI feature suite "Binance AI," which is now in beta testing, aimed at helping users interpret complex market data, identify market dynamics, and reduce information noise through AI. It is reported that Binance AI will provide a personalized information interface, AI market insights covering both crypto and traditional assets, and concise and timely market updates. The first batch of users can apply to participate in the testing, and those who qualify for the whitelist will receive access instructions via email. Currently, Binance AI Beta is only open to Binance users who have completed identity verification, with limited slots being released in batches; submitting an application does not guarantee testing eligibility. Binance also stated that user feedback will be used to further improve the product.

Blockstream informs "white hat" hackers that vulnerabilities have been fixed, allowing safe return of 4,000 BTC

ChainCatcher reports that, according to Bitcoin News, Blockstream has notified "white hat" hackers that vulnerabilities have been fixed, allowing for the safe return of 4,000 BTC. Previously, hackers who extracted about 4,000 BTC from the Liquid network expressed willingness to return the funds but needed the vulnerabilities to be fixed first. The entire negotiation process was conducted publicly via Bitcoin OPRETURN messages. The hackers initially proposed to return "most" of the BTC but later changed their request to first fix the vulnerabilities: "Please fix the vulnerabilities first. The latest submitted code puts the chain at risk. Ensure every node is patched, and then we will confirm the fix and safely return the funds." The hackers also sent encrypted vulnerability details to Blockstream. About two hours ago, Blockstream responded with a PGP-signed OPRETURN message: "Cross-chain bridge nodes have been patched, and funds can be safely returned." Currently, 3,998.5 BTC remain under the hackers' control.

Hacken report: Half of USDT controlled by only two signature keys

ChainCatcher reports that blockchain security company Hacken has released an assessment report indicating that approximately half of the circulating USDT (about $91.3 billion on the Tron network) is controlled by a 2-of-3 multi-signature contract, which lacks built-in delays, cancellation processes, or reliable revocation mechanisms. Attackers only need to compromise two signature keys to change contract ownership, mint tokens, freeze addresses, clear frozen balances, or set transfer fees without accessing any user wallets. Hacken also found that Tether reuses the same set of six signature keys across Ethereum, Avalanche, and Celo, posing a risk that could spread across chains. Meanwhile, stablecoin rating agency Bluechip upgraded Tether's company rating from D to C, citing KPMG audits showing that as of December 31, 2025, Tether's reserves exceed liabilities by $6.8 billion. This is the first time Bluechip has adopted the expanded SMIDGE methodology, which incorporates Hacken's technical risk analysis. However, Hacken only gave USDT a cybersecurity score of 3.3 out of 10, noting that USDT's smart contracts lack automatic reserve proof checks and have no minting cap, allowing contracts to mint any number of tokens without bank reserve proof once signers authorize transactions. Hacken stated that it has not yet completed a similar assessment for Circle's USDC, and Bluechip's previous B+ rating for USDC was based on an old methodology and cannot be directly compared technically.

Rocket blockchain suffers attack, losing approximately $287,000

ChainCatcher reports that L1 blockchain Rocket announced that an on-chain attack occurred on September 5, resulting in a loss of approximately $287,000. The attacker exploited dormant perpetual markets on Rocket by placing artificially inflated price orders through a disposable account and trading with themselves, generating false profits on the account while causing the disposable account to go bankrupt. The attacker then withdrew approximately $287,000 in profits from the Bridge. Currently, all deposits, withdrawals, and trades have been suspended. The team is working with security firms and law enforcement and coordinating with exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and stablecoin issuers to track and freeze the stolen funds. The official statement indicates that a recovery plan is being developed, prioritizing refunds for small accounts, with specific details to be announced as soon as possible.

OpenAI Chief Scientist states AI may continue to rise rapidly towards recursive self-improvement

ChainCatcher reports that OpenAI Chief Scientist Jakub Pachocki published an article titled "An Alien Mind" on September 6, 2026. The article reviews the results of the RLSlow research project, which first appeared in mid-2023, showing scalable training of reasoning models, stating that three years later, reasoning language models have become part of rapid economic growth, beginning to push scientific boundaries, capable of operating computers and graphical interfaces, collaborating with humans and other AIs on research projects, while changing the landscape of computer security and bringing new dangers. The author anticipates that the current pace of progress may continue towards recursive self-improvement based on internal results. If AI development continues along the current path, systems may experience equal or greater capability leaps in the coming years, increasingly driving their own development. The author calls for extreme caution, believing that no one is prepared to deal with the consequences of machine intelligence rising rapidly. OpenAI will continue to seek technical solutions for alignment and monitoring, build defense systems, and unilaterally halt further scaling when necessary, but believes broader intervention is needed. The article states that machine intelligence is primarily driven by increased computational power, with AI being more about growth than design. It distinguishes between goal alignment and value alignment in terms of alignment, with the core challenge being generalization. GPT-6 Astra shows significantly better alignment than GPT-5.6 Sol, but further progress is still needed. In terms of monitoring, the focus is mainly on chain of thought monitoring, with assessments showing that reliance on capabilities is gradually weakening. In terms of scalable defenses, models are becoming superhuman in breaking computer systems, currently in a narrow window of significantly enhancing the security of critical systems using the best available models.

TSMC's third-quarter 3nm output exceeds 400 billion, hitting a new high

ChainCatcher reports that Economic Daily News states that with the rising demand for AI and high-performance computing applications, TSMC has increased production capacity for advanced processes below 3nm at the request of customers. Analysts are optimistic that TSMC's contribution from 3nm in the second half of the year is expected to surpass 5nm for the first time, estimating that the third quarter's single-quarter output will exceed 400 billion for the first time, accounting for more than 30% of revenue and boosting gross margin performance.

Ukrainian police dismantle crypto scam, monthly thefts reach $1 million

ChainCatcher reports that Ukrainian police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have recently dismantled a scam network that stole cryptocurrency using a fake investment platform. The network lured users to connect their main crypto wallets and approve a small test transaction when they attempted to withdraw funds through a website disguised as an investment platform, subsequently using a "wallet stealer" hidden within the site to automatically transfer user funds to wallets controlled by the operators, while kicking victims off the platform. Investigators have currently confirmed 62 victims, with over 46 Ukrainian citizens involved, and the network could steal up to $1 million monthly. Police stated that the false profits displayed on the platform were part of the scam, with operators manually creating transactions and adjusting user account balances to create the illusion of investment growth. In addition to cryptocurrency, the platform also collected victims' passport information, phone numbers, emails, login credentials, and photos during the registration and identity verification process. The main organizer of the network is a 25-year-old IT expert who recruited over 46 Ukrainian citizens, operating multiple offices in Kyiv and surrounding areas, with members responsible for building and maintaining fake websites, contacting potential victims, and providing security. Victims come from various countries, including Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, France, the UK, Canada, and Israel. Police tracked the gang's server equipment located in the Netherlands and obtained a database stored there, which includes victim lists, crypto wallet addresses, suspected stolen amounts, internal communications, and platform operation information. The Ukrainian police and SBU subsequently executed 34 searches in Kyiv and surrounding areas, seizing over 100 computers, more than 100 mobile phones, 79 SIM cards, documents, cash, and 15 vehicles.

Polish prosecutors file charges against fifth suspect in Zondacrypto case

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the Polish prosecutor has charged Roman Ż., a former business partner of the missing BitBay/Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek, with two counts, including fraud. Roman Ż. was arrested last Saturday in the Silesia region of Poland, and his lawyer stated that he had assisted in managing the exchange before BitBay was renamed Zonda. Roman Ż. denies the charges and has provided a detailed statement to investigators, with police seizing valuable watches and documents related to Zondacrypto during the search. The prosecutor stated that the arrest was ordered due to concerns that Roman Ż. might flee after learning of plans to travel to China, which his lawyer described as a business trip, and he holds a return ticket for September 13. The court will decide whether to continue detaining Roman Ż. during the investigation. Previously, BitBay was renamed Zondacrypto in 2021, and the exchange ceased trading in April after customers faced withdrawal freezes, with expected losses of at least 35 million zlotys (approximately 9.4 million USD). The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit partially suspended the license of the brand entity BB Trade Estonia OÜ. The Polish prosecutor has launched an investigation into suspected large-scale fraud and money laundering, receiving over 3,600 complaints as of June. The case is also related to Suszek's disappearance in March 2022, with the prosecutor merging the Zondacrypto investigation with Suszek's missing person case in August.

Binance Wallet: Prevented $540 million in potential losses for users in the first half of the year

ChainCatcher news, Binance stated that in the first half of 2026, the Binance Wallet Security Center helped users avoid approximately $540 million in potential losses through real-time scanning of links, transaction signatures, and unknown tokens. During this period, the security center filtered about 206 million spam transfers, covering 2.6 million users; identified approximately 4.93 million high-risk transactions across 19 chains, and discovered about 996,000 malicious authorizations. Attackers are using AI to generate malicious code, phishing websites, and fraudulent identities in bulk, shifting on-chain attacks from large-scale netting to precision targeting. The Binance Wallet Security Center is also using AI to analyze token behavior logic, website risk characteristics, and potential attack intentions to identify phishing domains, malicious contracts, and abnormal token risks earlier.

Zhihu plans to invest 1.5 billion yuan to establish an AI and frontier technology industry fund

ChainCatcher news, according to Yahoo Finance, Zhihu announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary has entered into a subscription agreement with general partners and fund managers to subscribe to a limited partnership interest in a fund with its own funds amounting to 1.5 billion yuan. Following the completion of the subscription, Zhihu expects to hold no more than 30% of the fund's equity. The fund has a duration of 7 years (extendable by up to two years), with an investment period of 4 years, and will primarily invest in early to mid-stage non-listed companies in the fields of artificial intelligence and frontier technology in mainland China, covering foundational models, AI infrastructure, robotics, and AI applications.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to data from the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of September 8, 08:54,

The top five popular ETH tokens in the past 24 hours are: STOCKER, LINK, UNI, KLIK, CRV

The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: STONK, Nasduck, TRONK, OTC, CatGPT

The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: Basecat, STONKEX, FLOCK, SOL, MOONBASE

What are the exciting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?

Top trader AJC, ranked fourth on the Fomo leaderboard, reveals Robinhood Chain trading logic

I cannot accurately predict what specific favorable catalyst will trigger the next round of super bull market, but the strongest signal released by this pulse rebound is ------ the current crypto market is actively seeking every reason to rise, and it will eventually find enough reasons. At this position, the reasons for continuing to decline are almost gone; however, the potential favorable factors that could ignite the market are countless. This is my underlying judgment. Host: That was fantastic. Brother, once again, heartfelt congratulations on your dreamlike "winning streak." I thoroughly enjoy following every step of your trading; you are definitely at the forefront of sensing the market pulse. Chatting with you is always an unparalleled pleasure. Thank you again for coming to the live broadcast! AJC: Thank you so much, brother, it’s an honor to be here.

Founder confronts on the weekend, what is Solana anxious about?

Last week, Lily Liu, chair of the Solana Foundation, published an article stating that the internet capital market will become the largest capital market in the world, indicating that combining stablecoins, institutional asset migration, blockchain infrastructure, and AI serves as a narrative support for Solana worth holding long-term. However, in comparison, although Solana's on-chain product layer is mostly complete, and DEX trading volume even leads, it still lacks issuance rights, settlement rights, and entry points. In some current popular narratives, it seems impossible to find a closed loop that directly appreciates SOL.

In 2021, Robinhood disabled the buy button for AMC, in 2026 it infinitely issues AMC Stock Token

Short selling is another leg. It is the one that has been sold and the one that does not exist. Those buying these tokens should at least be clear about what they are really going long on. Finally, there is the framework worth keeping. Short selling is not about "rising a lot," but about "the rise feeding itself." Tokenization makes the circulating supply active, thus the spiral that should have formed is converted into a one-time diminishing shock cost, real, measurable, and ending before noon. The characteristic that makes tokenized stocks a good infrastructure is precisely the characteristic that prevents them from being squeezed. This is a good outcome for Robinhood, a costly lesson for everyone who bought into this narrative, and it also reminds us: what we should focus on is the issuance layer, not the trading layer built on top of it.

ZEC surges, did NEAR really earn passively? Data verification of the "sell shovelers" narrative

However, the transmission efficiency is actually far lower than the community narrative and highly dependent on the continuity of ZEC's single asset market. If ZEC's ETF capital inflow maintains the current pace in the coming weeks, this transmission chain can continue to operate; if ZEC enters a period of significant volatility or correction, the trading volume distribution of NEAR Intents will expose a higher concentration risk than the "multi-chain infrastructure" narrative suggests. For traders, what really needs to be monitored is not just whether the cumulative trading volume of NEAR Intents has surpassed $30 billion, but the trend of ZEC's proportion in its trading volume. If this proportion drops from 40% to below 15%, while total trading volume continues to grow, then NEAR has truly completed the narrative upgrade from "shadow of ZEC" to "cross-chain settlement infrastructure."

OpenAI announces "internal RSI progress" for the first time: has achieved "automated research interns"

He called for the industry to voluntarily slow down and urged governments to prioritize international coordination. Transparency and democratic governance OpenAI stated at the end of the report that it will continue to publicly disclose RSI progress and advocate in its "frontier policy blueprint" that companies, including OpenAI, should be required to publicly track their RSI progress. The report also admits the limitations of current measurement work: "Agent-driven AI research is still a new thing, and we are still learning how to measure it." Some metrics (such as code output) are easy to collect but difficult to interpret; more directly reflecting research progress metrics (such as agent task success rates) are complex and hard to verify. OpenAI's statement is: "Whenever we find that continuing to advance will bring unacceptable safety risks, we will take appropriate measures, including slowing down or halting the development or deployment of systems that we believe cannot ensure safety adequately."

Jensen Huang: AGI has arrived, OpenAI Astra is backed by NVIDIA, 400,000 GPUs are about to go online

Meta, Anthropic, Google, and other leading AI companies also heavily rely on high-end chips produced by NVIDIA. This demand has translated into NVIDIA's impressive financial performance ------ the company reported quarterly revenue of $96.2 billion in August this year, more than doubling year-on-year; among which, data center business revenue reached $89 billion, covering AI chips as the main source of growth. Jensen Huang stated in a post on X that the next batch to go online will be 400,000 GPUs, further reinforcing external expectations for NVIDIA's computing power expansion momentum. From ChatGPT to o1, to Astra, the technological leap in four years has been built on NVIDIA's continuously upgraded chip foundation.