business

Harmony has released two proposals to comprehensively shut down the mainnet launched in 2019, migrate the native token ONE to Ethereum, and shift towards an AI video "mashup economy" business. The team stated that the threats posed by national-level attackers and AI entities are the reasons for proposing the network shutdown plan.The migration plan proposes to take a snapshot of user wallets, staking delegations, validator rewards, smart contracts, and tokens within centralized exchanges at the last block of the network, airdropping new ONE to the same wallet addresses on Ethereum, with holders not needing to actively claim; delegated stakes and unclaimed rewards will be airdropped to their respective governance vaults. The total supply of ONE and the issuance rate will remain unchanged, with newly issued tokens intended for the new business and feedback from governors being considered.Multi-signature wallets, liquidity pools, and on-chain applications cannot be migrated. The team urges users to exit all smart contracts by September 10, 2026, and plans to publicly disclose token contracts, snapshot calculations, and airdrop scripts for auditing. Validators can stop running nodes starting from September 10 at 22:00 Beijing time. The team plans to compensate for the difference in issuance rewards between node shutdown and the final block of the network, establishing a one-time compensation pool of $1.372 million, to be paid in four quarters to validators and their delegators who timely shut down, sign agreements, retain stakes, and serve as governors of the new project.The new business will open up prompts and materials for users to create secondary content, with AI entities expanding video stories, and will recruit operators responsible for video generation, distribution, and content review. Harmony plans to subsidize GPU hardware in the first year and promote demand for video generation, with operators required to stake tokens to earn rewards based on service online time. The team plans to help operators generate up to $1 million in total revenue in the first year, provided they meet staking and online rate requirements; promoters can initially earn a 30% ongoing commission from each $10 monthly subscription they recommend. Both proposals are non-binding and the plans may still be adjusted.

BNB Chain Chief Growth Officer Nina Rong commented on "the debate between Arbitrum founder Steven Goldfeder and Solana co-founder Toly regarding the Robinhood Chain fee model": "Continuing to push Gas fees lower is no longer the highest priority for the blockchain industry. The real priority for all public chains today is to find sustainable business models and reinvest the profits into technology and growth. This business model can be based on Gas fees, revenue sharing, or other forms of business collaboration. Over the past five years, the impression of blockchain foundations has mostly been two things: one is issuing grants and making investments; the other is reducing Gas fees. If we want to continue for another five years, blockchain companies must have a solid business structure."

ARK Invest's Director of Digital Asset Research, Lorenzo Valente, posted on X that since the rise of L1, application chains, and Rollup-centric roadmaps, messaging and interoperability protocols have become critical infrastructure. As more assets go on-chain, the demand for universal interoperability will grow exponentially.Lorenzo Valente stated that the interoperability business of the cross-chain interoperability protocol LayerZero is likely to quickly grow to a nine-figure ARR, and mentioned that the team has more progress to share in the future.

The blockchain verification and auditing platform Assure DeFi announced that it will cease operations and will no longer accept new business. The company stated that it has completed verification for over 1,500 projects, involving a total project value of over $2 billion.Existing KYC and audit records will remain valid and will continue to be publicly accessible after the closure. The team stated that in the future, they will focus their main efforts on their artificial intelligence agent team business, Brainverse.

According to TheEnergyMag, Argo Blockchain's CEO Justin Nolan has stepped down on August 30. Under the terms of the agreement, Justin Nolan will receive a one-time cash compensation of $250,000, which will be subject to standard tax withholding. The agreement will officially take effect after the seven-day period expires and the right of rescission has not been exercised.During the board's search for a successor, the current management team will be responsible for daily operations under the supervision of the board. The company is specifically seeking candidates with experience in capital raising and operational execution in the data center and artificial intelligence technology sectors.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced the appointment of Sean Ballard as the Head of Derivatives and Institutional Business. Ballard will play a key role in strengthening trading infrastructure, risk frameworks, and institutional capabilities, with responsibilities covering trading risk and exchange technology.Ballard has over 25 years of experience in global financial markets, encompassing derivatives, high-frequency trading, trading risk, market structure, and exchange technology. Before joining Bybit, he worked at Jump Trading, where he led the company's high-frequency futures trading operations in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, managing portfolios and collaborating with global exchanges and regulators on market structure, trading performance, and infrastructure. During his time at Jump Trading, he also served as a senior trader on the Jump Crypto team, managing centralized exchange trading and driving strategic partnerships related to ecosystem growth.At Bybit, Ballard will enhance the institutional trading experience through market infrastructure, risk management, and product development. Bybit Institutional has introduced professional services such as bank tripartite arrangements over the past year, allowing institutions to manage counterparty risk through regulated custody while retaining full trading authority; the market maker gateway has reduced latency for high-frequency and quantitative clients from 4 milliseconds to 1.5 milliseconds. Starting July 2026, Finloop's AAA-rated USD money market fund FUIDL will be available as trading collateral on Bybit.

According to The Block, Bernstein expects that the Bitcoin mining company IREN will achieve an annual revenue of $17 billion from its AI cloud business by 2030, at which point cloud capacity will expand to approximately 2 gigawatts.Bernstein anticipates that IREN will cease its Bitcoin mining operations by the end of 2026 and notes that the pricing for three-year AI cloud contracts has increased by about 125% since last November.

Ondo Finance is urging U.S. regulators to bring the business of perpetual contracts anchored to individual stocks under regulation, asserting that this product can operate in compliance under the existing securities and futures framework without new rules. In three comment letters sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on August 24, Ondo stated that existing rules can accommodate stock perpetual futures while considering modern margin practices and on-chain listing data. Ondo mentioned that its affiliated company in Panama has been offering stablecoin-settled perpetual contracts anchored to U.S. stocks overseas, with a cumulative trading volume reaching $8 billion as of August 14 since its launch in June.Ondo believes that regular funding rate payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the underlying stock prices, functioning similarly to the expiration settlement of traditional futures. In the letter, Ondo stated that there are no provisions in the statutory definition of securities futures products that require a fixed expiration date to be set. The company also pointed out that many offshore perpetual contracts have underlying stocks primarily traded on U.S. exchanges, and bringing the related business back to the U.S. should be a direction actively promoted by both agencies. According to RWA.xyz data, Ondo is one of the largest managers in the tokenized real-world assets (RWA) space, with an allocated value of approximately $2.6 billion as of Wednesday, ranking fourth.Ondo's proposal comes as U.S. regulators are re-examining the existing market rules for on-chain products, including perpetual contracts and tokenized securities. In March of this year, the SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate regulation in overlapping areas of jurisdiction.

According to Bloomberg, David Bailey, the cryptocurrency entrepreneur who helped Trump shift to supporting Bitcoin, is trying to rebuild his business after the stock price of his Bitcoin treasury company, Nakamoto, has fallen about 99% from its peak. Previously, Bailey raised approximately $760 million for the publicly listed company to establish Bitcoin reserves.Nakamoto announced its entry into the public market through a merger in May 2025, and since then, the stock price has cumulatively dropped about 99% from its high. This trend is also part of the overall correction of digital asset treasury companies, as the premium investors previously paid to indirectly hold Bitcoin through a listed company has largely disappeared.Bailey's hedge fund had previously achieved a 640% return when investing in similar strategies. He stated that he still occasionally keeps in touch with the White House and is trying to prove that, after the significant drop in stock price, Nakamoto still has a sustainable real business.

According to BeInCrypto, two Thai merchants have sued Tether, claiming that their $42.4 million USDT wallet was blacklisted at the informal request of U.S. government agents without a search warrant or court order.The plaintiffs are seeking to lift the freeze and are claiming damages from Tether for the profits generated from investing the corresponding reserves during the freeze period.

According to Cointelegraph, the stablecoin payment company Kast has launched the KAST Business platform, integrating features such as corporate accounts, payment cards, cross-border transfers, and stablecoin yield balances. The platform provides services through stablecoin infrastructure.Kast stated that businesses can receive payments through fiat virtual accounts provided by regulated partners, deposit supported stablecoins and crypto assets, issue virtual cards, and make local payments in over 20 currencies.The platform's services cover more than 170 countries and regions, but specific availability varies by jurisdiction. Idle balances earn an annual yield of up to 8%, and there is also a cashback of up to 3% on spending.Kast is a fintech company rather than a bank, and regulated services are provided by licensed partner institutions. Kast completed a $80 million financing in March at a valuation of $600 million, which will be used for product development, licensing acquisition, and expanding into North America, Latin America, and the Middle East markets. The company claims to currently have over 1 million users and plans to attract 1,000 to 5,000 active businesses by the end of 2026.

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Luno announced that it has received a Class F digital asset business license issued by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. This license provides Luno with a regulated base outside of its core emerging markets, placing it alongside globally recognized operators such as Coinbase, Circle, and Kraken.Luno stated that for B2B and institutional business, Bermuda can extend its crypto-as-a-service and global settlement products to clients outside of Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, establishing a base in a jurisdiction designed for digital assets and modern payments. The license allows for the provision of cryptocurrency, tokenized stocks and commodities, as well as over-the-counter trading of the rand-backed stablecoin ZAR Universal, which is issued by Luno's sister company BlockTowerTech and aimed at institutional use; the global spot market can access all tradable assets from Luno; and wallet infrastructure for secure custody and transfers.Luno claims that for 13 years, by prioritizing regulation and security, it has built trust with millions of customers, and Bermuda is the next step.

OpenAI announced on Monday that its advertising business has reached an annual revenue run rate of $1 billion (approximately 6.736 billion RMB), stating that this is proof of the effectiveness of its "diversified business model."This business has developed over approximately 200 days and is another growth engine following enterprise services, consumer subscriptions, and APIs. Currently, ChatGPT Ads has been launched in over 40 countries and regions, primarily targeting OpenAI Go subscribers and free version users.

According to Digitalasset, the South Korean National Tax Service plans to introduce commercial tracking programs used by domestic and foreign investigative agencies to track and analyze the flow of funds between digital asset wallets, in order to close the tax loophole for virtual assets in personal wallets.The South Korean government stated that digital assets held in personal wallets and overseas exchanges are subject to taxation as long as there is income generated from transfers or loans. The overseas exchanges will respond through the Crypto Asset Automatic Information Exchange Framework (CARF).

BitGo announced the completion of its acquisition of NYDIG's institutional trading business, which was completed in a two-step merger, with a total consideration of approximately $42.5 million, including $7 million in cash and about $35.5 million in BitGo stock. About 30 NYDIG employees will transition with the business, and the deal also includes Earnout terms linked to revenue milestones.The business provides derivatives, structured products, financing, and capital market solutions for asset management firms, hedge funds, corporations, and family offices. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe stated that institutional clients are increasingly looking to partner with trusted partners that can support the entire lifecycle of digital assets, covering custody, trading, financing, and settlement.For NYDIG, the sale allows it to focus on power generation, Bitcoin mining, and high-performance computing data center businesses, with the company stating that its development pipeline exceeds 3 gigawatts. BitGo went public on the NYSE this year, with a valuation of approximately $2 billion, and launched the USDS stablecoin.

According to a report by the Korea Herald, South Korea's largest mobile communication operator SK Telecom announced the spin-off of its Artificial Intelligence Data Center (AIDC) business into a new independent legal entity, SK Horizon, and plans to introduce a total of 3.08 trillion won (approximately 2.2 billion USD) in external funding.The spin-off transaction is expected to be completed on February 1, 2027, with global private equity firms KKR, as well as IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital consortium, likely to participate in the investment.

According to Morningstar, the AI platform Owner, aimed at local businesses, announced the completion of a $240 million financing round, with the company valuation reaching $2.3 billion. This round of financing was led by Growth Equity under Goldman Sachs Alternative Asset Management, with participation from existing investors Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, and Jack Altman.The company uses AI Agents to automatically complete marketing promotion, customer communication, and operational optimization services for local businesses. The new funds are intended to expand international operations and develop local business scenarios.

According to South Korean media Chosun Biz, SK Hynix's NAND is lagging in the transition of old process lines, making it difficult to narrow the efficiency gap. As of the second quarter of this year, its 176-layer products still account for about 50%, while Samsung has completed the transition mainly to 236 layers. Omdia data shows that Micron's 232-layer products account for 53%, and YMTC reaches 68%.During the rising cycle of NAND prices, companies with a higher proportion of advanced processes see better cost and profit improvements. SK Hynix (including Solidigm) saw its NAND revenue share drop from 21.4% in the fourth quarter of last year to 16.4% in the first quarter of this year, while YMTC increased from 11.5% to 16.2%. SK Hynix prioritizes equipment investment in DRAM and HBM, with NAND investments decreasing for three consecutive years, from $3.5 billion in 2023 to $2.9 billion in 2025, slowing down the transition. It is currently considering impairing old NAND assets to optimize costs.

BitGo announced that it has acquired NYDIG's institutional trading business and related assets, incorporating derivatives, structured products, financing, and capital market capabilities into its institutional platform. Approximately 30 NYDIG employees will join BitGo, and NYDIG's institutional trading client relationships will also transfer to BitGo along with the business.BitGo will integrate the related business with its custody, trading, settlement, and wallet infrastructure. NYDIG will focus its resources on power generation, Bitcoin mining, and high-performance computing data center operations. NYDIG stated that its computing power infrastructure development reserves currently exceed 3 gigawatts, with more than 1 gigawatt expected to be delivery-ready by 2027 and 2028.

Bitcoin News posted on the X platform stating that France disclosed this month that its tax administration department was hacked, with approximately 678,000 individuals and businesses' related data stolen. The stolen data reportedly includes names, addresses, income, and property information.An analysis of the alleged database found that 26,805 records showed incomes exceeding 100,000 euros, including 386 records over 1 million euros. According to CertiK data, in the first half of 2026, France accounted for 33 out of 52 verified cryptocurrency wrench attacks globally. French prosecutors also accused a tax department employee of using the government database to identify cryptocurrency investors and selling personal information to criminals involved in personal attacks and extortion.The latest data breach incident has no publicly linked personal attack events, but the sensitive financial and location data of hundreds of thousands of individuals may no longer be under government control.