Robinhood’s recent disclosure of the major boost that crypto has contributed to its second-quarter financial earnings is worrying some financial analysts, largely due to the “outsized” role that Dogecoin (DOGE) trading has played. In an investor note this week, Wolfe Research’s Steven Chubak warned that “Robinhood’s growth within crypto is nothing short of remarkable, but the outsized contribution from Dogecoin simply cannot be ignored.” As reported, Robinhood’s Q2 results revealed that crypto trading had surged to represent 41% of its revenue and that more than 60% of the app’s funded accounts traded crypto in the quarter. The company generated $233 million from crypto trading services for Q2 2021, up from $5 million for the entirety of 2020. 

Binance has been in the regulatory cross-hairs of jurisdictions across the globe amid claims of it operating unlicensed businesses. As remediation of the ongoing scrutiny, the crypto exchange has publicly announced new Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for all users on the platform.  “Effective immediately, all new users are required to complete Intermediate Verification to access Binance products and service offerings, including cryptocurrency deposits, trades and withdrawals,” a statement said. Moreover, existing users who were previously allowed to trade cryptocurrency without verification will be allowed to only process “withdrawals, order cancellation, position close, and redemption.”

Less than two days after submitting separate applications to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asset managers VanEck and ProShares have seemingly decided not to pursue exchange-traded funds (EFTs) with exposure to Ether. In individual Friday filings with the SEC, legal representatives of VanEck and ProShares both said the firms had elected not to proceed with registering their respective Ether-based exchange-traded funds. VanEck had submitted a filing to launch an “Ethereum Strategy ETF” with the SEC on Wednesday, while ProShares applied for an “Ether Strategy ETF” the same day. Both products had seemingly aimed to provide exposure to Ether (ETH) by investing in futures contracts as well as pooled investment vehicles and other exchange-traded products. It’s unclear why both asset managers chose to apply for and withdraw seemingly similar applications for Ether ETFs on the same days, but the two firms said they had not sold any securities connected to the potential offering.

As the crypto ecosystem continues to mature and go mainstream, a new study of Millennials has shown a change in investor sentiment and their spending habits.  Surveying 1,000 American crypto investors, GamblersPick found that the average Millennial today holds a little more than $1,800 in crypto. The survey reveals that 25% of the respondents bought crypto, using credit cards instead of fiat currency, and have borrowed nearly $500 from banks and families to make up their existing portfolio. When asked about their source for future crypto investments, 21% of surveyors revealed their plan to take on consumer debt, while more than 20% have decided to use either their bank savings or to refinance their homes.

Wells Fargo, one of the oldest banks in the United States, has registered a new pooled investment fund that offers its wealthy clients indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). Wells Fargo’s filing of a “Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities” — also known as a Form D — with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, reveals that the fund is called “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I,” reflecting the fact that it is being incorporated as a limited partnership with investment services company NYDIG and alternative assets manager FS Investments. The notice indicates that Wells Fargo Clearing Services will receive placement and servicing fees for all clients it refers to the fund. It also shows that the fund’s first sale is yet to occur and that Wells Fargo expects the offering to last more than one year.

Filings submitted by the $9 trillion multinational investment manager BlackRock reveal that the firm has made significant investments in two leading publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms. A June 30 filing submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, unearthed by Forbes, shows that BlackRock owns a 6.71% stake in Marathon Digital Holdings and 6.61% of Riot Blockchain. In total, the investments are valued at nearly $384 million, with BlackRock having purchased nearly $207 million worth of Marathon stock and $176 million worth of Riot stock.

Two more Ether (ETH)-based exchange-traded funds have been filed this week, bringing the total to 23 crypto ETF filings so far in 2021. VanEck and ProShares are the latest firms to reveal plans for institutional products focused on Ethereum. According to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday, VanEck is seeking to launch an “Ethereum Strategy ETF”, while ProShares is calling its proposed product the “Ether Strategy ETF”. Both ETFs aim to provide exposure to Ether by investing in ETH futures contracts in addition to pooled investment vehicles and other exchange-traded products that have ETH exposure. The funds will not be buying Ether directly, according to the documents.

Speaking at an online event organized by the Council of the Americas, Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, shared his views on transparent payments networks, the country’s central bank digital currency project and crypto regulation. Campos Neto has been a staunch advocate of the cryptocurrency space since taking office in 2019. His progressive policy-making has been an encouragement to investors and organizations alike, ambitious to modernize the Brazilian financial infrastructure. During the event, Campos Neto mentioned several ongoing discussions with Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission on how to welcome cryptocurrencies into the regulatory landscape:

Jake Klein, CEO of Australian gold mining establishment Evolution Mining, has said that crypto price volatility will make gold a far more attractive proposition. Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Klein argued that Bitcoin (BTC) is still ways away from offering the longstanding security associated with gold from a hedge investment perspective despite Bitcoin’s returns outsizing gold by several orders of magnitude in the last decade. According to Klein, crypto is still a speculative play, and the attendant volatility inherent in such markets will point investors back toward gold.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, stated that decentralized finance (DeFi) is highly centralized in certain aspects and urged projects working in the sector to register with the SEC. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Gensler suggested that the decentralized notions implied by the term DeFi were “a bit of a misnomer,” adding: While DeFi projects are designed to be autonomous platforms that operate without a centralized authority, Gensler asserted that many are developed and controlled by a centralized team that is incentivized to promote its platforms.

Leading United States exchange by trade volume Coinbase has revealed plans to add half a billion dollars worth of crypto to its balance sheet. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the company’s board had approved the crypto spending spree in a Friday tweet, adding that Coinbase also plans to invest 10% of all profits generated into digital assets moving forward. Armstrong also indicated the company hopes to increase the percentage of profit it allocates to cryptocurrency purchases over time.

With thousands of Afghans currently being accepted as refugees in different countries following the Taliban’s takeover of many highly populated areas, many nonprofit organizations are accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Thousands, if not millions, of Afghans are attempting to or are in the process of fleeing their home in fear of what the Taliban may do now they are largely in control of the country. Organizations helping refugees and those on the ground have put the word out: They need funds to support Afghans arriving on foreign soil with often little more than the clothes on their backs. Hearts & Homes for Refugees, a New-York based grassroots nonprofit, is currently calling for donations to assist the roughly 20,000 Afghans still in the country waiting for United State authorities to process special immigrant visas. The group hopes to raise enough funds to relocate Afghan families to Westchester County, and currently accepts Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), ZCash (ZEC), Gemini dollar (GUSD), BAL, Yearn.Finance (YFI), Polygon (MATIC), Synthetix (SNX) and Bancor (BNT) through its integration with the Giving Block.

The Swedish government has found itself in the unforeseen situation of paying out around $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to a convicted — and then jailed — drug dealer. Two years ago, the man was convicted in a Swedish court for having illegally earned 36 Bitcoin through online drug sales. Yet, Tove Kullberg, his prosecutor at the time, had used the Bitcoin’s equivalent value in fiat to make her case. The court, therefore, judged that the man should be stripped of his illicitly earned Bitcoin at its then-value of 1.3 million Swedish kronor ($100,000). In the period following the man’s conviction and imprisonment, his crypto stash had appreciated to such an extent that the Swedish Enforcement Authority, tasked with auctioning off the 36 BTC, needed to sell off just 3 BTC to satisfy the court’s demands.

The mayor of Cool Valley, Missouri said he was exploring giving more than $1 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to the city’s 1,500 residents.  In a Thursday interview with St. Louis news outlet KSDK, Mayor Jayson Stewart said he wanted to see “every single household in my city receive some level of Bitcoin.” Stewart said the funds would likely come from some “very supportive donors” but did not rule out using money from the government’s pandemic relief response to launch the venture. The mayor did not specify how much Bitcoin the city would be able to distribute to each resident but suggested it could be any amount up to $1,000 — roughly $1.5 million — more than 30 BTC at the time of publication. However, he also hinted the funds could require Cool Valley residents to HODL for five years.

According to data from eth.btc.com，ethereum network's hashrate is610,197.42 GH/s，mining difficulty is8,093.50T. ETH's price ：$ 3,263.14 Avg Gas Price：44.00Gwei Pending Txs ：150609

According to data from eth.btc.com，ethereum network's hashrate is591,242.52 GH/s，mining difficulty is7,960.63T. ETH's price ：$ 3,301.85 Avg Gas Price：188.00Gwei Pending Txs ：164392

PAWS Chicago, an animal rescue organization in the midwest city aiming to have shelters stop using euthanasia for its resident cats and dogs, is now accepting crypto donations. In a Tuesday announcement, PAWS Chicago said it would be accepting Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), and other tokens to support its operations ahead of its new hospital for homeless cats and dogs. The organization is hoping to target “a tech-savvy demographic of potential donors,” promoting crypto donations with digital billboards featuring a dog shooting lasers out of its eyes. According to the organization, crypto donations may be used to further its goals of reducing the number of shelter animals euthanized in the United States by spaying and neutering cats and dogs. PAWS Chicago said it has provided 300,000 such surgeries in its 25 years of operation, helping reduce the number of homeless animals killed in the Chicago area by 91%. The new medical center aims to improve its efforts to save animals.

Galaxy Digital Holdings has teamed up with Alerian and S-Network Global indexes to launch eight crypto-focused blockchain indexes. According to an Aug. 24 announcement, the duo have launched two crypto index families named “Alerian Galaxy Global Blockchain Indexes” and the “Alerian Galaxy Global Cryptocurrency-Focused Blockchain Indexes,” which the eight offerings are listed under. The passive indexes offer exposure to “public companies and select investment vehicles” that are actively engaged in the crypto and blockchain sectors, such as crypto miners, companies that hold crypto on their balance sheets, infrastructure tech developers and blockchain researchers. The indexes are rebalanced monthly and equally weighted.

The hashrate for the Bitcoin network has made a remarkable recovery since it crashed following China’s crypto mining clampdown earlier this year. The Bitcoin hashrate has now topped 150 Exahashes, or one quintillion hashes, per second according to data from analytics provider CryptoQuant. On Aug. 24, the metrics provider reported a hashrate of 152 EH/s which has tripled since it bottomed out this year on June 28 at 52 EH/s.