Kusama is a platform that acts as a test environment, or a so-called “canary network,” for developers to experiment and determine the efficiency of their blockchain code and applications prior to their official release on the Polkadot network.  Due to the trial-and-error nature of Kusama, developers can benefit from a less stringent governance framework, as well as lower staking requirements than they would experience on Polkadot. Following the debut success of its parachain auctions back in June of this year, the Kusama Council is set to approach a further five auctions scheduled for the coming weeks.

Financial news site Bloomberg and Galaxy Digital Management have expanded their crypto offering to track the performance of the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. In a Thursday announcement, Bloomberg said it would launch an index currently tracking nine different decentralized finance projects with Galaxy Digital. As of Aug. 1, these projects included Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), Maker (MKR), Compound (COMP), Yearn.Finance (YFI), Synthetic (SNX), SushiSwap (SUSHI), 0x (ZXR) and Uma (UMA). "Decentralized finance is growing as the next major investment theme within crypto," said Alan Campbell, Bloomberg's multi-asset index business' head of product management. "As liquidity and institutional custody solutions continue to grow, DeFi has become an increasingly compelling option for institutional investors.”

Brian Quintenz, who has served as one of the commissioners with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, reportedly plans to leave the agency on Aug. 31. According to a Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal, Quintenz is expected to announce his move into the private sector after leaving the CFTC later this month. He hinted that his future career could include a focus on “innovation, particularly related to cryptocurrency and DeFi” and planned to continue advocating for the crypto space. Quintenz was first nominated to the position by President Barack Obama in March 2016 before being re-nominated by Trump in May 2017 and confirmed that August. His term at the CFTC was scheduled to end in April 2020, but he announced, at that time, that he would stay “until the earlier of the confirmation of my successor or October 31, 2020,” later extending this to “until the Senate acts on a confirmation.”

Digital asset exchange platform Crypto.com will be prominently featured in football matches during Italy’s Lega Serie A competition as part of a partnership with the league. In a Thursday announcement, Lega Serie A said Crypto.com was going to be presenting key broadcast moments for the Italian football competition “where technology enhances the match.” Specifically, the platform has formed a multi-year partnership to help present the series’ “goal of the month,” as well as broadcast moments using video playback to judge fouls and whether goals are legitimate. Crypto.com sponsored Lega Serie A in the Coppa Italia football cup in May, when it launched a nonfungible token, or NFT, offering for the event. The exchange said it planned to release more collections of NFTs as a result of the new partnership.

Jay Clayton, the former chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, has accepted an advisory role with blockchain infrastructure provider Fireblocks — marking a significant addition to a company that only recently achieved unicorn status.  In joining Fireblocks’ advisory board, Clayton acknowledged that he shares the company’s view that “digital asset custody requires the same level of service as traditional custody while also striving for better regulatory outcomes.” Michael Shaulov, CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, said Clayton will “help to advance further the safety and security of the Fireblocks infrastructure for capital market participants and investors.”

According to data from eth.btc.com，ethereum network's hashrate is598,550.14 GH/s，mining difficulty is7,918.35T. ETH's price ：$ 3,258.69 Avg Gas Price：22.70Gwei Pending Txs ：153927

Boxing legend Mike Tyson has dropped a series of tokenized collectibles on the heavyweight champion platform of the nonfungible token (NFT) world, OpenSea. The 55-year-old collaborated with digital artist Cory Van Lew to launch the “Mike Tyson NFT Collection,” which consists of 11 one-of-one NFTs up for auction and six open-edition NFTs that range from 50 to 250 copies. The collection was released earlier on Friday. The NFTs depict neon-colored illustrations of iconic moments from Tyson’s career, such as knockouts, championship wins and the notorious “ear-biting” escapade.

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.

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.

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.

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.