TL;DR

• In the past 24 hours, sectors like AI Agents, Masternodes, and Cat-Themed memes have seen significant gains.
• Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $61.98 million yesterday, while Ethereum spot ETFs experienced a net outflow of $13.52 million.
• In the first half of 2024, Uniswap emerged as the leading Ethereum application in terms of ETH burned on the network.
• After a 4.19% decrease in Bitcoin mining difficulty, miners have boosted the Bitcoin hash rate to 647 EH/s.
• Over the past 24 hours, two projects announced new funding rounds, focusing on crypto hardware and trading platforms.
• Several projects, including DOGS, Swell Network, and Babylon, have announced airdrops or unveiled their tokenomics plans.

Market Analysis

According to Gate.io, as of 4:00 AM (UTC +0) on August 20:

• BTC —— On August 19, BTC dropped to around $57,787.30 before stabilizing and beginning to trend upward. On August 20, BTC saw a significant surge, quickly rising to approximately $60,910, fueled strong trading volume. As of 4:00 AM on August 20, BTC stood at $60,638, up about 3.23% over the past 24 hours [1].
• ETH —— ETH mirrored BTC’s movement over the past 24 hours. On August 19, ETH dipped to around $2,563.58 before climbing steadily, breaking through multiple moving averages, and rising quickly to around $2,673 at 01:00. As of 4:00 AM on August 20, ETH was priced at $2,662.34, reflecting a 0.68% increase over the past 24 hours [2].
• Altcoins —— In the past 24 hours, altcoins followed BTC’s rebound with a broad market rally. Sectors like AI Agents, Masternodes, Cat-Themed Meme coins, and CEX tokens saw significant gains. Since the low on August 5, stronger altcoins have surged by over 60 points, while weaker ones have seen gains below 60 points. The market may be nearing a short-term peak, with the potential for a downward trend ahead.
• ETFs —— U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs had a net inflow of $61.98 million yesterday [3], while Ethereum spot ETFs saw a total net outflow of $13.52 million [4].
• Major U.S. Indices —— The S&P 500 gained 0.97%, the Nasdaq rose by 1.39%, and the Dow Jones increased by 0.58% [5].
• Spot Gold —— As of 4:00 AM on August 20, spot gold prices dipped slightly to $2,539.3 per ounce, down 0.08% for the day [6].

Top Performers

According to Gate.io market data, as of 4:00 AM (UTC +0) on August 20, the top-performing tokens over the past 24 hours (with a circulating market cap over $50 million) are as follows:

SYS（Syscoin）—— SYS skyrocketed by approximately 78.52% in a single day, with a circulating market cap of $158 million. Established in 2014, Syscoin is one of the earlier crowdfunding projects in the blockchain space, known for its merge-mining capability with Bitcoin and its PoW consensus mechanism. In 2023, SYS Labs developed Rollux, an EVM rollup platform on the Bitcoin network, providing a Layer 2 scaling solution that enhances Syscoin’s scalability. Syscoin’s NEVM and PoDA technologies have improved smart contract functionality and data availability. Although there is room for growth in its ecosystem development and community engagement, Syscoin’s economic model, which features no maximum supply cap and a deflationary burn mechanism, supports the value of the SYS token. August 17 marked Syscoin’s 10th anniversary, with a series of on-chain celebrations organized by the official team[6]. Additionally, a major centralized exchange announced the launch of 1-50x SYS perpetual contracts. This price surge may be related to these two developments.

REI（REI Network）—— REI saw a 24-hour increase of approximately 3.24%, with a circulating market cap of $54.93 million and a circulating supply of 950 million REI. Previously GXChain, REI Network offers a lightweight, high-performance, and fee-free EVM-compatible blockchain, catering to developers and enterprises. With an average block time of 3 seconds and over 3,000 TPS, REI Network supports high-concurrency applications such as Metaverse and GameFi. Its free economic model, enabled by staking REI tokens, reduces transaction costs for users and encourages ecosystem growth in areas like DeFi, NFT, and SocialFi. REI Network has formed partnerships with multiple blockchain projects, and its token economics adheres to EIP-1559. Recently, REI Network announced collaborations with NexaFusion, AtlasPad, Stratos Network, and PinGoAI, which may have driven the price increase[7].

CTK（Shentu Chain）—— CTK (Shentu Chain) saw a significant single-day increase of approximately 11.4%, bringing its market capitalization to $83.71 million. Shentu Chain is a high-performance public blockchain focused on blockchain security, initiated by the renowned blockchain security auditing service provider, CertiK. The project aims to ensure the security of various blockchain products throughout their entire lifecycle by utilizing the secure programming language DeepSEA and integrating on-chain features such as a security oracle and the ShentuShield reimbursement pool. Shentu Chain provides a secure and reliable decentralized network environment for both users and developers [8].

Data Highlights

Grayscale has transferred approximately $68.52 million worth of BTC and ETH to centralized exchanges
In the past 24 hours, Grayscale’s addresses moved 700 BTC, worth approximately $41.22 million, to centralized exchanges. These addresses still hold 264,000 BTC. Additionally, 10,579 ETH, valued at around $27.3 million, was transferred to exchanges, leaving the addresses with a balance of 2.274 million ETH. This activity suggests that Grayscale’s GBTC and ETHE funds could continue to face further asset outflows [9].

The Fear & Greed Index has risen from 28 to 30
On August 19, Bitcoin’s price dropped to a low of $57,787, causing the Fear & Greed Index to fall to 28. With today’s market recovery, Bitcoin’s price has climbed to $60,638, and the index has risen to 30. Despite this increase, it remains in the “Fear” zone, indicating that market sentiment is still cautious, and investors may continue to be relatively pessimistic about the near-term outlook for the cryptocurrency market [10].

Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of $61.98 million yesterday
According to Sosovalue data, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $61.98 million on August 19, with a total daily trading volume of $779.9 million. The cumulative net inflow now is $17.43 billion, with the total value of BTC managed by these ETFs amounting to $53.77 billion, representing 4.61% of Bitcoin’s total market capitalization.

Ethereum ETFs saw a net outflow of $13.52 million yesterday
According to Sosovalue data, U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs experienced a net outflow of $13.52 million on August 19, with a total daily trading volume of $124.06 million. The cumulative net outflow has now reached $433.6 million, with the total value of ETH managed by these ETFs estimated at $7.3 billion, representing 2.32% of Ethereum’s total market capitalization.

Spotlight Analysis

Uniswap Becomes the Leading ETH Burner on Ethereum
In the first half of 2024, Uniswap emerged as the top ETH-burning application on the Ethereum blockchain, burning approximately 71,915 ETH [12]. This reaffirms its status as the leading protocol for ETH destruction. Despite this impressive figure, the burn rate plummeted by 72.4% in the second quarter compared to the first, dropping from 54,413 ETH to 15,031 ETH. This decrease is likely attributable to an overall slowdown in market activity, with reduced trading volumes amid increased market volatility impacting the amount of ETH burned.

Uniswap’s TVL has grown to $4.5 billion, reinforcing its leadership in the decentralized exchange (DEX) market through continuous optimization and innovation, which provide an exceptional trading experience. However, despite being the top ETH burner, Uniswap’s market share has slightly declined due to the rise of competing DeFi protocols that have likely diverted some trading volume. ETH transfers, the second-largest contributor to ETH burning, have destroyed 33,538 ETH this year, though they also saw a 73.4% quarter-over-quarter decline. Tether (USDT), the third-largest burner, destroyed 23,332 ETH, with its burn rate dropping by 70.9% to 5,091 ETH in the second quarter. Despite these challenges, Uniswap’s strong position in the DeFi space and its innovative approach continue to make it a key market player to watch.

Bitcoin Hashrate Increases as Mining Difficulty Eases (Chart: 7-Day Moving Average)

The Bitcoin network hash rate is an estimate used to measure the amount of computing power (and the number of miners) competing to mine Bitcoin blocks.

Recently, the Bitcoin network hash rate has seen a significant rebound, closely tied to a decrease in mining difficulty. On July 27, the hash rate reached nearly 648 EH/s, but by August 9, it had dropped to 612 EH/s. On August 14, Bitcoin’s network difficulty dropped from 90.66 trillion to 86.87 trillion, a reduction of 4.19%. Following this, Bitcoin miners quickly ramped up their computational power, increasing the hash rate from 612 EH/s to 647 EH/s within eight days—a rise of 35 EH/s.

Despite the rebound in hash rate, Bitcoin’s hash price remains depressed, currently below $44 per PH/s. Hash price, a crucial metric for assessing Bitcoin miners’ revenue, represents the income per unit of computational power (PH/s) over a given period, factoring in Bitcoin’s price, block rewards, and mining difficulty. The current hash price is lower than the lows seen after the FTX collapse in November 2022, when it reached $56 per PH/s and $59 per PH/s in mid-October, highlighting ongoing market pressures. At the same time, mining companies are actively raising over $1.5 billion ahead of Bitcoin’s halving, suggesting that the hash rate remains an attractive investment. Its fungibility, divisibility, durability, and scarcity continue to draw significant market interest.

Hash price and costs are key factors impacting mining profitability, while the derivatives market offers miners and investors tools for risk management. Together, these elements influence miners’ decisions and market trends.

An Address Falls Victim to Phishing Attack, Losing $82,000 in MEGA (PEOPLE) Tokens
In the past 24 hours, a wallet with the address 0x293C…b1a9 on the BNB Chain fell victim to a phishing attack, resulting in the loss of approximately 3.2 million MEGA (PEOPLE) tokens, valued at around $82,000. Phishing attacks in the cryptocurrency space often involve attackers posing as project teams or key opinion leaders (KOLs), luring users with airdrops or fundraising schemes to transfer assets to a designated address, enter private keys or seed phrases, or provide personal information. These attacks succeed because they often closely mimic legitimate websites or applications, preying on the oversight of some users and allowing malicious actors an opportunity to strike.[14]

To protect against such attacks, users should always verify the source of links and requests before entering sensitive information on any website. Avoid entering sensitive data on unfamiliar sites, enable two-factor authentication, and regularly monitor account activity.[15]

Funding News

According to RootData, two funding rounds in the Web3 sector took place between August 19 and August 20, 2024, totaling $43 million. The details of the funding are as follows [16]:

Fabric Cryptography — Fabric Cryptography is a Silicon Valley startup focused on developing cryptographic hardware, specifically targeting verifiable processing units (VPUs) for zero-knowledge proofs and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE). These VPUs offer greater efficiency in executing cryptographic algorithms compared to traditional CPUs or GPUs. In its recent Series A funding round, the company successfully raised $33 million, led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, with participation from Offchain Labs, Polygon, and Matter Labs.

BiFinance — Founded in 2022, BiFinance is a digital asset trading platform that offers spot and derivatives trading services, and is committed to innovative investment products. The platform aims to create a bridge between traditional financial assets and the Web3 ecosystem. To support its growth and expansion plans, BiFinance completed a $10 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Sunfund Fortuna Global Opportunities, with participation from Eternal Asia Group, SDM Education, and TigerBCDAO. The funds will enhance BiFinance’s market position in digital asset trading and foster ongoing growth and innovation.

Airdrop Opportunities

DOGS

DOGS is a meme coin on the TON blockchain, inspired by Spotty, a mascot created by TON’s founder, Pavel Durov. On August 18, the official DOGS team announced the launch of their Token Generation Event (TGE). Following this, on August 19, they announced plans to add more withdrawal options and extend the claim period. The deadline to claim DOGS using an exchange or Telegram wallet is set for August 21 at 6:00 PM UTC, while the claim period for non-custodial wallets will begin on August 23 at 8:00 AM UTC【17】.

Previously, on August 12, DOGS announced in their Telegram group that the number of users had reached 50 million [18]. On August 15, DOGS revealed its tokenomics, stating a total supply of 550 billion tokens. Of this, 81.5% is allocated to the community, 10% to the team and future development, and the remaining 8.5% is reserved for liquidity on CEX and DEX platforms, as well as for listing-related activities.

Gate.io is now an official deposit exchanges for DOGS. Users can select “Gate.io” to complete deposits and participate in PreMint trading to earn profits. The steps to claim DOGS on Gate.io are as follows [19]:

1. On the Telegram bot homepage, click “Deposit to Exchanges.”
2. Select “Gate.io” and click “Send here.”
3. Enter your Gate.io UID, deposit address, and Memo.
4. Open the Gate.io app to retrieve your UID, DOGS deposit address, and Memo.
5. Click “Confirm” to complete the deposit.

Swell Network

Swell Network — Swell Network is an Ethereum liquid staking protocol that allows users to stake ETH, receive swETH, and earn returns in the DeFi ecosystem. On August 19, Swell Network announced on the X platform the conclusion of its Voyager event (White Pearls) snapshot and revealed that Black Pearls holders will be able to claim SWELL in the first round of Wavedrop in October. Additionally, ecosystem points holders will share in all Swell L2 airdrops. Swell Network completed a $3.75 million seed funding round in March 2022 and launched its mainnet in August of the same year. According to DeFiLlama, Swell Network’s total value locked (TVL) has reached $1.705 billion to date [20].

Additionally, Swell Network plans to launch its Layer 2 rollup chain, expected to go live in the second half of this year. This Layer 2 network utilizes the “restaked rollup” framework developed by AltLayer and is built with Polygon’s Chain Development Kit (CDK), supported by AltLayer. The network will offer Swell users multiple benefits, including native restaking rewards, improved scalability, and lower transaction fees. The upcoming Swell token will be used for network governance. Swell Network has also partnered with several industry leaders, including EigenLabs, AltLayer, Polygon Labs, and Chainlink. These collaborations provide technical support and innovative cooperation that bolster Swell Network’s Layer 2 solution [21].

Babylon

Babylon is a Layer 1 blockchain project founded in 2022 by Stanford University professor David Tse. The project aims to enhance the security of Proof of Stake (PoS) networks by leveraging Bitcoin’s robust security. Babylon introduced the world’s first trustless and self-custodial Bitcoin staking protocol, which allows Bitcoin holders to stake their BTC in various PoS systems, thereby providing additional security to these networks while earning staking rewards.

On August 16, Babylon unveiled a three-phase rollout plan for its Bitcoin staking protocol. Phase one allows users to securely lock Bitcoin in a self-custodial script via a transaction, with a maximum staking period of approximately 15 months. The initial total staking cap is 1,000 BTC, with individual staking transaction limits from 0.005 to 0.05 BTC. Babylon has secured up to $96 million in funding, with notable investors including Paradigm, Polychain, and Amber Group [22].

Reference：

1. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/price/bitcoin-btc
2. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/zh/price/ethereum-eth
3. Sosovalue, https://sosovalue.xyz/assets/etf/us-eth-spot
4. Sosovalue, https://sosovalue.xyz/assets/etf/us-btc-spot
5. Nasdaq，https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/index/spx
6. Yahoo, https://hk.finance.yahoo.com
7. Syscoin,https://x.com/syscoin/status/1824520422383292801
8. Shentu Chain, https://x.com/shentuchain
9. PinGoAI, https://x.com/PinGoAI
10. Arkhanm Intelligence, https://www.arkhamintelligence.com/
11. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/zh/bigdata/homeindex
12. Dune, https://dune.com/ji3my/eth-after-1559
13. HashRate, https://data.hashrateindex.com/chart/bitcoin-network-hashrate
14. Bscscan, https://bscscan.com/tx/0x701ccec5d4fc0dbfeeeefd2c74a768d602e5b498670083efb8e3623361194c70
15. PeckShield, https://x.com/PeckShieldAlert/status/1825361056275091863
16. Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
17. realDogsHouse, https://x.com/realDogsHouse/status/1825233926560043214
18. Dogs Community, https://t.me/dogs_community/87
19. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/announcements/article/38662
20. Defillama, https://defillama.com/protocol/swell#information
21. Swell Network, https://x.com/swellnetworkio/status/1825080773118173625
22. Babylon Labs, https://babylonlabs.io/blog/babylon-bitcoin-staking-mainnet-launch-phase-1

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