1. Babylon Mainnet Launch Triggers a Surge in Bitcoin Network Transaction Fees link

Babylon has announced the official launch of its Bitcoin staking mainnet, now open for its first phase of staking activities. According to the official statement, this launch introduces a third native use case for Bitcoin assets, following their roles in value storage and payment — staking to secure PoS networks and earn rewards. In response to the Babylon mainnet launch, mempool data indicates a surge in Bitcoin network transaction fees, with low-priority fees currently at 673 satoshis per byte, medium-priority at 816 satoshis per byte, and high-priority at 1,059 satoshis per byte. Babylon’s mainnet information reveals that the initial staking cap for Phase 1 was set at 1,000 BTC, and as of the report, the staking limit for the first phase has been reached.

2. Magic Eden Introduces ME Token link

NFT marketplace Magic Eden has announced the launch of its new token, ME, which users will be able to access through their mobile wallet. Previously, Magic Eden planned to release a token named NFT, but ultimately decided to retain the existing brand. The introduction of the ME token aims to expand Magic Eden’s ecosystem beyond the NFT market, incorporating a broader range of cryptocurrency trading functionalities. The ME token will be managed by the newly renamed ME Foundation and will gradually be rolled out across multiple blockchain platforms.

3. Binance Announces Launchpool’s 57th Project, Dogs (DOGS) link

Binance has announced the launch of its 57th Launchpool project, Dogs (DOGS), allowing users to mine DOGS by staking BNB and FDUSD. DOGS will be listed on Binance at 12:00 UTC on August 26, 2024, with trading pairs DOGS/USDT, DOGS/BNB, DOGS/FDUSD, and DOGS/TRY available. The design of DOGS is inspired by Spotty, the mascot created by Pavel Durov, the founder of TON, for the Telegram community.

4. Blast Network’s Total Value Locked (TVL) Plummets Over 60% link

The total value locked (TVL) on the Blast network has plummeted by over 60% from its historical peak of $2.3 billion in early June, falling to $785 million as of August 5, marking a six-month low. Additionally, the number of daily active users on Blast dropped to 27,800 on August 18, a significant decrease and the lowest level since the expansion of the solution in late February.

5. Starknet to Activate STRK Staking Functionality link

Ethereum L2 Starknet tweeted that STRK holders will participate in the first mainnet vote to introduce STRK staking functionality into the Starknet ecosystem. STRK holders will have the opportunity to provide input on the proposed minting mechanism and its parameter modifications. Although the exact deployment schedule for this feature is yet to be determined, staking is expected to launch in October.

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6. Monad and MegaETH Co-founders Debate the Concept of “Full Nodes” link

Recently, Monad’s founder and MegaETH co-founder discussed the concept of “full nodes.” MegaETH’s co-founder redefined a “full node” as one that receives incremental state updates from a single sequencer without performing transaction validation, while Monad’s founder believes the industry largely agrees that a full node should not only store transaction states but also validate this data. Vitalik has commented that focusing too much on the “full node” concept for L2 is missing the point. From the user’s perspective, the crucial issue is at what level user transactions are guaranteed to be confirmed — whether by sequencer pre-confirmation or L1 confirmation.

7. Curve Founder Proposes $6.37 Million CRV Funding for Curve Development Company link

Curve founder Michael Egorov has proposed a discussion seeking funding for Curve’s building company, Swiss Stake AG. According to the proposal, Swiss Stake AG is requesting a grant of 21 million CRV (approximately $6.37 million), which will be allocated to the company’s multisig wallet over the next year. Notably, this 21 million CRV is drawn from the Curve community fund, which currently holds 47,545,144 CRV. Michael stated that Swiss Stake AG has been using the CRV allocation received in August 2020 as the primary funding source for development and research. Currently, Swiss Stake AG employs over 25 individuals/entities directly or indirectly involved in Curve-related development and research, and the company does not have other substantial revenue sources.

8. Record-Breaking CryptoPunk 5822 Sold via OTC on Monday link

The record-breaking CryptoPunk 5822 has been sold over-the-counter (OTC). The previous owner, Deepak, has issued a farewell post. On-chain data reveals that Deepak purchased CryptoPunk 5822 on February 12, 2022, for 8,000 ETH (approximately $23.7 million). The sale price and specific terms of the OTC transaction remain unclear. Suspected buyer VOMBATUS tweeted that the purchase of CryptoPunk 5822 cost around 1,500 ETH, approximately $3.93 million, indicating that Deepak incurred a loss of nearly $20 million on this CryptoPunk.

9. Grayscale Announces Grayscale Avalanche Trust, Offering Investors AVAX Exposure link

Grayscale Investments has announced the launch of Grayscale Avalanche Trust, a single-asset cryptocurrency investment fund open exclusively to qualified investors. The fund aims to provide exposure to Avalanche (AVAX), a three-chain smart contract platform focusing on scalability, network security, and decentralization. Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s Head of Product and Research, stated that Avalanche plays a crucial role in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and the trust is now open for daily subscriptions.

10. ETHGlobal Reveals Winning Projects of SuperHack 2024 link

ETHGlobal has announced the winners of SuperHack 2024, showcasing several innovative projects: Tamayoshi, a gas-free on-chain mobile game; ChooseADelegate, which uses social graphs to help users select active representatives in DAO proposals; Century Pay, a bot facilitating payments via Discord; EthDrive, a digital asset storage solution akin to Google Drive; QuickPay; Kiss or Slap, an on-chain reputation game on Farcaster; HomeBas; and DrawDash, an on-chain AI art game.

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