The cryptocurrency landscape is witnessing significant developments, with notable updates from major players.
Bitget, a prominent crypto exchange, has elevated the status of its BGB token, making it the native gas token for the Morph Layer-2 network. This strategic partnership aims to enhance BGB’s utility across various networks and applications. Morph plans to utilize Bitget’s extensive user base and its Bitget Wallet app to offer improved payment services. In a remarkable move, Bitget has transferred its 440 million BGB holdings to the Morph Foundation. In a single transaction, half of this amount has been burnt, while the rest will be gradually unlocked monthly to incentivize liquidity. The Morph Foundation is also set to revamp BGB’s token burn strategy, with a long-term goal of reducing the token’s total supply from 1.1 billion to 100 million. Following this announcement, BGB’s price increased by 7.0%, from $4.76 to $5.09.
On another front, Venus, a lending protocol based on the BNB Chain, has resumed operations after facing a significant security breach that resulted in the loss of approximately $27 million. The team announced that they have recovered the lost funds and implemented measures to prevent future vulnerabilities. The exploit involved a malevolent address replacing one of Venus’s main smart contracts, draining the protocol of USDC and ETH deposits. Despite the operational restoration and security enhancements, the price of Venus’s native token XVS has seen only a slight increase of 0.9%, moving from $6.10 to $6.16.
In a noteworthy development in the Bitcoin ecosystem, the team behind the BRC-20 token standard has launched its BRC 2.0 upgrade. This upgrade effectively integrates EVM functionality directly into the BRC-20 indexer, allowing developers to create applications without relying on bridges. Moreover, the upgrade enhances the programmability of BRC-20 tokens, making them EVM-compatible and applicable to similar networks while still utilizing Bitcoin’s security features. As per Dune Analytics, BRC-20 transactions have made up a substantial portion of Bitcoin’s total transaction volume, recently peaking at 168,000 transactions on BRC 2.0’s launch day.
Meanwhile, the Ethereum-based Bunni DEX has temporarily halted all smart contracts following an exploit that led to a theft of $8.4 million. The vulnerability was found within Bunni’s main smart contract system, BunniHub, allowing hackers to withdraw excess funds. Currently, the stolen funds, amounting to over $8 million worth of stablecoins, are being held across two Ethereum addresses. The Bunni team has confirmed the breach and is actively investigating the incident. This hack has caused a severe drop in Bunni’s governance token, BUNNI, which has plummeted by 38.4%, from $0.011 to $0.007.
In other notable news, a user on the Binance Smart Chain fell victim to a phishing scam, resulting in a loss of $13.5 million. Security experts suggest that the tactics employed may be linked to North Korean state-sponsored hackers. Additionally, cryptocurrency trading volumes reached a yearly high, hitting $1.86 trillion in August, eclipsing July’s $1.77 trillion mark.
The search interest for “memecoin” has shown a resurgence, climbing back to 57 units after a period of lower activity, although it remains below January’s peak of 100 units.
Upcoming upgrades in the crypto space include Ethereum’s Fusaka hard fork, expected to occur in early November 2025, following the significant Pectra upgrade in May 2025.
In corporate developments, Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, revealed that the exchange has been approached for a public offering but prefers to maintain its private status for the time being.
Linea, affiliated with ConsenSys, has launched its official airdrop checker, making 750,000 wallets eligible for its LINEA token, scheduled to go live on September 10.
In a concerning trend, shareholders of Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet have reportedly approved an $884 million overseas stock deal as the company grapples with financial difficulties, following a 54% decline in stock value since mid-June.
California Governor Gavin Newsom humorously suggested he might launch his own memecoin during a podcast, aiming to outshine what he termed the “Trump corruption coin.”
Michael Saylor’s company, Strategy, has qualified for potential inclusion in the S&P 500 index after robust quarterly earnings were disclosed.
Lastly, an investigation conducted by crypto analyst ZachXBT unveiled a concerning trend of undisclosed promotions by over 200 crypto influencers, highlighting the lack of transparency in influencer marketing in the crypto space. Similarly, holders of the World Liberty Financial token are facing threats from hackers exploiting recent vulnerabilities related to private key leaks.
