The deal is Coinbase's seventh acquisition or acquihire of 2025, underscoring its aggressive push to build the "everything exchange."
Bernstein initiated coverage on the Peter Thiel-backed crypto firm Bullish, setting an initial price target of $60 — 15% to the upside.
Data from multiple blockchain trackers shows that Coinbase has drastically cut its XRP holdings, a move that has taken many crypto investors by surprise. Analysts say such a huge reduction points to large outflows from institutional investors, but others have gone further by alleging manipulation. However, pro-XRP lawyer Bill Morgan has poured cold water on these claims. Rumors Of Coinbase Manipulation Swirl On X US-based exchange Coinbase recently reduced its stash from more than 780 million XRP to just under 200 million in a matter of weeks. This translates to a 69% reduction in the exchange’s holdings since the second quarter of 2025, including a 57% plunge over the last month alone. The scale of the drawdown has also shifted Coinbase’s ranking among exchange holders of XRP, sliding it from the fifth largest to barely in the top 10. Related Reading: MemeCore Explodes 3,800% For ATH — But Is A Collapse Around The Corner? An account on the social media platform X, known as Stern Drew, suggested that Coinbase’s sell-offs go with a deliberate strategy to suppress XRP’s price. In a detailed thread, the commentator claimed that nearly 40% of the outflows were routed through OTC desks tied to New York institutions and that the timing of the sales coincided with XRP price dips in August. According to the thread, more than 70% of the volume was unloaded during low-liquidity trading hours, while fragmented routing across wallets masked the scale of the sales. The thread even suggested that some of the XRP ended up with BlackRock-linked custodial wallets, a move that further points to theories about institutional involvement. Bill Morgan Pushes Back On Manipulation Claims Bill Morgan was quick to reject the idea that Coinbase is actively manipulating XRP’s price. In his view, the theory overlooks the fact that XRP has exhibited the same behavior throughout its history, including during the long stretch when Coinbase delisted the asset and had no apparent influence on its market activity. Coinbase suspended XRP trading in January 2021, but it wasn’t until July 2023 that the cryptocurrency started trading again on the US-based exchange. “One heck of a theory about Coinbase being against XRP,” he said, before noting that the token’s movements today are consistent with its established trends. The suggestion of manipulation by Coinbase fails to hold up, as XRP’s price action appears more reflective of broader crypto market movement than any deliberate suppression by the exchange. XRP has been trading within a well-defined range between $2.8 and $2.9 in the past seven days. Although it lost the $3 support level as August came to a close, XRP has managed to hold above $2.8 since then, and this level has so far cushioned it from deeper losses. Related Reading: American Bitcoin, Backed By Trump, Ends Nasdaq Debut Up 17% On the upside, the $3.10 level is the critical resistance to watch. A decisive break above that barrier could shift momentum back in favor of the bulls. Until then, XRP’s price is likely to continue consolidating between $3.10 and $2.8. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $2.82. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Prominent voices in the crypto sector are questioning the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) disclosed that nearly a year of text messages from former Chair Gary Gensler had been permanently deleted. On Sept. 3, the OIG disclosed that Gensler’s SEC-issued smartphone stopped syncing with the agency’s […]
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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said nearly half of the exchange’s daily code output is now written by artificial intelligence amid a growing reliance on machine-generated development. In a Sept. 3 post on X, Armstrong revealed that about 40% of code produced at Coinbase already comes from AI tools and predicted that the figure would surpass […]
The post Coinbase CEO reveals 40% of the company’s code is AI generated as critics label it ‘red flag’ appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Brian Armstrong mandated Coinbase staff to begin using AI tools last month, firing those who did not comply.
Crypto.com, Coinbase, and Kraken maintain their leadership positions in the USD-supported exchange landscape.
Mag7 + Crypto Equity Index Futures, allows people to trade an index combining top tech stocks with BlackRock's Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
Mag7 + Crypto Equity Index Futures are coming to the crypto exchange on September 22.
The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has notably been on a Bitcoin selling spree throughout this week, triggering a wave of sell-offs in the process. These sales have occurred due to the outflows that the asset manager has witnessed from its BTC ETF. BlackRock Dumps Around $500 Million In Bitcoin Arkham data shows that BlackRock has offloaded around $500 million in Bitcoin this week, with transfers to Coinbase, a move that indicates a move to sell these coins. The asset manager has sold these coins following outflows from its iShares Bitcoin ETF, which was the norm throughout this week. Related Reading: BlackRock’s Crypto Holdings Balloon As Bitcoin, Ethereum Reach For New ATHs — Here Are The Numbers SoSo Value data shows that BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF first recorded a daily net outflow of $68.72 million on August 18. The fund then further saw net outflows of $220 million, $127.49 million, and $198.81 million on August 20, 21, and 22, respectively. Notably, the iShares Bitcoin ETF has accounted for most of the outflows, with the BTC ETFs as a group currently on a six-day streak of consecutive net outflows. These Bitcoin ETFs have seen total net outflows of almost $1.2 billion since August 15. Meanwhile, in just this week alone, over $1.1 billion has left these funds, sparking a bearish sentiment for the BTC price. Given BlackRock’s position as a major player in the Bitcoin ecosystem, outflows from its fund had sparked a wave of sell-offs. This led to a massive decline for the flagship crypto earlier in the week. The Bitcoin price had dropped to as low as $112,000 this week as BlackRock and other BTC investors took profit on their investments. This followed the flagship crypto’s rally to a new all-time high (ATH) of $124,000 last week. However, BTC has now sharply rebounded on the back of Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, in which he indicated that a rate cut might happen in September. An End To The BTC ETF Outflow Streak Notably, Powell’s speech was enough to spark fresh inflows into the Bitcoin ETFs on August 22, with BlackRock the only fund manager that recorded a net outflow on the day. Further data from SoSo Value shows that Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest recorded a daily inflow of $65.47 million, the most among the issuers on the day. Related Reading: Analyst Warns Investors To Avoid Bitcoin At All Cost As Price Is Going Below $60,000 Meanwhile, Fidelity, Van Eck, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, and Grayscale recorded inflows of $50.88 million, $26.41 million, $13.51 million, $12.70 million, and $6.42 million, respectively. However, BlackRock recorded an outflow of $198.81 million, which led to a daily net outflow of $23.15 million for the funds as a group. With the Bitcoin price rebounding, these funds, including BlackRock’s IBIT, could return to witnessing significant daily inflows from next week. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price is trading at around $115,900, up over 2% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from Tradingview.com
Shan Aggarwal says the crypto industry is still underselling how fast and forceful the shift to the stablecoin standard will be, and how quickly AI will accelerate it.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has projected that Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2030, In an Aug. 20 post on X, Armstrong explained that the improved regulatory environment and increasing government adoption are major drivers that would push the top crypto to the historic milestone. According to him: “Regulatory clarity is finally emerging, the US […]
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Coinbase’s cbBTC has grown 160% in 2025, eating into wBTC’s dominance on Ethereum.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong put a bold price on Bitcoin this week, saying the token could hit $1 million by 2030. He posted the prediction on X and pointed to rising institutional interest and clearer rules in the US as reasons for the call. Related Reading: Ethereum Captures Investor Frenzy, Overtakes Bitcoin With Nearly $3-B Surge Short-term moves will still be messy, he warned, but the long-term case is getting stronger. Armstrong Joins High-Profile Bull Calls According to Armstrong, the shift in tone from regulators matters. He flagged pending stablecoin legislation and a market structure bill in the Senate as possible catalyst events, saying “something could happen by the end of this year.” Reports have disclosed that the US government now holds a strategic Bitcoin reserve, a step Armstrong once found unlikely. I think we’ll see $1M per bitcoin by 2030. Regulatory clarity is finally emerging, the US government is keeping a BTC reserve, there’s a growing interest for crypto ETFs, among many other factors. (Not financial advice of course, it’s impossible to guarantee) pic.twitter.com/w5EfcYFvVp — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) August 20, 2025 Institutional Flows Are Small, But Growing According to Armstrong, many large funds currently hold about 1% of their portfolios in Bitcoin. That’s small. It’s also a base to build from if rules become clearer. Exchange-traded funds have already pulled significant institutional money into the market, and sovereign interest is slowly rising. Armstrong argues that clearer rules will speed the process and unlock more capital. Big Names Back Big Numbers Meanwhile, several well-known figures have been making their own forecasts about the world’s most popular crypto asset. Author Robert Kiyosaki has argued that rising inflation and the growing US debt load could be key drivers pushing Bitcoin toward higher levels. Michael Saylor, who leads Strategy, points to Wall Street’s balance sheets, saying a 10% allocation of reserves to Bitcoin could be enough to trigger the million-dollar mark. Related Reading: Panic Or Profit? Analyst Says XRP Below $3 Is A ‘Massive Blessing’ Cathie Wood of ARK Invest has set an even loftier target, suggesting Bitcoin could climb to $1.5 million in her firm’s bull scenario. Together, these forecasts align with Armstrong’s call, though each stems from a different line of reasoning. Regulation And Risk Still Matter Bitcoin has a history of sharp rallies followed by big pullbacks. That pattern hasn’t disappeared. While proponents point to limited supply and growing institutional exposure as reasons to expect higher prices, critics warn that macro shocks, tighter regulation, or a serious technical flaw could reverse gains quickly. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
The target translates to stablecoins growing almost five-fold from the current market size of $270 billion.
Coinbase said the "launch of trading for these assets is contingent on market-making support, and sufficient technical infrastructure."
Armstrong joins Jack Dorsey and Cathie Wood in calling for explosive BTC growth, with Ark Invest projecting as high as $3.8M by decade’s end.
An industry-wide project led by TRM Labs is officially going live, and includes law enforcement and the major exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance.
Galaxy, SharpLink, BitMine were among the names that plunged nearly 10% as risk appetite faded and bitcoin sunk to $113,000.
Stablecoins used in the settlement include dollar- and euro-pegged tokens of Circle, Paxos, PayPal, Ripple and Societe Generale, among others.
After going public last week, Bullish has announced it is settling its $1.15 billion initial public offering using stablecoins like USDC.
Crypto exchange Bullish disclosed on Aug. 19 that part of its $1.15 billion IPO proceeds was received in a mix of stablecoins, including Ripple’s RLUSD on the XRP Ledger and President Donald Trump-affiliated USD1. The firm said these tokens were among several digital assets involved in the settlement process, which also included Circle’s USDC and […]
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Bernstein reiterated its outperform rating on Robinhood and lifted its price target on the stock to $160 from $105.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker criticized President Donald Trump for allowing crypto insiders to shape federal policy, saying the approach puts investors at risk. In an Aug. 18 post on X, Pritzker contrasted Trump’s approach to his state’s commitment to structured, investor-focused regulations. According to him: “While Trump lets crypto bros write federal policy, Illinois is […]
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Bernstein raised its price targets for Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle, saying policy tailwinds and surging volumes could push the bull market into 2027.
According to reports, USELESS coin surged 52% in a single day after becoming the first memecoin from LetsBONKfun to land on Binance. Related Reading: Dogecoin Draws New Attention As Open Interest Tops $3 Billion The price climbed from $0.19 to $0.33 during the initial burst, data from Coingecko shows, and many traders sold into that move overnight. Social interest rose alongside the price: 30-day growth was 42%, which translated to nearly 9,700 new followers, data from Messari shows. Exchange Listings Fuel Hype Reports have disclosed that other platforms moved quickly. Kraken listed the token amid the buzz, and Coinbase added USELESS to its listing roadmap, making the token visible to US markets. That wider exposure appears to have attracted new buyers and attention. Some traders said that easing crypto rules and exchange access were helping memecoins get more eyes and more capital. Deposits for $USELESS are now open on https://t.co/AZwoBOh0gq! Trading on the USELESS/USDT pair will begin on Aug 14 at 7 a.m. EDT.@theuselesscoin is Solana’s unapologetically pointless memecoin, a parody of “serious” crypto that thrives on meme power and a growing community. — Binance.US ???????? (@BinanceUS) August 13, 2025 Buyers Pushed Early And Some Took Profits Orderbook snapshots showed heavy bids before the Binance announcement, and some market watchers flagged those buys as suspicious. USELESS social interest up. Source: Messari. Insider buying is a common concern around listings, and the timing here raised eyebrows. After the launch, price shot to $0.31 from $0.22, then cooled as profit-taking set in. By the second day, buy-side depth had thickened while taker buy/sell volume began to ease. Overall Activity Up 300% Trading activity spiked. Daily volume reached $420 million, which was more than 1.5x the token’s market cap according to trade tallies. In the run-up and immediate aftermath, overall activity rose by almost 300%. Recovery phase for Bonk’s pairs, led by hard-working communities that never stopped during the bear days.#USELESS target is $5B.$KORI, $MOMO, and #旺柴: each aiming for at least $300M. The Bonk community stands apart from other launchpad platforms, with projects here often… pic.twitter.com/dKwIMmbtJW — ????️GEM DETECTER????️ (@gem_detecter) August 14, 2025 On decentralized exchanges, netflows put USELESS at the top of the list among the top 10 coins by netflow, even ahead of Bonk [BONK]. Gem Detector data on X showed USELESS as the most held token among the platform’s top four memecoins, a sign that community interest was strong. Related Reading: Chainlink Breaks 3-Month High Amid Record 2025 Enthusiasm Technical indicators signaled higher volatility as Bollinger Bands widened. The midpoint of the bands sits near an earlier resistance at $0.27, which could act as the next support. Resistance around $0.33 looks to be a key pivot; a clear break above that might open a path toward $0.40. If $0.27 fails, the token could slip back to $0.22, the level where the surge began. Aggregated spot and bid delta hit its highest level since launch, even as taker buy volume tapered off. Featured image from X/@theuselesscoin, chart from TradingView
Deribit, now owned by Coinbase, is set to launch linear bitcoin and ether options priced and settled in USDC on Aug. 19.
SharpLink is rapidly positioning itself as a leader in corporate Ethereum holdings. The company is accelerating its accumulation strategy at unprecedented speed. Combined with its existing ETH holdings, the company might be on track to outpace every other ETH treasury holder in both speed and scale. Why SharpLink’s Ethereum Strategy Could Redefine Corporate Treasuries In an X post, CryptoGucci shared a short clip of Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin’s recent remarks about SharpLink Gaming. Lubin believes that the company isn’t just participating in the race, but it’s about to lap the competition. Related Reading: Ethereum Treasury Companies Go Head To Head As Bitmine Dwarfs SharpLink — Details According to Lubin, SharpLink Gaming (SBET) has rapidly emerged as one of the largest ETH accumulators on the planet, leveraging a strategy that goes far beyond simply holding ETH. The company actively manages its treasury to maximize productivity through staking, restaking, and compounding into some of the most powerful DeFi yield opportunities available. What sets SharpLink apart is its direct backing from the ETH company itself, which is a massive advantage that few competitors can claim. This relationship provides strategic alignment, insider insight, and access to key infrastructure, positioning SharpLink to move faster and more efficiently than any other treasury operator. The company is managed by some of the best DeFi investors in the world, combining institutional discipline with native crypto expertise. SharpLink’s approach is straightforward yet powerful. The process involves accumulating more ETH than anyone else, deploying it intelligently across high-yield opportunities, and generating steady returns while compounding for the long term. Why Ethereum Is Emerging As The Institutional Protocol Ethereum is gaining mainstream recognition at the institutional level. CryptoGucci has also shared a post where Cathie Wood, the founder and CIO of ARK Invest, laid out a bullish case for why Ethereum is becoming the institutional protocol of choice, which has captured the attention of the crypto and institutional investment communities. Related Reading: Ethereum Surpasses MasterCard In Asset Rankings, Bullish Targets Set Wood highlighted that major infrastructure developments are signaling ETH dominance. Coinbase L2 is built on ETH, Robinhood L2 leverages ETH, and the ongoing stablecoin that is predominantly occurring on the ETH network. Unlike Bitcoin treasuries, ETH treasuries offer both utility and staking opportunities, while creating a more productive institutional asset. ETH may carry slightly higher costs and operate at a slower speed than some alternatives, but its decentralization and security make it the most resilient and reliable choice for institutional adoption. This foundational robustness is enabling ARK ETFs to take their first substantial positions in ETH, while marking a pivotal moment for institutional adoption. ARK has also strategically invested in Tom Lee’s BitMine (BMNR), which is currently the largest ETH treasury in the world, while signaling an alignment between traditional investment strategies and Ethereum-based infrastructure. Wood concluded that the foundation of the next financial system is being laid out in real time, and it’s all happening on ETH. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from Tradingview.com
The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.
Coinbase completed its acquisition of Deribit, positioning it as the global leader in crypto derivatives by open interest and options volume.