◾ Coinbase (COIN) reported revenue of $707 million in the second quarter and its second quarter of positive EBITDA ($194 million) driven by a focus on operational discipline (cutting operating expenditures 50% year-over-year), product excellence (being the most trusted app and making crypto easy to use), efforts to drive regulatory clarity (suing the SEC). (Coinbase)
◾ A New York man pled guilty to being the hacker behind the 2016 $4.5 billion Bitfinex cyberattack. (CNBC)
◾ The Bank of Russia established transaction fees and released an official logo for the digital ruble. (Cbr.ru)
Government & NGO Actions
◾ Kenyan authorities reverted their position on Worldcoin stating that while the crypto company could raise regulatory and security concerns, it is “acting within the law.” (Coindesk)
◾ The US Securities and Exchange Commission obtained a temporary asset freeze and restraining order against DEBT Box, accusing its principles of operating a $50 million fraudulent scheme to sell crypto asset securities to hundreds of US investors. (Sec.gov)
◾ Massachusetts securities regulators are investigating how investment firms use AI to interact with clients. (Reuters)
Public Company Releases
◾ Coinbase (COIN) plans to file for a court order to dismiss the SEC charges against the crypto exchange today. (MotleyFool)
◾ Block (SQ) reported 384 million in adjusted EBITDA supported by $2.39 billion in transactional bitcoin sales and $44 million in gross profit. (Block)
◾ Argo Blockchain (ARBK) mined 129 bitcoin (2.6 EH/s) selling 98% of its production in July. (Argoblockchain)
◾ Marathon Digital (MARA) produced 1,176 bitcoin in July (18.8 EH/s) bringing its total unrestricted BTC holdings to 12,964. (Mara)
◾ Riot Platforms (RIOT) produced 410 bitcoin (10.7 EH/s) selling 400 in July. (Riotplatforms)
◾ Stronghold Digital (SDIG) generated 205 bitcoin in July to drive preliminary second quarter revenue of $18.2 million with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.6 million. (Strongholddigitalmining)
◾ Iris Energy (IREN) mined 423 bitcoin (5,5 EH/s) in July. (Irisenergy)
◾ TeraWulf (WULF) produced 330 bitcoin (4.7 EH/s) in July. (Terawulf)
Restructuring, Losses and Legal News
◾ The Justice Department asked a US District Judge to revoke Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail suggesting there is probable cause that SBF committed a federal felony – witness tampering. (Courtlistener)
AI Announcements
◾ New reports are refuting news that Apple (APPL) is planning to launch a generative AI chatbot. (9to5mac)
Protocols, Applications & Business News
◾ The Digital Dollar Project completed a pilot study exploring the use of a CBDC for cross-border payments. (PRnewswire)
◾ Argentina-based crypto platform Ripio introduced Latin America's first dollar-pegged stablecoin, the “criptodólar.” (X)
◾ Coinbase (COIN) announced its layer-2 protocol allowing anyone to build dapps, Base, will be released on August 9th. (Base)
◾ Bitwise Asset Management is the latest first to file for an ETF tied to bitcoin and ether futures. (Sec.gov)
Market Data
◾ A McKinsey survey on the state of AI finds that the most common reported uses of generative AI tools are in sales and marketing, product and service development, and service operations. (McKinsey)
Exchange, Custody and Product Updates
◾ Hong Kong-based digital asset trading exchange OSL received a license up-lift by Hong Kong regulators to offer cryptocurrencies to retail customers. (Osl)