BlackRock Ethereum ETF Crosses $10 Billion Milestone

BlackRock’s Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETHA) surpassed $10 billion in assets under management, becoming only the third ETF ever to hit this mark within one year. ETHA reached the milestone exactly one year after launching, following in the footsteps of BlackRock and Fidelity Bitcoin ETFs.

Remarkably, ETHA’s holdings doubled from $5 billion to $10 billion within just ten days, fueled by heightened institutional buying. On Wednesday alone, ETH ETFs attracted net inflows totaling $332.2 million, with ETHA accounting for $324.6 million of that sum.

Institutional demand has ignited Ethereum’s recent surge, propelling the asset’s price to $3,771, up more than 65% in the past month alone. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs are experiencing outflows, with analysts noting potential rotation of institutional capital from Bitcoin into Ethereum.

Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, projects ETH funds and corporate treasuries could purchase $20 billion worth of Ethereum (over five million coins) in the next year. This massive institutional appetite starkly outpaces ETH's expected issuance rate, intensifying the buying pressure on the asset.

Solana Increases Block Throughput by 20 Percent

Solana’s network capacity increased by 20% to 60 million compute units, boosting the number of transactions it can process per block. Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz said the update improves fee efficiency and developer flexibility, particularly during peak traffic from token launches. The update follows congestion issues in January, when Trump-themed memecoins strained network throughput.

Developers are now proposing a further increase to 100 million compute units, citing underutilization and stable execution times. Jito Labs CEO Lucas Bruder posted a GitHub proposal arguing the network can scale safely without performance degradation. The discussion comes as Solana crosses $200, with major firms like Bit Mining and DeFi Development Corp accumulating tokens for treasury strategies.

Kraken Adds INK Token Ahead of Upcoming Airdrop

Kraken announced July 24 it will integrate the INK token and Ink Layer 2 into its core suite, targeting expanded DeFi functionality for global users. The token will debut within Kraken Drops, offering airdrops to eligible clients through the exchange’s rewards program. Kraken said INK will support liquidity tools and DeFi products, though it won’t carry governance rights.

The Ink Foundation said INK will be used for network incentives and composable infrastructure, not price speculation. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi added that the integration helps align off-chain and on-chain capital across exchanges, wallets, and apps. Ink’s total value locked passed $100 million in July, triggered by rising adoption and anticipation for the airdrop event.

Ripple Founder Moves $140M XRP Near Record Price

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen moved 50 million XRP between July 17-24, with $140 million routed to exchange-linked wallets, according to ZachXBT. Onchain data showed most transfers were to addresses known for liquidity activity, while 10 million XRP went to new wallets with no previous history. Larsen-linked holdings still control 2.81 billion XRP, worth roughly $9 billion at current prices.

Traders flagged the large movement as XRP hit $3.65 on July 18, its highest level to date, before pulling back this week. The SEC previously accused Larsen and Ripple’s CEO of unloading tokens worth hundreds of millions during the firm’s legal disputes. XRP's momentum cooled as broader crypto markets saw increased volatility and minor corrections in high-cap tokens.

Data of the Day

Crypto hacks reached $3.1 billion in the first half of 2025, already outpacing 2024’s full-year total, according to a report by Hacken. Access-control failures were the leading cause, accounting for 59% of losses, while smart contract bugs contributed another $263 million. Hacken analysts said DeFi platforms remain the most vulnerable, especially those relying on outdated or unaudited codebases.

The Cetus attack in Q2 drained $223 million by exploiting overflow logic and caused DeFi’s worst quarter since 2023. Hacken added that AI-related exploits rose over 1,000% year-over-year, largely due to insecure APIs and production-level AI agents. The report warns that cybersecurity frameworks are lagging behind, failing to address novel threats like model manipulation and adversarial training inputs.

More Breaking News

• LetsBONK will allocate 1% of platform revenue to buy back top BONK ecosystem tokens, outpacing PumpFun in daily volume and token launches.
• Polychain Capital sold its remaining $62.5 million TIA stake to the Celestia Foundation, which will reassign tokens under a new unlock schedule.
• Strategy increased its BTC-focused Stretch stock offering to $2 billion, using proceeds to expand its 607,770 Bitcoin treasury amid continued institutional demand.
• GameSquare bought a rare $5.15 million CryptoPunk NFT from Robert Leshner, marking a bold treasury asset move involving convertible preferred equity shares.
• Binance now supports Circle’s yield-bearing USYC token for off-exchange collateral, deepening institutional ties through BNB Chain and Circle’s money market fund integration.
• Ethena is launching its $1.5 billion USDtb stablecoin in the U.S. with Anchorage Digital following newly signed national stablecoin legislation.
• TRUMP token is now live on TRON, leveraging LayerZero and Stargate Finance to enable cross-chain liquidity and unified onchain token supply.
• deBridge launched a Reserve Fund that uses 100% of protocol revenue to repurchase DBR tokens, already acquiring 1.3% of the token’s total supply.
• A Satoshi-era bitcoin whale moved 3,962 BTC worth $469 million to a new wallet Thursday, breaking 14 years of dormancy since January 2011.

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