Bitcoin yesterday reclaimed $50k to reach a more than three-month high. However the cryptoasset on everybody's lips is indisputably Solana. In the space of a week, the price of SOL climbed dramatically from the $45 mark to a new all-time high of $81 on Saturday – eclipsing Uniswap to become a top 10 crypto in the process.

Solana's rise to the big leagues comes as the network experienced increased traction in the NFT space, most recently with the launch of the 'Degenerate Ape Academy' the previous Sunday. The launch saw a collection of the 10,000 unique pictures of cartoon apes sell out in under eight minutes. SOL's growth can also be partly attributed to the recent launch of Wormhole – a communication bridge between Solana and other major DeFi networks that allows existing projects such as Terra, Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain to move tokenised assets seamlessly across blockchains to benefit from Solana’s high speed and low cost.

This past week, Cardano also continued to demonstrate resilience with ADA recording another all-time high at $2.84 and challenging previous records. With the combined crypto market cap now topping $2.9T, it certainly appears that the market has turned a corner.

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This week's top stories

Wells Fargo, JPMorgan set to launch passive bitcoin trusts

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan both registered a passive bitcoin trust with the Security Exchange Commission on Thursday. According to SEC filings, the two mega-banks separately partnered with NYDIG for the trusts. In JPMorgan’s case, NYDIG would hold the cryptocurrency while the bank would be used as a sales agent. The trust will allow its wealthiest client base to utilise its crypto investment vehicle. In Wells Fargo’s case, the bank will also be working with FS Investments on the offering. Read More

DeFi projects could come under SEC's oversight, says chairman Gensler

Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has said that the agency could regulate DeFi projects. Specifically, DeFi projects that reward participants with valuable tokens or similar incentives could be regulated, no matter how "decentralised" they say they are, Gensler said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Read More

Coinbase forges deal with MUFG in effort to tap Japanese market

U.S. based crypto exchange Coinbase has partnered with Japanese financial giant Mitsubishi UFG to launch in Japan. Coinbase says the launch forms part of its global strategy for expansion, and the partnership with MUFG, which has 40 million customers in Japan, will allow users easy access to trading using MUFG’s quick deposits service. The exchange said it will initially support the trading for five largest cryptoassets by trading volume with more assets to come in the coming months but did not provide specific names. Read more.

In case you missed it

⚡️Liquid exchange hacked to the tune of $80m.

⚡️Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital rolling out DeFi index fund.

⚡️AdvisorShares files for bitcoin futures ETF.

⚡️Ethereum rock JPEG sells for $600k as NFT frenzy continues.

⚡️CEO of Bitcoin mixer Helix pleads guilty to laundering $300m in BTC.

⚡️All Binance users now required to complete KYC registration.

⚡️Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital files for a bitcoin futures ETF.

⚡️Lloyds Banking Group is looking to hire a digital currency manager.

⚡️Coinbase is ready to purchase $500m worth of crypto on its balance sheet.

⚡️Crypto traders to sue Binance for millions after May outage.

⚡️Dogecoin still in the lead on Robinhood in Q2, accounts for 62% of crypto revenue.

⚡️White hat potentially saves SushiSwap $350m by finding ‘obvious’ exploit.

⚡️Walmart is looking for a crypto product lead to oversee digital currency push.

⚡️Binance hires former IRS official for money laundering reporting role.

⚡️Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ reveals a bet against Cathie Wood’s ARK.

⚡️VanEck and ProShares apply to withdraw Ethereum ETF filings from SEC.

⚡️Deloitte survey: the future belongs to crypto, banks must embrace it.

⚡️Luna Yield, a Solana yield aggregator, rug-pulls and steals almost $10m.

From Copper

Hedgeweek Americas Awards 2021: Vote for us as Best Digital Assets Custodian!

Don't forget to vote for us! The latest award we've been shortlisted for is the 'Best Digital Assets Custodian' category in the Hedgeweek Americas Awards. Winners are decided by majority vote and we'd be grateful if you can help us achieve this award by casting your vote here. Thank you. 😊

Webinar: Cross margining and capital efficiency in crypto markets

As capital continues to flow into crypto, investors and traders are looking for new ways to leverage their assets in more productive ways. On Tuesday 31 August, our very own Asen Kostadinov, will join Alameda Research's Sam Trabucco for a Blockworks webinar to discuss the current state of capital efficiency in crypto, where the current needs of investors are being met (and where they aren’t), and the impact of DeFi. Register here to attend.

New insight: Will DAOs replace company boards?

Blockchain levelled the playing field for traders, investors and consumers. Now with DAOs, or decentralised autonomous organisations, what's next for corporate boards? Read more