Bitcoin and Ethereum tested peak levels; Qubic organised a 51% attack on Monero; the US ruled out topping up its crypto reserve with federal funds; Turkish exchange BtcTurk lost $48m; and other events of the week.
Up and down
The past seven days were volatile for digital assets—first a rapid climb, then an equally brisk fall.
The first cryptocurrency opened Monday at $118,000, the same day it climbed to $122,000 before returning to its morning level. From Tuesday to Wednesday bitcoin traded in a $118,000–$120,000 range.
Overnight on August 14, digital gold set a new all-time high above $124,000, but almost immediately corrected, dropping to $117,000.
At the time of writing BTC trades at $118,100.
Ether tracked bitcoin all week, with shallower drawdowns. At the peak, the second-largest cryptocurrency fell short by less than $100 of its ~$4,880 record.
The rise came alongside hefty inflows to spot ether ETFs—from 5 to 14 August, receipts reached a record $2.8bn. However, on Friday the products lost $60m amid a broader market pullback.
ETH now trades around $4,500. The weekly gain is 8.3% versus a near‑flat print for bitcoin.
Beyond bitcoin, BNB set a new ATH at $867. Including the pullback, it rose 7.4% on the week.
In parallel, Solana topped $205. It now trades just below that psychological level, up 6.7% over seven days.
Total crypto market capitalisation holds a touch above $4trn. Bitcoin’s dominance slipped to 57.4%.
The crypto fear-and-greed index stands at 62, signalling restrained optimism among investors.
Monero under siege
The 51% attack promised by Qubic materialised this week. On August 12 the mining pool seized a majority of the network’s hashrate.
The initiators pulled off a large block reorganisation. Control allowed Qubic to rewrite transaction history, conduct double spends and censor operations.
Ledger’s CTO, Charles Guillemet, put the daily cost of sustaining such an attack at $75m.
At the time of writing Qubic still controls a considerable share of Monero’s hashrate, though the figure has fallen to 32.3%. The next-largest pool accounts for 21.5%.
Developers urged the community to switch on their own mining rigs to “enhance security”.
Fire up your miners to support the Monero network and enhance its security! https://t.co/axXOwhhY0m
— Monero (XMR) (@monero) August 16, 2025
In a conversation with ForkLog, Hyperfusion co-founder and CIO Alex Petrov said the Monero attack did not harm the network. In his view, it looked more like a PR exercise for Qubic.
The platform markedly boosted its profile and token price, while Monero’s network suffered no material losses, the expert noted.
“51% is a theoretical figure on paper. To block blocks you need at least 75–80% of the hashrate, and to censor transactions more than 90%. A double-spend attack is even harder: beyond massive hashrate, the attacker needs substantial funds in XMR and a victim who can be deceived. That is already over the line into criminality and technically dozens of times harder,” the Hyperfusion co-founder explained.
Monero nevertheless took reputational damage. Amid the attack, the Kraken exchange temporarily suspended XMR deposits, citing a “potential threat to the integrity” of the blockchain.
The token also fell after the incident began, but has recovered 9% over the past 24 hours.
What to discuss with friends?
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- Generative AI reduced traffic to crypto publications in Eastern Europe.
Not a cent for buying
One reason for the Thursday–Friday slump was a statement by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about the country’s crypto reserve. He set out three principles for the Trump administration’s digital-asset strategy:
- no new bitcoin purchases with public funds;
- retaining the 198,022 BTC already accumulated;
- topping up the reserve solely with assets seized in criminal and civil cases.
“We are not going to sell these assets. At current prices our bitcoin reserve is worth $15bn–$20bn,” Bessent noted.
He later clarified that the Treasury is studying budget‑neutral ways to acquire bitcoin to expand the holdings.
The remarks coincided with producer‑price data showing a 3.3% year‑on‑year rise—the highest since February—also pressuring markets.
Attack on a Turkish exchange
On August 14 one of Turkey’s largest crypto exchanges, BtcTurk, suspended withdrawals and deposits after detecting suspicious activity.
Security researchers tracked a large outflow of crypto assets from the platform’s hot wallets. Total losses are estimated at roughly $48m.
The attacker almost immediately began swapping the stolen funds into ether.
BtcTurk moved quickly after reports of suspicious transactions, halting operations. The company said the majority of assets are safe. Trading and lira operations remained open.
BtcTurk was already hacked in June 2024, with losses of about $54m. Of that, $5.3m was frozen thanks to Binance.
Another victim last week was Odin.fun, a memecoin platform on the bitcoin network, which lost 58.2 BTC (~$7m). The community suggested the attackers used a collateral‑manipulation exploit.
Co‑founder Bob Bodily confirmed the breach and warned the treasury does not have enough funds to cover users’ losses.
Also on ForkLog:
- S&P Global Ratings rated a DeFi protocol for the first time.
- Nvidia unveiled an AI toolkit for robots.
- In Kazakhstan, trading began in Central Asia’s first bitcoin ETF.
- GoMining forecast a new hype cycle around bitcoin mining.
Legal affairs
Two well‑known crypto figures appeared before American courts—on opposite sides.
On August 12 Terraform Labs co‑founder Do Kwon pleaded guilty to criminal charges of fraud and conspiracy, apologising for his actions.
“I made false and misleading statements. I did not disclose the role of a trading firm in restoring the peg. What I did was wrong,” he said.
Kwon waived his right to a jury trial and confirmed to the court that he understands he faces up to 25 years in prison.
He struck a plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors, and the government agreed to seek no more than 12 years provided he accepts responsibility. Judge Paul Engelmayer noted he could still impose a longer sentence, as he is not bound by the agreement.
It also emerged that TRON founder Justin Sun filed a lawsuit in Delaware federal court against Bloomberg, accusing the media company of planning to breach an agreement and reveal details of his assets.
In February the entrepreneur’s team was offered inclusion in the ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. Sun hesitated, but agreed after assurances that files with crypto‑wallet addresses “would not leave the office” and would be accessible only to a small circle at Bloomberg.
He now claims the newsroom plans to publish the data soon. He seeks a permanent injunction against publication, a jury trial, and reimbursement of legal costs.
The complaint cites Bloomberg materials on the wrench attack—cases of physical violence used to coerce crypto transfers.
What else to read?
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The creator of the network‑state concept, Balaji Srinivasan, on the “collapse of the West”, bitcoin’s victory and the world economy shifting to Asia.