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Ethereum Bets See Unusually High $400M Liquidations as Some Now Target $10K ETH

by admin August 23, 2025

Ethereum’s breakout past $4,800 triggered nearly $388 million in liquidations tied to the token in the past 24 hours, data shows, marking the heaviest flush across all crypto assets.

The wipeout was part of $769 million liquidated marketwide, with over 183,000 traders forced out of positions. The single biggest hit was a $10 million ETH swap order on OKX, an unusually high figure for the token, which is often second to bitcoin-based positions.

Liquidations serve as a stark reminder of how fragile positioning can be in the crypto market. When traders pile in with leverage and the market moves against them, exchanges step in and automatically close those bets.

A flush of long liquidations can reset the market for a cleaner bounce, while a cluster of short wipes can fuel the next leg higher.

The move came as ether surged almost 15% to a record $4,885 after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested rate cuts could arrive in September. Bitcoin lagged with a 4% gain to $113,000, while the CoinDesk 20 Index climbed 9%.

Analysts say the rally isn’t just a macro trade. Institutional buying and treasury allocations have added a tailwind, feeding speculation that Ethereum could become Wall Street’s preferred blockchain.

“Ether’s new all-time high is a clear sign of investor demand beyond just bitcoin,” said Samir Kerbage, chief investment officer at Hashdex, said in an email to CoinDesk. “I would expect ETH to surpass $10k once we start to see stablecoin solutions being implemented for payments within the U.S.”

That $10,000 target, once deemed overly optimistic, is increasingly voiced as Ethereum cements itself as the backbone for stablecoins, tokenization, and smart contracts. The year-to-date gain for ETH now stands at 45%.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

$50,715,884 XRP Hits Coinbase as Ripple Case Finally Closed

by admin August 23, 2025

According to blockchain data, an XRP stash consisting of over $50 million of tokens has arrived on top U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase.

In recent hours, Whale Alert reported that 16,594,920 XRP worth $50,715,884 were transferred from an unknown wallet to Coinbase in a single transaction.

This comes as XRP sees increased whale activity amid recent market developments, especially in the Ripple SEC lawsuit. The markets surged on Friday as Fed Chair Jerome Powell left the door open on the possibility of a rate cut at Fed’s September meeting. XRP likewise rose, gaining nearly 8% at one point.

Ripple case finally over

Former federal prosecutor James K. Filan, who tweets out information about the Ripple SEC lawsuit, has shared a recent update about the high-profile litigation.

In what finally seals the case as closed, the Second Circuit has approved the Joint Stipulation of Dismissal of respective appeals filed by both parties Aug. 7.

Climate Change Is Bringing Legionnaire’s Disease to a Town Near You

by admin August 23, 2025

This story originally appeared on Vox and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Air conditioners have been working overtime this hot summer, from those tiny window units to the massive AC towers that serve the tightly packed apartment buildings in major cities. And while they bring the relief of cool air, these contraptions also create the conditions for dangerous bacteria to multiply and spread.

One particularly nasty bacteria-borne illness is currently spreading in New York City using those enormous cooling units as its vector: Legionnaire’s disease. The bacterial pneumonia, which usually recurs each summer in the US’s largest city, has sickened more than 100 people and killed five in a growing outbreak.

If you don’t live in New York City or the Northeast, you may never have heard of Legionnaire’s, but this niche public health threat may not be niche for much longer.

Climate change is helping to make Legionnaire’s disease both more plentiful in the places where it already exists and creating the potential for it to move to new places where the population may not be accustomed to it. Cities in the Northeast and Midwest, where hotter weather meets older infrastructure, have reported more cases in recent years. Recently, Legionella bacteria was discovered in a nursing home’s water system in Dearborn, Michigan—one of the states, along with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Wisconsin, that have seen more activity in the past few years.

Anyone can contract Legionnaire’s disease by inhaling tiny drops containing the bacteria, and the symptoms—fever, headache, shortness of breath—appear within days. It can cause a severe lung infection, with a death rate of around 10 percent.

While healthier people often experience few symptoms, the more vulnerable—young children, the elderly, pregnant people, and those with compromised immune systems—face serious danger from the illness. Around 5,000 people die every year in the United States from Legionnaire’s disease, many of them living in low-income housing with outdated cooling equipment where the bacteria can more readily grow and spread.

Legionnaire’s disease is a microcosm of climate change’s impact on low-income communities. As warmer temperatures facilitate the spread of disease, the most socially vulnerable populations are going to pay the steepest price.

The Collision of Legionnaire’s Disease, Climate Change, and Economic Disparities

Legionnaire’s disease was first documented after an unusually aggressive pneumonia outbreak during an American Legion conference in Philadelphia in 1976. Soon, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scientists confirmed the cause of the mysterious illness: a previously unknown bacteria that was accordingly named Legionella. Legionella, unfortunately, is everywhere—in streams, lakes, and water pipes across the country.

But usually, it occurs in such low concentrations and is so remote that it doesn’t pose a threat to humans. Usually.

Now, city health officials have found the bacteria in the large cooling tanks that serve massive apartment buildings across New York City, particularly in Harlem. Cooling tanks are ideal places for Legionnaire’s to grow and spread. They’re filled with stagnant, warm water that is more hospitable to bacterial growth. Like an evaporative cooler, the systems convert warm stagnant water into cool air for apartment dwellers. They can spray mists laden with the bacteria into the open air, dispersing it across the surrounding air, where it can enter a person’s lungs when they inhale. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 80 percent of Legionnaire’s cases are linked to potable water systems.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

An image of the Abyss map in VALORANT. This map is an ancient temple located deep underground.

Esports

All maps in current pool

by admin August 23, 2025

VALORANT currently has 12 maps in total, but only seven remain in rotation at a time for the competitive (ranked and premier) and deathmatch modes. If you’re looking for a list of active maps in the current VALORANT map rotation, you’ve come to the right place.

VALORANT’s map rotation is changed frequently to help keep the experience fresh for veteran players as well as allow newbies to settle in. As part of this initiative, freshly crafted maps are added to the pool every few Acts, while Riot keeps rotating existing maps in and out of the rotation. Maps that return to the rotation after are sometimes reworked based on community feedback and the meta, but they may come back without any changes.

As of Season V25, Act Five, here’s the current VALORANT map rotation and pool, plus an outline of future or upcoming plans for the pool.

What are the current maps in the VALORANT map pool rotation?

The VALORANT ranked map pool as of Season V25, Act Five, includes the following maps:

Sunset
Ascent
Haven
Corrode
Bind
Abyss
Lotus

The most recent changes to the competitive map rotation went live with Patch 11.04 (the beginning of Act five in Season V25), bringing back Abyss to the rotation and removing Icebox.

Sunset

Beautiful and serene. Image via Riot Games

Inspired by sunny Los Angeles, Sunset is relatively straightforward with no distinct gimmicks, outside of a single Ascent-like door connecting mid to B that can be opened, closed, or destroyed. Quick decision-making is key if you want to win on this map, especially when it comes to rotations. Make sure you take special care of that prominent mid-section and have a strong sentinel to take care of flanks and guard your space.

Ascent

Jett’s playground. Image via Riot Games.

Ascent’s unique feature is the switch-activated doors that lead into each site. One door leads from B Site to Mid Market. Another from A Site to A Tree. Using these doors to stall time and get information about the retake can make or break rounds. At the same time, you can preemptively destroy these doors to deny that information.

Mid control is crucial on Ascent, as it allows the attacking team to scale either Mid Catwalk to go A or Mid Market to take over B.

Haven

Welcome back. Image via Riot Games

Haven is VALORANT’s first three-site map and one of the community’s most beloved maps. It’s a large, attacker-friendly map where players may find it easier to retake sites instead of holding them down.

With multiple entry points onto sites, including C Garage, Mid, and A Sewer, you have to spread out your teammates and utility to gather information on attackers. Luckily, Haven never received any significant changes, so if you played it before, you’ll feel right back at home.

Corrode

Corrode your enemies. Image via Riot Games

The newest VALORANT map, Corrode is a three-lane, two-site “radianite salt mining facility,” which encourages a balanced mix of fast-paced and measured possibilities. While it doesn’t feature any gimmicks (like teleporters, breakable doors, etc.), gameplay isn’t simple on this map.

Whether you’re an attacker or defender, there are a lot of angles and open spaces to clear before you can even think about taking control of its cramped sites. There’s also a significant mid section that facilitates flankers and snipers and lets aggressive players run it down with a shotgun. With so many possibilities, you’d have to embrace the retake (or flank/rotate, in case of attackers) approach in most situations. Lastly, beware of determined Sova and Cypher mains, as most of the map is wall bangable.

Bind

Use the teleporters for a quick rotation. Image via Riot Games

Bind’s signature element is its two teleporters, allowing for quick rotations around the map. Playing on this map requires a lot of patience, as even if the entire attacking team is out on A, there’s still a risk of late rotation toward B. There’s no mid-section, so your team can make do without a sentinel to control flanks.

Playing closer angles has always been a viable strategy on Bind, with agents like Raze and even Harbor finding their voices here. If you’re struggling with the Vandal, buying a Judge almost guarantees a kill or two every round. This is also why you must absolutely have at least one initiator on your team to win on Bind. You can also spray through smokes to get some free kills. Besides closed spaces, several longer sightlines can be held with an Operator, like the B Long and A Tower.

Abyss

Don’t look down. Image via Riot Games

Abyss is certainly one of the most ambitious and unique map designs that Riot has put forth. The entire map is littered with pitfalls where you can plunge to your death. So if you’ve got a phobia, just don’t look down. It’s also the only map in the pool with no boundaries.

If you’re open to taking the risk, the scary edges and narrow structures open a plethora of tactical opportunities. For example, you can get a head start on the enemy team using alternative paths if you play capable agents or are simply good at movement. You can also use certain abilities quirkily to push unsuspecting enemies off the cliffs—or save your gun when there’s no way out. The possibilities are endless.

Lotus

Three sites and a dream to catch. Image via Riot Games

Being the only three-site VALORANT map other than Haven, Lotus offers a ton of strategic possibilities to keep players on their toes.

Besides three intricate plant sites, Lotus also features significant neutral spaces promoting chaotic yet fun clashes. You also get to take advantage of unique features, including a rope ascender, a silent drop, a breakable door, and two rotating doors, to tackle your enemies.

Icebox (out of rotation)

Oh, so cold. Image via Riot Games

Icebox’s closely packed and complex design promotes a lot of strategic diversity and sharp gunplay. It’s also one of the only VALORANT maps to feature Spike plant spaces at different heights: Both sites have “nests” where you can plant the Spike and defend it from afar. Whether you’re a defender or an attacker, mid control is crucial to secure a round win on this map. The unpredictability may get to you, but it’s also one of the many reasons to love Icebox.

Icebox was the latest VALORANT map to be removed with Patch 11.04.

Fracture (out of rotation)

A fracture to take care of. Image via Riot Games

While it was never a fan-favorite map, Fracture’s quirks can give rise to several unique strategies, keeping players on their toes. It hasn’t undergone any change since Patch 7.04, which had revamped multiple of its features. With four neutral zones that hold the two plant sites, two attacker spawns, and a defender spawn in between, Fracture makes sure you’re wary of the flanks—or suffer the consequence.

Breeze (out of rotation)

A breezy adventure for sniper mains. Image via Riot Games

If you love keeping your enemies on their toes, Breeze is likely one of your favorite VALORANT maps. From long halls to wide open spaces, its features are all about unleashing your creative and aggressive potential. At the same time, it’s incredibly sniper-friendly, which can be a turn-off for some players.

While it’s currently out of competitive rotation, Riot should add Breeze back to the pool in a future Act—possibly with some adjustments.

Split (out of rotation)

Ah, Split; They don’t know the meaning of the word. Image via Riot Games

Set in Tokyo, Split is a close-quarter map with multiple areas and angles for you to hold. There are barely any long-range sightlines apart from Mid and A Screens, but even those can quickly be covered with smokes to make space for the attacking team.

Split’s quirk is the two ziplines. One connects the B site with B Tower, allowing for a sneaky defense angle. Another is in Mid Vent, connecting Mid and A Ramps. This area often becomes either an ambush from a rotating side or a death pit.

Pearl (out of rotation)

We’re going down. Image via Riot Games

This underwater map isn’t everyone’s favorite and has no unique mechanical features, but it offers a variety of plays through Mid control. Mid on Pearl has multiple paths connecting almost every corner of the map, from bomb sites to team spawns.

While you can hit a site directly, you’ll often be stopped by a simple Sage wall or a smoke, where Mid comes into play. You can also take an opportunity to catch an enemy flank or become the flanker yourself through the Mid Connector.

Why is there a map rotation in VALORANT?

Falling to death is certainly a change of pace. Image via Riot Games

VALORANT maintains its reputation as a live-service FPS title that consistently gets tons of new content since its initial release. Riot hasn’t slacked off in releasing new agents, skins, and maps.

Currently, Riot adds a new map to VALORANT about every six months. The map rotation concept was only introduced in 2022 during the game’s fifth competitive Episode, once there were eight total standard maps. Team Deathmatch maps are not counted towards this total.

In June 2022, during the Pearl map’s release, VALORANT maps design lead Joe Lansford announced Riot’s decision to have a seven-map competitive rotation pool. The decision was made after gathering feedback from esports teams, players, and professional organizations.

Lansford further explained how learning a new map in a tactical shooter can be challenging, a thought that drove the decision to have active and inactive map pools. Mastering a map is even harder, and having a “whole bunch of maps is a steep learning curve.” The team believes “seven is a nice sweet spot that offers both variety and mastery.” New players will have less to learn while diving into VALORANT, and existing players don’t need to learn a new map.

Crucially, the map rotation concept only applies to the Competitive, Premier, and Deathmatch modes. Unrated, Spike Rush, and other alternate modes continue to include all 11 maps, while the Team Deathmatch mode has a separate pool altogether.

Starting with the 2025 season, VALORANT’s competitive map pool sees changes with every Act. As part of this, Riot cycles existing maps with or without changes every Act, while adding new maps every once in a while.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Here Are 4 Major XRP Developments You Might Have Missed This Week

by admin August 23, 2025

Trusted Editorial content, reviewed by leading industry experts and seasoned editors. Ad Disclosure

The journey of XRP toward mainstream recognition is no longer theoretical, as businesses across different industries begin testing and adopting it in their financial operations. Because of this, the asset may play a much bigger role in global digital money in the years ahead.

Institutional Catalysts For XRP: Gemini’s Card & JPM’s Outlook

This week, Gemini released a big teaser in New York City. The company put up a huge wraparound billboard showing an XRP-branded Mastercard. On the card was the date August 25, 2025, and the words “Issued by WebBank.” Gemini also posted the picture on X with the caption “Prepare your bags.” The sign and the post suggest that a major launch is coming. Many people believe this date could be significant for XRP, because it may mark the start of a new product that connects the asset directly with the global Mastercard network.

Crypto commentator John Squire quickly reacted to the news. He said mass adoption “is coming fast” and added that the date “could change everything.” The idea of an XRP card is exciting because it could let people make payments using XRP or convert their assets into regular money during a purchase.

Another development came from JP Morgan as the bank released a report called “Sizing up the XRP ETP Opportunity.” According to a post shared on X by SMQKE, JP Morgan’s report suggests that XRP could generate $4.3 to $8.4 billion in its first year following the launch of an exchange-traded product. The bank also pointed out that the digital asset is very cheap to use, with each transaction costing only about $0.0004, which is far less than Ethereum or Bitcoin.

Global Payments Expansion: Europe & Japan

Ripple’s progress in Europe and the U.K. is also getting attention as the company’s system now fits with upgrades in the region’s payment networks. The SEPA Instant Credit Transfer scheme completes euro payments in under ten seconds, and its adoption is growing. In the U.K., the Faster Payments Service (FPS) is already moving trillions of pounds each year, and the Bank of England is modernizing its Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system to connect with new global standards.

The fintech company is collaborating with partners like OpenPayd to integrate these systems with Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution, which means XRP could be utilized as a bridge to facilitate swift cross-border transactions.

In Asia, Ripple is preparing to launch its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in Japan during the first quarter of 2026. The rollout will happen through SBI VC Trade, which is part of SBI Holdings, a well-known Japanese financial company. RLUSD is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, Treasury securities, and other cash assets, with monthly audits to show transparency.

As of August, RLUSD already had a market cap of $666 million, making it the eighth-largest stablecoin in the world. Ripple’s entry into Japan comes as the country gets ready to approve its first official stablecoins, making this move very timely. The launch follows the company’s approval in Dubai earlier this year and adds another region where RLUSD can operate.

Fed’s dovish stance sends price soaring | Source: XRPUSDT on Tradingview.com

Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

Editorial Process for bitcoinist is centered on delivering thoroughly researched, accurate, and unbiased content. We uphold strict sourcing standards, and each page undergoes diligent review by our team of top technology experts and seasoned editors. This process ensures the integrity, relevance, and value of our content for our readers.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

LASIK Without Lasers? Scientists May Have Found a Way

by admin August 23, 2025

What if you could fix your damaged eye without having to shoot a laser at it? Scientists have potentially discovered a novel method of repairing the cornea, similar to LASIK, that wouldn’t require a laser or other invasive surgical tool.

Researchers at Occidental College and the University of California, Irvine, created the technique, which aims to temporarily make the cornea malleable. In experiments with rabbit eyeballs, their method appeared to work while also leaving corneal cells alive. More research is needed to vet the procedure, but if all goes well, it could become a preferred alternative to LASIK, the researchers claim.

“There’s a long road between what we’ve done and the clinic. But, if we get there, this technique is widely applicable, vastly cheaper and potentially even reversible,” said lead researcher Michael Hill, a professor of chemistry at Occidental College, in a statement from the American Chemical Society.

Why some people avoid LASIK

LASIK is routinely used to treat conditions like myopia, farsightedness, or astigmatism. It reshapes the cornea—the transparent, outer layer of the eye that captures and focuses light onto the retina—using a precise cutting laser.

Though generally safe and effective, the surgery does permanently weaken the structural integrity of the cornea. People will also commonly experience side effects like dry eye and visual disturbances like halos; a small few will even develop serious, if rare, complications like chronic nerve pain. Ideally, the team’s method would avoid these risks.

A potentially safer method

The technique is called electromechanical reshaping. Some of the authors had previously used it to manipulate other parts of the body that contain collagen and water, such as ears. It works by altering the pH of the tissue via short bursts of electricity, briefly allowing it to be molded as desired. Once the proper pH is restored, the tissue returns to its original rigid state.

The researchers used the technique on rabbit eyeballs in the lab, some of which were intended to represent myopia in humans. Special contact lenses made from platinum were placed over the extracted eyes. These lenses served as an electrode, providing a base for how the cornea should be correctly reshaped.

Once the researchers lightly zapped the eye, the cornea became flexible and contoured to the shape of the lens. Not only did the cornea fill out as the researchers wanted, but the procedure didn’t seem to kill any corneal cells or otherwise affect the cornea’s stability. A YouTube video describing the team’s approach, from the American Chemical Society, can be seen below.

The team’s results, presented this week at the fall conference of the American Chemical Society, are still preliminary. The researchers admit that it will take more research in animals before they can even think about testing their method in humans. Their next planned step is to try out the procedure on living rabbits.

But the potential for the team’s work is certainly there, and it may extend beyond treating myopia. The researchers are also hoping to explore whether electromechanical reshaping can help repair farsightedness, astigmatism, and possibly even some forms of cloudy vision.

Unfortunately, as has been the case for many scientists during the second Trump administration, the researchers say their work has been delayed over concerns in securing additional funding.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

NFT Gaming

Stunning AI Prediction Comes from ‘The Black Swan’ Author Nassim Taleb

by admin August 23, 2025

AI to disrupt medical education, Taleb believes
Taleb remains rigid Bitcoin opponent

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a Lebanese-American scholar and risk manager who predicted various financial crises and authored a number of books, including “The Black Swan” and “Antifragile,” has taken to his X account to talk to the community about the future of AI and its impact on humanity.

He made an interesting prediction regarding one of the potential AI use cases.

AI to disrupt medical education, Taleb believes

Nassim Taleb tweeted that one of the potential disruptions artificial intelligence can make for humanity is to radically change medical education. The scholar believes it can help autodidacts study far more efficiently.

Autodidacts are self-learners who prefer to bypass traditional medical schooling to master medicine. Taleb stated that so far, AI “remains more educational than operational” and cannot replace doctors. However, he also hinted that it will become possible in the futur,e too.

Even if AI cannot replace doctors (yet), it may still replace medical school, particularly for autodidacts. It remains more educational than operational.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 23, 2025

Taleb remains rigid Bitcoin opponent

Nassim Taleb’s Bitcoin case is peculiar and unique since, while many crypto haters gradually warmed to Bitcoin, such as BlackRock’s boss Larry Fink or Michael Saylor, Taleb did the other way round.

In 2019, he praised Bitcoin during the WhatsApp revolution in Lebanon, when banks refused to give cash to customers. Taleb then called it “the first organic currency” and even wrote a foreword to “The Bitcoin Standard” book by Saifedean Ammous. However, in 2021, Taleb made a U-turn on Bitcoin and began lambasting it as a “tumor”, “detector of imbeciles.”

This year, he referred to Bitcoin as a “technological tulip,” thus referring to the Dutch Tulip mania that took place in the Netherlands from 1634 and 1637. It was one of the largest market bubbles that collapsed loudly, too.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Crypto Trends

Dogecoin Bullish Structure Forms After High-Volume Breakout Sees 11% DOGE Surge

by admin August 23, 2025

Meme token climbs to $0.24 peak with volume nearly doubling monthly averages, signaling institutional activity behind the rally.

News Background

• The Federal Reserve signaled a softer stance on crypto banking rules, while Wyoming launched the first state-backed stablecoin. Both developments lifted sentiment around digital assets.
• Trump-linked entity Thumzup completed a $50 million acquisition of Dogecoin mining firm Dogehash, forming what executives claim is the largest DOGE mining operation.
• SoFi became the first U.S. banking institution to integrate Bitcoin’s Lightning Network for remittances, reinforcing broader institutional adoption of crypto infrastructure.
• Whale wallets accumulated 680 million DOGE tokens through August, cementing rising institutional flows despite retail-driven volatility.

Price Action Summary

• DOGE rallied 8% in the Aug. 22–23 session, climbing from $0.22 to $0.24 in a $0.02 range.
• The sharpest move came at 14:00 GMT on Aug. 22, when DOGE spiked from $0.21 to $0.23 on 4.27B volume, nearly quadruple the hourly average.
• Support now holds at $0.21 after a successful retest, while resistance capped gains at the $0.24 psychological level.
• A late-session surge added 1% from $0.23 to $0.24, with a volume peak of 28.1M at 04:52 GMT confirming accumulation.
• Price action shows consecutive higher lows, suggesting sustained buying pressure and potential trend continuation.

Market Analysis

DOGE’s breakout aligns with a broader crypto rebound as risk appetite improved across equities and digital assets. The combination of Fed policy recalibration, state-level stablecoin adoption, and a high-profile mining acquisition amplified institutional participation in a token often viewed as purely retail-driven.

The $0.24 level remains a critical inflection point. A sustained breakout could open momentum targets toward $0.26, while failure risks renewed retests of $0.21 support.

Technical Indicators

• 24-hour gain of 8% from $0.22 to $0.24 with $0.02 trading range.
• Volume spiked 97% above 30-day average with 4.27B tokens traded.
• Support confirmed at $0.21 following intraday retest.
• Resistance hardened at $0.24 psychological threshold.
• Consecutive higher lows point to bullish structure.
• Volume surge of 28.1M at 04:52 GMT validates institutional flows.

What Traders Are Watching

• Whether DOGE can establish $0.24 as support for a clean breakout toward $0.26.
• Ongoing whale accumulation trends versus potential retail profit-taking at resistance.
• Impact of Wyoming’s state-backed stablecoin launch on memecoin liquidity flows.
• Futures open interest reaction after heavy spot-driven rally.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Is this Google’s first Gemini-powered smart speaker?

by admin August 23, 2025

Google held its annual Made by Google showcase this week, during which it unveiled the latest Pixel phones and various new AI features. What it didn’t announce is a Gemini-powered smart home speaker, but it might have snuck one into the presentation as an easter egg.

As spotted by The Verge, about 15 minutes into the stream, on a table next to F1 driver Lando Norris during a Gemini demonstration, you can clearly see what looks a lot like a smart speaker. The fabric-wrapped device we see in the video is white with a light around its base, and it looks more like an upside down HomePod mini than any of Google’s other speakers. According to Android Headlines, it’s called the Google Home Speaker, and is unsurprisingly powered by Gemini.

Android Headlines claims to have seen more images of the as-yet unannounced smart speaker, which it says will also be available in red, light green and black. It adds that Google’s Gemini Live AI assistant will be a baked-in feature for voice conversations, though without a screen or camera there’s no visual element here. There could also be new natural voice options on the speaker, as well as standard features like media control and smart home automations. It can reportedly also detect unusual sounds like breaking glass or smoke alarms and can send an alert to your phone or tablet if this happens.

According to the Android Headlines report, the Home Speaker can pair with a Google TV Streamer and double as an additional surround sound speaker, much like the HomePod does with Apple TV. It functions as a smart hub too, with support for Matter. Google announced Gemini for Home this week, which will gradually replace Google Assistant on the company’s existing smart devices, with free and paid tiers offered to users.

What the leak doesn’t contain is a launch date for this mysterious speaker. But given that Google was seemingly happy enough to have one sitting there in its most important keynote of the year, the smart money would be on an official reveal pretty soon. Engadget reached out to Google for comment, but the company said it had nothing to share at this time.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

GameFi Guides

Quarter Billion in Ethereum Shorts Get Rekt as ETH Nears All-Time High

by admin August 23, 2025

In brief

Ethereum jumped nearly 15% Friday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell hinted at rate cuts, but the token stalled just short of eclipsing its all-time high of $4,878.
More than $340 million in Ethereum long and short positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, making up over half of all crypto market liquidations.
Regulatory tailwinds, corporate treasury purchases, and ETF inflows have strengthened demand for the asset, but failed to push it past a price record it’s failed to beat in nearly four years.

Ethereum short traders lost hundreds of millions of dollars Friday as ETH came within inches of breaking past its all-time high price, but ultimately failed to rise to the occasion.

In the last 24 hours alone, over $259 million worth of ETH short positions have been liquidated, according to data from CoinGlass. Another $80 million in long positions on the cryptocurrency have expired as well—bringing the total value of ETH liquidations in the last day to over $340 million.

That figure makes up over half of all liquidations across the entire crypto market in the last 24 hours. Just north of $668 million in crypto derivatives have been wiped out in the last day, a clear signal that, at least for the moment, all eyes are on ETH.

The cryptocurrency has been on a tear in August after a largely lackluster year, but fell off again this week amidst macroeconomic uncertainty. Then, a long-awaited signal this morning from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, indicating that the U.S. central bank might soon cut interest rates, sent Ethereum and other altcoins surging.

Immediately following the announcement, ETH popped nearly 15%, briefly eclipsing $4,842 in value. The token’s previous all-time high price of $4,878 was reached nearly four years ago, on November 10, 2021—at the peak of the last crypto bull run.

Traders couldn’t quite push the cryptocurrency over the finish line, however. After coming within 1% of notching a new record price, ETH stalled, and then dipped, heading south again below the $4,800 mark. The token is trading at $4,773 at writing. The price of ETH also came close to a record last week before dipping.

In recent months, regulatory developments in the United States particularly well suited to benefit the Ethereum ecosystem have made the cryptocurrency a more attractive buy, analysts previously told Decrypt. What’s more, massive acquisitions of the token via corporate treasury buys and ETH ETF inflows have had a substantial deflationary impact on Ethereum’s tokenomics.

“ETH has particularly explosive dynamics going on,” Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, said in a note shared with Decrypt. Magadini favorably compared Ethereum to the iPhone, analogizing the growing ecosystem of goods and services built on the network’s smart contracts to Apple’s now-ubiquitous App Store.

But all that momentum has not been enough to push ETH into uncharted price territory—at least not yet. The notoriously slow-reacting cryptocurrency has struggled to surge to new highs, even as rival tokens continue to break records in the ongoing bull market.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments