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According to a report by the Korea United News Agency, the Gwangju Police Agency's Cyber Crime Investigation Team will arrest and transfer three suspects led by A (in their 60s), who are suspected of establishing offices in Seoul, Gwangju in South Jeolla Province, and Gunsan in North Jeolla Province since November 2024. They allegedly deceived over 100 elderly individuals aged 70 to 80 into investing in virtual assets with false promises such as "guaranteed principal" and "potential profits of hundreds of billions of Korean won," accumulating approximately 500 million Korean won in fraud.The police stated that there are likely still unreported victims and are continuing to expand the investigation, reminding the public to remain vigilant against investment offers that promise guaranteed principal and high returns.

The Korea Communications Standards Commission (KCSC) held a meeting of the Communications Review Subcommittee and determined that the overseas prediction market platform Polymarket provided illegal betting, deciding to implement access blocking measures against it. The committee judged that Polymarket's business model is based on the outcomes of events that users cannot control, such as politics, sports, elections, and weather, adopting a "winner takes all" profit and loss structure that fosters speculative psychology; the platform operator is responsible for market establishment, trading rule setting, and overall operational management, providing a virtual asset acceptance and settlement system, which effectively creates an environment for raising and delivering user funds, and profits by charging transaction fees through share trading, violating South Korea's Criminal Law and the National Sports Promotion Act.Polymarket argued that the platform operates based on non-custodial peer-to-peer trading and smart contracts, and does not directly raise funds, manage funds, or issue sports promotion voting rights. However, the committee responded that one cannot evade the applicability of domestic laws in South Korea based on technical characteristics such as whether Korean language services are provided, decentralized technology, or centralized trading interfaces. Given that the platform has actually provided illegal betting to South Korean users, access blocking is unavoidable to protect domestic users.

The PPP prediction market tool monitoring shows that in the Polymarket "OpenAI Astra Release Date" prediction market, the probability of OpenAI releasing Astra before August 31 has risen to 24%, an increase of 8% in 24 hours; the probability of it being released before September 15 is currently reported at 61%, an increase of 6% in 24 hours. According to the settlement rules, if OpenAI releases Astra before the corresponding deadline, or releases a product confirmed to be the same model as Astra and makes it publicly available, the market will settle as "Yes."Public testing or open waitlists qualify, but closed testing and private access do not count; the main settlement basis is OpenAI's official information. Previously, OpenAI disclosed that it would slow down the development process of Astra until appropriate safety measures are established. However, OpenAI founder Sam Altman also stated that Astra is a powerful model, and the company is working hard to make it available to a broader range of users.

According to Protos, the latest disclosure from 21Shares' Polkadot ETF (TDOT) shows that in the second quarter of 2026, for every $1 in distribution income generated through the sale of DOT tokens to pay staking rewards, there was an accompanying realized loss of approximately $4.52.According to regulatory documents, TDOT sold 98,505 DOT in the second quarter, generating about $107,500 in cash to pay staking rewards to shareholders. However, due to a significant drop in DOT prices, these sales confirmed a loss of approximately $485,600.Data shows that DOT fell by about 34% in the second quarter of 2026, with a cumulative decline of 76% over the past 12 months as of June 30. Since TDOT shareholders receive distributions in USD rather than directly receiving DOT staking rewards, the fund needs to sell DOT to convert to cash payments, thereby locking in losses in a low-price environment. In the second quarter, TDOT paid shareholders a cumulative distribution of approximately $0.14698 per share, but during the same period, the fund's share price dropped from $14.95 to $9.86, a decline of about 34%, and the staking rewards did not offset the losses caused by the decline in asset prices.

According to PR Newswire, digital asset infrastructure company Fireblocks announced the appointment of former Acting Chairman and Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Elad Roisman as Chief Regulatory and Policy Officer and General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, effective immediately.Roisman will be responsible for Fireblocks' regulatory strategy, policy communications, and related legal matters, and will serve as the company's primary liaison with regulators and standard-setting organizations.

According to ibtimes, JPMorgan Chase terminated its banking partnership with the prediction market platform Polymarket last year due to regulatory risks, but the bank has not completely cut ties with this rapidly growing company and still maintains various forms of cooperation, expressing interest in participating in the underwriting of Polymarket's initial public offering (IPO) in the future.A person close to Polymarket stated that JPMorgan "does not want to burn all bridges." Polymarket denied that the relationship between the two parties has significantly weakened, stating that the company still maintains a "close and active cooperative relationship" with JPMorgan, involving multiple entities, operational integration, and client fund flow management, among other areas.

The Hyperliquid Policy Center announced that it has submitted a joint comment letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with Douro Labs, supporting the proposal to repeal Regulation NMS Rule 611 (the "Trade-Through Rule") and calling on regulators to establish a clearer best execution regulatory framework for on-chain markets.The Hyperliquid Policy Center believes that the current trade-through rule is clearly incompatible with blockchain-native trading models, which are based on traditional securities market structures, and has proposed three recommendations: support the SEC in repealing the trade-through rule, the SEC should establish clear best execution guidance for on-chain trading, and the regulatory framework should adopt a principles-based approach and recognize independent price reference mechanisms.

BitMart founder Sheldon stated that regarding the public accountability statement released by a BitMart employee through the official Twitter account, he has completed the collection of evidence related to the content and claims that the information is all false. Sheldon indicated that he will report to the police during the day in the United States and send a lawyer's letter to the X platform, requesting technical and data evidence collection regarding the relevant content. Sheldon also stated that employee assets do not take precedence over customer assets, and everyone is a customer, with no privileges existing. Previously, BitMart employees publicly questioned the whereabouts of platform assets and related handling situations. Sheldon had previously stated that he would respond to the whereabouts of platform assets by the 19th.Blockchain investigator ZachXBT posted on the X platform questioning the BitMart exchange. In response to the relevant account, he stated that if BitMart indeed has sufficient liquidity, it should directly return the funds to all users instead of issuing vague statements. ZachXBT pointed out that BitMart's related actions have caused real users to be unable to use their funds normally, and there is insufficient transparency. This statement has raised market concerns about the safety of the exchange's funds and operational transparency.

According to Livecoins, the Joint Task Force Against Organized Crime in Rondônia, Brazil (FICCO/RO) executed arrest and search warrants against a gang suspected of electronic fraud and money laundering. The criminal organization is accused of using cryptocurrency exchanges to hide illegal funds transferred from the original victims' accounts.A case investigated in 2025 resulted in losses of approximately $5.74 million. The court has issued 8 preventive arrest warrants and 18 search warrants, and authorized the freezing of related assets such as cryptocurrency exchange and bank accounts. In addition to targeting securities accounts, the law also mandates the seizure of vehicles and boats belonging to the individuals under investigation.

According to CNA, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) reported that a cryptocurrency scam involving fake job postings and compromised software systems resulted in losses of $11.8 million.The scam group impersonated cryptocurrency company recruiters on LinkedIn, used forged domain names to send emails, conducted video interviews, and induced victims to download malware on company devices to complete "technical tests," thereby stealing session tokens, bypassing multi-factor authentication, and ultimately transferring cryptocurrency.

According to the Financial Times, JPMorgan Chase terminated its banking services for Polymarket last October due to regulatory concerns, requiring the company to seek new banking institutions. Previously, Polymarket was banned from providing services to U.S. customers after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission took enforcement action in 2022.Currently, Polymarket has partnered with a new bank, but the specific name has not been disclosed. JPMorgan Chase still maintains business dealings with Polymarket and invited its CEO Shayne Coplan to participate in a private banking client meeting held in Miami this February, where he spoke alongside former NFL player Tom Brady. Polymarket stated that the two parties continue to maintain a close and active relationship in various areas, including multiple entities, operational integration, and customer fund flow management.Since 2026, prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have faced legal actions from multiple U.S. states regarding their alleged operation as illegal sports bookmakers, while the relevant platforms argue that they operate as exchanges facilitating trades between buyers and sellers, rather than as bookmakers. According to user aggregated data, the nominal trading volume of prediction markets has exceeded $250 billion since 2026.Meanwhile, Polymarket is seeking over $1 billion in financing, with a target valuation of $20 billion, more than doubling from the approximately $8 billion valuation during the last round of financing in 2025.

According to official news, the Turf team has joined Polymarket.This team of 6 has built a real-time NFL prediction game over the past year, allowing users to predict the next play, the next score, and more while watching live broadcasts. The team has now joined the Polymarket US website and app team.Polymarket stated that it will continue to seek outstanding talent, committed to creating a world-class product, design, and engineering team.

In July, the US CPI rose by 0.1% month-on-month and 3.4% year-on-year, while the core CPI increased by 2.5% year-on-year, overall in line with market expectations. As the market continues to assess the Federal Reserve's subsequent policy path, the impact of macro changes on asset allocation and trading strategies is continuously strengthening, further enhancing institutions' focus on liquidity management and trading execution efficiency.Against this backdrop, Gate institutions are continuously improving professional trading infrastructure. According to the transparency report released by the platform in July, Gate CrossEx added one mainstream exchange and 23 trading pairs, launched RPI Orders, reduced the highest fees of multiple exchanges by 50%, and introduced new APIs for market data, funding rates, batch order cancellations, and several WebSocket features; by optimizing concurrent order placement and execution feedback delays, system performance improved by 50%, while the launch of Colo services further reduced trading latency.In addition, SuperLink continues to optimize Fireblocks Gas management and settlement processes, further enhancing institutions' cross-platform asset management and trading collaboration capabilities. In the future, Gate institutions will continue to advance infrastructure upgrades around core capabilities such as trading execution, liquidity, and cross-platform collaboration, providing professional investors with more efficient and stable institutional-level trading services.

Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan announced on August 12 on the X platform that Travis VanderZanden has joined Polymarket as Chief Growth Officer.It was reported that Travis V. previously served as the Head of Driver Growth at Uber, Chief Revenue Officer at Yammer, and founded and served as CEO of the bike-sharing company Bird.

SKALE Labs announced the launch of Agent Pit on August 12. This platform is a paper trading prediction market sandbox running on the SKALE zero Gas blockchain, fully mirroring Polymarket's order book, settlement mechanism, and real-time event data, allowing developers and AI agents to test and train trading strategies without real financial risk.Agent Pit is the first product of the SKALE Agentic Venture Studio. Developers can fine-tune agents here, participate in simulated ROI leaderboard competitions, and deploy models to real markets like Polymarket after completing training. SKALE Labs CEO Jack O'Holleran stated that there is a clear demand in the market for a prediction market strategy training environment aimed at agents.

According to reports from American media, the New York City Council is investigating the advertising practices of the four major prediction market platforms, opening a new battleground for the legal controversies facing this rapidly growing industry.New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin sent an inquiry letter containing numerous questions to Polymarket, Kalshi, Coinbase Global Inc., and the prediction market platform Titan under Gemini Space Station, as part of a so-called legislative investigation aimed at examining whether existing city laws are sufficient to protect residents from false or deceptive marketing by these emerging platforms.The City Council is also studying the development of relevant policies to address products that may lead users to "engage in compulsive betting on event contracts." In a letter to Polymarket, the City Council stated: "The City Council is investigating allegations related to Polymarket, and more importantly, is examining the prevalence of similar marketing practices in the broader prediction market industry, as well as the associated social harms caused to New York City residents."

PPP market prediction tool monitoring shows that in the Polymarket "Anthropic valuation reaches target within the year" prediction event, the probability of reaching $1.5 trillion within the year has risen to 76%, an increase of 13% in 24 hours. The probability of reaching $1.25 trillion has risen to 92%, an increase of 8% in 24 hours. According to the settlement rules, this market primarily relies on the valuation of Anthropic's private market as announced by the Nasdaq Private Market (NPM).If Anthropic completes its IPO or direct listing during this period, the official issue price corresponding to the valuation and the public market value after listing will also be included in the settlement basis. Currently, the NPM data referenced on the Polymarket page shows a valuation of approximately $1.13 trillion. Previously, according to the Wall Street Journal, Anthropic plans to go public in September or early October, with specific issue prices and schedules yet to be announced. If successfully listed, it could become one of the largest IPOs in history.