Trump summons crypto chiefs as CLARITY Act odds collapse to 10%

Trump to host Coinbase, Ripple as CLARITY Act odds collapse to 10% Trump, SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig are expected to meet executives from Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Gemini, a16z, Chainlink, Kalshi and others at the White House on Aug. 19, ahead of a Senate cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act set for Sept. 15. Polymarket puts CLARITY's 2026 passage chance at about 19%, while Galaxy estimates just 10%. 12

South Korea scraps 1M won Travel Rule threshold in AML crackdown South Korea's Cabinet approved amendments to the Enforcement Decree on Aug. 11, removing the 1 million won threshold so registered VASPs must share sender and recipient data for every transfer. The FIU cited a case where about 200 million won was split into 216 sub-threshold transfers to buy USDT, and the new rules also tighten oversight of overseas exchanges and personal wallets. 3

Ethereum drops Poseidon for quantum-resistant SHA or BLAKE hashing Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake announced the network is abandoning Poseidon, the ZK-focused hash function, for SHA or BLAKE as part of a post-quantum security push. The shift has major implications for Layer 1 protocol design and lands alongside a broader Ethereum roadmap reset. 4

Ethereum Hegotá narrows 2027 upgrade proposals, FOCIL only scheduled EIP Core developers agreed that execution client teams must submit preference lists for Hegotá proposals by Sept. 10, with FOCIL (EIP-7805) currently the only scheduled EIP. Frame Transactions (EIP-8141 vs EIP-8130) remain under consideration, and researcher Toni Wahrstätter said 66 proposals are being discussed. 5

KPMG issues clean audit for Tether; CEO brushes off critics KPMG U.S. issued an unqualified opinion on the 2025 financial statements of Tether International, the entity Ardoino says is the sole USDT issuer, with reserves exceeding liabilities by $6.8 billion as of Dec. 31. Critics note the statements and full report are not public, but Ardoino shrugged off the continued scrutiny. 6

Bank Leumi to offer bitcoin, ether and solana trading with Galaxy Israel's oldest bank and Galaxy Digital plan to launch bitcoin, ether and solana trading in the Leumi Trade app, with custody and execution white-labeled from Galaxy, targeting early 2027 pending Bank of Israel approval. Customers would not hold private keys, making the service more like traditional brokerage accounts. 7

Tudor adds IBIT while UBS call options on bitcoin ETF surge 24-fold 13F filings show Tudor Investment raised its direct IBIT stake 18.9% to 688,529 shares while slashing call exposure 85%, and UBS reported a 24-fold jump in IBIT call options to 1.95 million underlying shares with direct holdings up 12%. The filings lack strike prices, so net directional exposure remains unclear, but both signal continued institutional appetite for bitcoin exposure. 89

Staked Ethereum ETF TETH processed $48M redemptions with 86% ETH staked 21Shares' staked Ethereum ETF TETH reported $48.4 million in redemptions in H1 2026 while keeping 86.42% of its ETH staked at June 30, according to its quarterly filing. Net assets fell from $31.3 million to $12.9 million, and the filing flagged variable unbonding periods as a potential constraint but recorded no failed or delayed redemptions. 10