📈 $XRP’s Biggest Win Ever?!

ETH could be weeks away from a $4K breakout and that might just be the beginning. In the past few days, whales, Wall Street giants, and even the White House have all made moves that could supercharge Ethereum’s next rally.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ⭐ 6 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

• 🚨 The $14.5B “Silent” Biggest Bitcoin Heist Final …

• 📊 ETH >$4,000 in August? What’s Fueling the Surge …

• 🤡 Meme Of The Day

⭐ 6 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

🔥 AI Fire is quietly gearing up to launch its $AFIRE token - the fuel for an open-AI economy. Built by the same team behind TheCryptoFire Newsletter and the wider AI Fire ecosystem. As an early bird, you’ll be already loaded from the genesis $AFIRE airdrop and use it from day one.

⏳ MetaMask is teaming up with Stripe to launch MetaMask USD (mmUSD), just weeks after announcing a physical payment card with Mastercard. Recently, Ethena’s $USDE.X ( ▲ 0.16% ) climbed into the top 3 global stablecoins. Everyone seems to want to issue their own “private money”… feels a lot like the late 2021–2022 market phase.

➡️ Dubai’s VARA has just approved the first crypto options trading license for Laser Digital. This makes Laser Digital the only company currently allowed to offer OTC crypto derivatives. It open the floodgates for Dubai’s massive capital to flow into crypto. The Dubai princes are coming to play, folks.

🚀 Chainlink officially unveiled its strategic on-chain reserve funded by real revenue from Mastercard, JPMorgan, & top DeFi protocols. Payments in ETH, USDC auto-convert to LINK → all revenue = buy pressure. $LINK.X ( ▼ 8.34% ) price jumped ~10% across major exchanges. Chainlink machine is now self-funding… and hungry.

📜 Trump officially signed a landmark executive order executive order letting 401(k) retirement funds invest in crypto, real estate, private equity. 90M+ Americans could get exposure to BTC, ETH & more. Then, market reacts: $BTC.X ( ▼ 3.05% ) → $117,300 (+2%), $ETH.X ( ▼ 4.81% ) → $3,870 (+5%). BlackRock & Empower are planning new alternative-asset funds.

⚖ The 5-year legal battle between Ripple and the U.S. SEC is finally over. Fine cut to $50M under Trump’s pro-crypto reforms. Ripple announced to buy Rail for $200M → handles 10% of B2B stablecoin payments. $XRP.X ( ▼ 5.87% ) price jumped 12% on the news. In July 2025, XRP hit a new ATH above $3.60 amid a broader crypto market rally.

🚨 The $14.5B “Silent” Biggest Bitcoin Heist Finally Uncovered

After nearly 5 years in the dark, details emerge on one of crypto’s largest and most “invisible” thefts ever. It’s a legend in crypto crime

🕵️‍♂️ Let’s take a look at this largest heist first

On Aug 2, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence revealed shocking findings about what may be the largest and most silent Bitcoin theft in history.

According to Arkham’s detailed report:

• On Dec 28, 2020, China’s LuBian Bitcoin mining pool was hacked.

• The thieves made off with 127,426 BTC, worth about $3.5 billion at the time

• At today’s Bitcoin price (~$116K), that’s $14.5B.

  → the largest crypto theft ever by value.

About Arkham Intelligence:

• Founded by former Goldman Sachs and Palantir experts.

• Uses AI + machine learning to analyze blockchain transactions.

• Has worked with the FBI and global law enforcement on major crypto crime cases.

• Their credibility made this revelation impossible to ignore.

⚡ LuBian’s scale in 2020:

Back in 2020, LuBian was no small player, it ranked as the 6th largest Bitcoin mining pool in the world, controlling 8–10% of Bitcoin’s total hashrate.

That meant they processed hundreds of thousands of BTC transactions daily and held massive amounts of Bitcoin for thousands of miners.

After the hack, LuBian managed to quickly move 11,886 BTC - roughly 10% of what they held - into recovery wallets. That move revealed the true scale of their operation: nearly 140,000 BTC under management, or about 0.67% of all Bitcoin in existence.

What makes it different:

• Total silence from both LuBian and the hackers - no public disclosure at the time.

• This is unusual: normally exchanges or mining pools announce hacks to protect their reputation & meet legal requirements.

• For example:

  • Mt. Gox (2014) → 850K BTC stolen, public disclosure, bankruptcy filing.

  • Coincheck (2018) → $530M in $NEM ( ▼ 2.46% ) stolen, immediate public apology.

In February 2021, LuBian suddenly disappeared without any explanation. At the time, the community speculated whether they had been shut down by the Chinese government or had shifted to operating as a private pool.

This heist stayed in the shadows for nearly 5 years… until now. The world only found out nearly half a decade later.

Not only that, the fact that the hacker didn’t brag about their “achievement” is also very unusual, most hackers typically seek fame within the underground community.

🔓 The hidden flaw behind the $14.5B Bitcoin heist

According to Arkham Intelligence, LuBian may have fallen victim to a flaw in its private key generation algorithm.

A brute-force attack is the “hammer” approach in hacking: throwing massive computing power at every possible combination until the right password or key is found:

• Normally impossible for Bitcoin’s 256-bit private keys with current tech.

• BUT… if the algorithm is flawed (weak random number generator or predictable pattern), the search time can drop drastically.

• This has happened before, in 2013, many Android wallets were hacked due to weak random number generation.

📨 LuBian’s unusual reaction:

• Instead of going public, LuBian used Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN feature to send messages directly to the hacker’s wallet addresses.

• OP_RETURN allows embedding up to 80 bytes of data in a Bitcoin transaction.

• LuBian sent 1,516 OP_RETURN messages - costing 1.4 BTC in fees (~$160K today).

• Arkham didn’t reveal the exact content, but they were likely demands for return, legal threats, or pleas.

• The volume of messages shows LuBian’s desperation but all attempts failed.

Before Arkham’s discovery, the Feb 2025 ByBit hack (worth $1.5B) was the largest known. But ByBit handled it differently: they went public immediately and worked with law enforcement.

Cybersecurity firms Mandiant and SafeWallet traced the ByBit breach to a developer’s malware-infected computer.

→ hackers used stolen AWS tokens to access sensitive systems without triggering alerts.

The contrast is clear: LuBian’s breach stemmed from a technical cryptographic flaw, while ByBit’s was caused by social engineering and malware.

Arkham’s report also mentioned an April 2025 social engineering scam targeting an “older individual,” costing them $330M in Bitcoin:

• Only $7M recovered.

• Criminals laundered the funds via 300+ wallet addresses - a common tactic to break large sums into smaller transactions to avoid detection.

This mix of brute-force attacks, malware breaches, and human-targeted scams shows just how varied and dangerous the crypto threat landscape has become.

💰 Hacker Lies Low, LuBian Begs for Return of $14.5B in BTC

Despite holding a massive stash of 127,426 BTC, the hacker hasn’t moved or spent a single coin since July 2024. No transactions, no activity, just sitting on the stolen fortune.

Is the attacker holding it hostage… or simply unable to launder it? 🤔

LuBian’s plea sent a message to the hacker’s wallet, calling them a “whitehat” and offering to negotiate, included an email address for contact.

No confirmation yet if the hacker responded. With this hoard, the hacker is now the 13th largest Bitcoin holder in the world.

📊 ETH >$4,000 in August? What’s Fueling the Surge? Can It Last?

Ethereum is making a comeback. ETH has climbed nearly 3% in the past 24 hours, cutting its weekly loss down to just 3.5%.

With the current price edging closer to the $4,000 psychological level again, both technical indicators and on-chain data are signaling that a breakout might be near.

1️⃣ Short-Term ETH Holders are Back to Accumulating

One reliable way to gauge upcoming momentum is by tracking wallet activity of short-term holders - addresses holding Ethereum for 1–3 months, often linked to fresh accumulation.

HODL wave data shows:

• This group’s share of ETH supply jumped from 9.57% to 11.93% in less than a month → clear sign of new buying.

• These holders often step in during accumulation phases and help kickstart breakouts.

HODL Waves visualize the % of ETH supply held for different timeframes. The 1–3 month group is especially important for spotting accumulation in transitional market phases.

Supporting this recent buying activity is the SOPR (Spent Output Profit Ratio) - a metric that tracks whether coins being sold are in profit.

When SOPR drops while price stays stable or rises, it usually means profit-taking is slowing down.

That’s exactly what’s happening now:

🤡 Meme Of The Day

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The Crypto Fire

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Traders should conduct thorough research, understand the risks, and carefully evaluate their decisions before investing in cryptocurrency.