The first week of September turned out to be quite eventful for crypto. Trump-backed World Liberty Financial (WLFI) grabbed most of the spotlight with its token launch, wallet freezes, and a big token burn. On the other side, Gemini rolled out its IPO plans, DeFi got hit by back-to-back hacks, and Ethereum’s StarkNet ran into issues right after a major upgrade. Here’s a quick rundown of it all.
Top Headlines of the Week
WLFI Launches Across Major Exchanges
World Liberty Financial, the much-hyped Trump-family-backed DeFi project, finally rolled out its WLFI token this week. Priced at $0.20, the token hit both decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, Raydium, and PancakeSwap, as well as big centralized players, including Binance, Kraken, and Upbit.
Within hours, WLFI pulled in more than $60 million in DEX trading volume. Donald Trump Jr. called it a “big day” and claimed WLFI would serve as the “governance backbone of a real ecosystem.”
Justin Sun’s Wallet Blacklisted
Not long after launch, WLFI made an eyebrow-raising move, blacklisting an address tied to its key investor, Tron founder Justin Sun. The decision froze 595 million WLFI tokens worth around $107 million.
Blockchain records showed Sun had moved roughly $9 million worth of tokens in test transfers before the blacklist hit. Sun denied any intention of selling, calling them simple “exchange deposit tests.”
WLFI Freezes Wallets, Burns Tokens
WLFI’s week didn’t stop there. The project froze 272 wallets in what it said was an attempt to counter potential security threats. To further tighten tokenomics, WLFI also burned 47 million tokens worth over $11 million by sending them to the null address.
Gemini Pushes for $2.2B IPO
The Winklevoss-led exchange Gemini is officially aiming for a $2.2 billion valuation in its U.S. IPO. It plans to list 16.7 million Class A shares on Nasdaq under the ticker “GEMI,” priced between $17 and $19 each. Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Cantor are leading the process.
Two DeFi Hacks Hit in a Single Day
September 2 proved a rough day for DeFi.
- Venus Protocol suffered a phishing exploit that drained around $27 million from one user. Venus managed to recover about $13 million and has since resumed operations.
- Bunni, a DEX, disclosed that a rounding bug in its smart contract was exploited for $8.4 million. The attacker manipulated liquidity pools through a flash loan exploit.
CFTC Clears Polymarket
Prediction market Polymarket, which gained traction during the 2024 U.S. elections, got a green light to operate in the U.S. under a no-action letter from the CFTC. The move gives the platform room to expand under certain conditions without facing enforcement.
StarkNet Goes Down After Upgrade
Ethereum layer-2 StarkNet faced an outage just a day after a major upgrade. Block production stopped at 4:36 AM UTC on Sept. 2, with no transactions going through for hours. The StarkNet team confirmed the issue and said it was working to bring the network back online.
News You Might Have Missed
- Ripple rolled out its dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD across Africa with help from Chipper Cash, VALR, and Yellow Card.
- Uniswap governance is weighing a proposal to set up a Wyoming entity, DUNI, to handle off-chain operations while keeping on-chain governance intact.
- El Salvador announced Bitcoin Histórico, the first government-backed Bitcoin conference, set for November 12–13 in San Salvador.
Top Highlight
One of Ethereum’s earliest investors reappeared after eight years of dormancy. The ICO participant, who put in $310,000 back in 2015, received 1 million ETH at the time. Now worth $4.3 billion, part of those holdings were finally moved, with 150,000 ETH ($645M) sent to a new staking wallet. Even after the transfer, the whale still controls another 105,000 ETH ($451.5M).
What to Expect Next Week?
WLFI stays in focus after a messy first week that mixed hype with drama. Gemini’s IPO plans are set to draw Wall Street’s attention, DeFi platforms remain cautious after the hacks, and all eyes are on Bitcoin to see if it can hold above $110K as September trading picks up.
