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The Ethereum Foundation moved 35,000ETH (approximately $100 million) to the Kraken exchange without letting the community know, and people are buzzing about it!

Here’s what we got for you today:

• 🤑 Ethereum Foundation's $100M Kraken transfer!

• 😱 Bitcoin’s decentralization might be at risk!

• 🧱 Around The Block: Toncoin drops 18% following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

🤑 Ethereum Foundation's $100M Kraken Transfer!

On August 23, on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that the Ethereum Foundation deposited 35,000 $ETH, valued at about $100 million, to the Kraken exchange.

And get this – they made this move without informing the community!

Unsurprisingly, this caused a storm of criticism towards the Foundation, with many calling it out for its lack of transparency.

Aya Miyaguchi, the Executive Director of the Ethereum Foundation, responded by saying that the transfer aligns with the Foundation's $100 million annual budget.

She further explained that the budget covers grants and salaries, some of which require fiat payments, and that regulatory constraints prevented them from disclosing the transaction in advance.

However, this explanation didn’t sit well with many!

Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro noted that the Foundation’s explanation is weak as it suggests that “the people with power over Ethereum don’t respect ETH as an investment anymore.”

Marc Zeller, founder of AaveChan, also questioned the $100 million budget while pointing out that some Ethereum teams, like Geth (Go Ethereum, a popular Ethereum client), receive minimal compensation.

On the flip side, there are some defenders of the Foundation's decision.

For example, Mudit Gupta, Polygon’s Chief Information Security Officer, states that the Foundation’s $100 million budget is not surprising.

Former Ethereum Foundation employee Hudson James also added to the discussion with a lengthy post on X defending the Foundation's expenditure.

With so many opinions flying around, our question is, whose side are you on? 

Before you decide, maybe check out the whole story here for more insights!

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😱 Bitcoin’s Decentralization Might be at Risk!

A lot of folks are worried that Bitcoin might be getting a little too cozy with centralization.

And it’s all because two mining pools, Foundry USA and AntPool, are now dominating the game, controlling a whopping 57% of Bitcoin's network hash rate.

That's a lot of power in just two hands, right? Here’s why it’s a big deal:

Bitcoin was meant to be decentralized, a people's currency, and not controlled by a few big players.

But with these two pools holding that much control, it’s getting uncomfortably close to a monopoly— at least, that’s what the crypto community says.

And here's another thing - it's not just about the money but the influence, too.

Foundry USA (owned by Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Grayscale) aligns with US interests, while AntPool is operated by a Chinese company (Bitmain Technologies) and is influenced by China.

This situation is exactly what experts fear could quickly turn into a geopolitical tug-of-war!

They also warn that this centralization could lead to censorship, control issues, and even attacks on the network.

If one pool gets too powerful, it could potentially launch a 51% attack and hijack the whole system!😱

And even though no single pool has that power yet, we've already seen glimpses of this in the past.

In fact, one good example is F2Pool blocking certain transactions in compliance with the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) list in 2023!

So, what's next for Bitcoin? Will it stay true to its roots or become a pawn in a bigger game?🤷‍♀️

Well, that's the million-dollar question, and the crypto community is watching closely for an answer.

You can get the full details here!

🧱 Around The Block

• Toncoin drops 18% following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.

• Hex founder Richard Heart’s bid to dismiss SEC fraud lawsuit fails.

• Bitcoin's dominance ratio soars to almost 60%.

• Coinbase analysts doubt rate cuts will drive market movement.

• Arbitrum leads L2s in all-time Uniswap trading volume.

• ‘New Oil and gold’—Crypto is suddenly braced for the ‘most important’ week after a Federal Reserve-Powered Bitcoin price surge.

• Russian cybercriminal Deniss Zolotarjovs charged in U.S. for cryptocurrency money laundering and extortion.

That's all we've got for you today.

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Catch you soon.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions.