Weekly Market Highlights - U.S. annual inflation rate hits lowest level

Macro/TradFiThe U.S. Consumer Price Index (“CPI”) rose by 0.2% month-on-month in August, matching analysts’ estimates. This brought the annual inflation rate to 2.5%, a decrease of 0.4% from July and the lowest level since February 2021.The UK government has introduced a new Bill that seeks to recognize digital files, digital records, email accounts, digital carbon credits, cryptoassets, and non-fungible tokens as personal property under British law.State Street Global Advisors and Galaxy Digital have partnered to launch three crypto-focused exchange-traded funds, aimed at providing investment exposure to companies involved in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.The North Carolina General Assembly has passed a bill that bans the state from participating in Federal Reserve branch testing of a central bank digital currency.CryptoL1/L2:The Sonic blockchain achieved a transaction finality of 720 milliseconds (ms) during its testnet. If this performance is maintained on its mainnet, Sonic could become the fastest blockchain in terms of finality.Stacks, the Bitcoin network’s smart contract layer, reached a new all-time high in smart contract deployment just days before the much-anticipated Nakamoto upgrade is fully activated. Specifically, Stacks achieved a new record with over 1,400 smart contracts deployed in a single month.The total fees generated by the Solana network have dropped to a six-month low, reaching levels not seen since early March. This decline in Solana fees coincides with the waning popularity of Pump.fun.Stablecoins:Ethereum's on-chain stablecoin volume has hit a record high of $1.46 trillion. This marks a significant increase, more than doubling from $650 billion at the beginning of the year.Stablecoin issuer Paxos is preparing to roll out its products on the Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, Arbitrum One.Others:Binance has introduced BNSOL - Binance SOL liquid staking token. BNSOL allows users to continue earning staking rewards while keeping the flexibility to trade, lend, or utilize their assets across various Binance products and external DeFi platforms. Coinbase has introduced its version of wrapped Bitcoin, launching the cbBTC token on the Ethereum and Base networks starting Thursday.PayPal and Venmo have integrated Ethereum Name Service (ENS) for crypto payments. U.S. users of PayPal and Venmo can now enter ENS names to send crypto.The Web3 social network Friend.Tech has effectively shut down after its developers relinquished control over its smart contracts.Southeast Asia's ride-hailing platform TADA has partnered with the TON Foundation to introduce a new mini app on Telegram which enables users to book rides directly through Telegram and make payments using TON or USDT.Ether.fi, a liquid restaking protocol, is introducing a "crypto-native" credit card that will process transactions on Scroll, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network.The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) Internet Crime Complaint Center has published its 2023 cryptocurrency fraud report, stating that Americans lost $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency fraud, marking a 45% increase from 2022.TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs have collaborated to create the T3 Financial Crime Unit (“T3 FCU”), an initiative aimed at combating illicit activities associated with Tether’s USDT stablecoin on the TRON blockchain.Blockchain analytics company Nansen has acquired StakeWithUs, a staking service provider, as part of its strategy to expand its offerings beyond data provision.Latest Binance Research Publications Check out our latest publications:Monthly Market Insights - September 2024Blockchain Payments: A Fresh StartWeb3: The Household Name in the MakingExplore our Binance Research website for more project and macro research.For more frequent market updates and insights, follow us on Twitter @BinanceResearch.That’s a wrap! Binance ResearchAbout Binance Research: Binance Research is the research arm of Binance, the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange. 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