Crypto Chaos & Triumph: Monero Rocked by 51% Attack as Bitcoin Smashes ATH – Altcoins Go Wild

Monero gets sucker-punched by a 51% attack—privacy coin’s worst nightmare comes knocking. Meanwhile, Bitcoin laughs in the face of FUD, bulldozing through yet another all-time high like Wall Street’s bonus season just ended early.

Altcoins? They’re doing their usual chaotic dance—some mooning, some cratering, all pretending they’ve got ‘utility’ beyond enriching bagholders. Ethereum plays it cool, Solana flexes its speed, and the memecoins? Well, let’s just say the ‘fundamentals’ are… vibes-based.

Regulators clutch their pearls, traders mainline hopium, and your uncle still thinks crypto’s just for buying drugs. Same circus, different week—welcome to decentralized finance, where the rules are made up and the tokens don’t matter (until they do).

Major Headlines

Here are are the major headlines on what happened in the crop last week;

Monero Hits by 51% Attack

Monero, the privacy-focused cryptocurrency, faced a significant security threat as the Qubic mining pool executed a 51% attack, briefly gaining control of over half the network’s hashrate. This has led to a six-block chain reorganization and sparking concerns about potential double-spending and transaction censorship. 

The attack, confirmed by SlowMist and Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet, caused Monero’s XMR price to plummet nearly 10% to a three-month low of $247, prompting Kraken to suspend deposits as a precaution. While Qubic’s founder, Sergey Ivancheglo, claimed the move was to strengthen Monero’s defenses against future threats, the incident exposed vulnerabilities in proof-of-work blockchains, particularly those with concentrated mining power. 

Also Read: Qubic Community Votes to Target Dogecoin After Monero Attack

Bitcoin Hits New High

Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $124,457 on August 14, 2025, driven by growing expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts and a pro-crypto policy push under President Donald Trump. The cryptocurrency’s 32% gain this year has been fueled by strong institutional inflows, with spot Bitcoin ETFs recording $547.82 million during the last week. One of the major drivers behind Bitcoin posting a new high was Trump’s recent executive order enabling crypto in 401(k) retirement plans besides favorable regulatory shifts. 

Altcoins Show Mixed Performance

Last week, the altcoin market showed mixed performance with notable gains in specific tokens, though Bitcoin’s dominance remained strong. According to CoinMarketCap, the Altcoin Season Index was at 41, indicating a Bitcoin-dominated market rather than a full altcoin season, as it remained below the 75 threshold needed for an official altcoin season. 

Throughout the week, several altcoins outperformed Bitcoin significantly. Skale Network (SKL) led with a 118.83% surge, followed by OKX exchange’s OKB at 111.85%, and others like Raydium (RAY) at 30.05%, and Aerodrome (AERO) at 60.28%—as per CoinMarketCap data. 

Ethereum Remains in Limelight

Ethereum (ETH) remained in limelight throughout the week with it hovering NEAR its all-time high. Although the weekend pushed it down slightly, giving speculators yet another week to predict potential breaking above a new high of $5,000. ETH marked a weekly high of $4,782 but since it has been trading in a downtrend, currently sitting at $4,280—down 5.82% in the past 24 hours.

Moreover, the short positions on ETH remain remarkably high with billions of dollars in open interest. The net short positions on ETH are currently at all-time high, suggesting market players seeking downside for the asset.  

Also Read: ethereum Faces Record Shorting While Demand Stays Strong

New You Might Have Missed

• Ethereum Hits New High in Japan and South Korea: Ethereum has hit new all-time high price marks locally in Japan and South Korea. 
• Do Kwon Pleads Guilty in Fraud Charges: The infamous Terra founder Do Kwon has pleaded guilty in the U.S. court over UST stablecoin collapse. 
• White House Crypto Adviser Steps Down: Bo Hines, head of the White House Crypto Council, resigns after eight months, with Patrick Witt expected to succeed him.
• Kazakhstan Gets Asia’s first BTC ETF: Kazakhstan’s Fonte Capital has launched Central Asia’s first spot Bitcoin ETF, BETF, on the Astana International Exchange. 
• Eden Network Sunsets its Services: MEV protocol Eden Network has shut down due to competitive pressures and will distribute its 2,000 ETH treasury to EDEN token holders. 

Buzz of the Week

Stripe, the $91.5 billion fintech giant, is developing a new layer-1 blockchain called ‘Tempo’ in collaboration with crypto venture firm Paradigm. The launch marks payment giant’s significant step in its expanding cryptocurrency ambitions. The project, which has been in stealth mode with a small team of five, aims to create a high-performance, payments-focused blockchain compatible with Ethereum code, designed to power Stripe’s growing stablecoin business. 

1/ Fintech powerhouse Stripe is secretly building a high-performance blockchain called "Tempo," per a now-removed job posting and Fortune’s reporting. pic.twitter.com/jbe2KHQm6G

This MOVE follows Stripe’s recent acquisitions of stablecoin firm Bridge and crypto wallet provider Privy, signaling its intent to control the full payments stack and compete in the rapidly growing stablecoin and blockchain payments sector. 

Leading the Tempo initiative is Matt Huang, co-founder and managing partner of Paradigm, who has been appointed as the project’s first CEO while retaining his role at Paradigm and his position on Stripe’s board. Though more details about Tempo’s launch date or potential token issuance remain undisclosed, the project underscores Stripe’s strategic push to lead in next-generation payment technologies amid rising competition from players like Circle and PayPal.

What to Expect for This Week?

This week, August 18-24, 2025, the crypto market is poised for volatility as key events unfold. After hitting a record high, Bitcoin may face selling pressure from increased exchange deposits, while Ethereum could see fluctuations due to record breaking short positions and a huge unstaking queue. 

The Jackson Hole symposium on August 23, featuring Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech, is a focal point, with markets anticipating signals on interest rate cuts that could boost risk assets like crypto. Geopolitical developments, including a Trump-Zelensky meeting, and macro data from the UK and Canada may further sway sentiment. 

Also Read: Ethereum Dominated Tokenized Assets AuM Reach $270 Billion