🚨 Weekly Crypto Rollercoaster: WLFI Token Turmoil, Gemini’s IPO Gambit, StarkNet Stumbles

Crypto never sleeps—and this week proved it again with enough drama to fuel a Netflix series.

WLFI's Wild Ride

Token holders got whiplash as WLFI swung like a pendulum on meth. Another 'stable' asset proving that in crypto, stability is just what we call the calm before the storm.

Gemini's Big Bet

The exchange tossed its hat into the IPO ring—because what says 'mature industry' like chasing public market validation during a regulatory hurricane?

StarkNet Goes Dark

The network hiccuped harder than a trader after margin call Monday. Outages remind us that even the smartest contracts still need adult supervision.

Another week, another reminder that digital gold sometimes feels more like digital lead—but hey, at least the volatility keeps us employed.

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).

An #Ethereum ICO participant who received 1,000,000 $ETH just woke up after 8 years of dormancy.

He moved 150,000 $ETH($645M) to a new wallet for staking.

He invested $310K in the ICO via 3 wallets and received 1,000,000 $ETH — now worth $4.3B.

After staking 150,000 $ETH, he… pic.twitter.com/B5CBTBJ2O5

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.