ETHTaipei 2026 will take place on Sept. 13-14 at POPOP Taipei in Nangang, marking the fourth edition of the annual Ethereum-focused developer conference in Taiwan. This year’s event will be split into two themed days for the first time: Cryptonative Day on Sept. 13 for Ethereum developers and technical communities, and Institution Day on Sept. 14 for banks and financial institutions. The first batch of speakers includes teams from Polymarket, Uniswap, the Ethereum Foundation, ChainSafe, LINE NEXT, CertiK, OneSavie Labs, Quantstamp, Across Protocol and PIF12. Organizers said the agenda will span core protocol research, DeFi, Layer 2 scaling, zero-knowledge and privacy, wallets, account abstraction, security, cross-chain systems, RWA, tokenized U.S. stocks, institutional custody, stablecoin risk management and AI Agent-driven machine finance. The event is backed by corporate and institutional sponsors including BSOS, DADRC, Sigmarket, Taishin Shin Kong Financial Holding, Quantstamp and KlickKlack. Registration is now open through the event’s official website.

According to official information, MARVIN (7777), a meme coin traded on Gate Alpha's dedicated section, surged 29.98% over the last 24 hours. The token is associated with one of Elon Musk's pet dogs, which was born on November 1. Musk has shared multiple posts about the dog over time, and he publicly marked its birthday on November 1, 2023. Gate Alpha lets users buy and sell the token with one click. In terms of network coverage, the platform now supports an array of chains, including SOL, ETH, Gate Layer, BSC, Base, SUI, ARB, World Chain, AVAX, Polygon, LINEA, ZK, OP, Robinhood, and Berachain. The list covers leading Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks, as well as several non-EVM blockchains such as SOL and SUI. A contract address search tool also enables seamless token trading across the full list of supported chains, making it easier for traders to move between different ecosystems without needing to manually switch networks.

Several tokens are scheduled for sizable unlocks between Aug. 10 and Aug. 16, according to TechFlowPost. The list includes LINEA, IO, LAYER, Aptos (APT), PEAQ, CHEEL, CYBER, Starknet (STRK), CONX, Sei (SEI), Arbitrum (ARB), and YZY. Among them, YZY has the largest unlock by percentage of circulating supply at 22.83%, with an estimated value of about $35.8 million. CONX is set for an unlock worth about $11.55 million, while ARB and APT are due to unlock roughly $7.2 million and $6.66 million, respectively. Other scheduled events range from about $1.5 million to $3.67 million in value, with circulating-supply impacts between 0.66% and 6.22%.

NEXST is positioning itself as a Web3 entertainment infrastructure project built around AI, virtual reality and real-world assets, with a strategy that reaches beyond one-off VR concerts or simple IP tokenization. The company has recently worked with K-pop acts including UNIS and KISS OF LIFE on Xmersive VR concerts, while also building an AI-powered social creation layer, an RWA ticketing system and an entertainment IP gaming arm. The project says its framework is designed around “Fan Continuity,” a model aimed at turning fragmented fan spending — tickets, merchandise, voting and VIP experiences — into persistent, on-chain rights that can accumulate, unlock perks and circulate across products. That includes tokenized concert tickets, merchandise and VIP access, as well as AI agents that remember user preferences and support ongoing fan interaction. According to the article, NEXST raised a $3 million strategic round earlier this year with participation from Castrum Capital, TBV and others. Its token, NXT, was listed in May on OKX Boost, KuCoin, MEXC and LBank, with an issue price of $0.1 and a reported peak of $0.5098. NEXST also says it is setting up a 10 million NXT treasury to support AI idol content production and broader ecosystem development as it expands in Southeast Asia, Europe and the U.S.

The U.S. Treasury said Wednesday it lifted counterterrorism sanctions on two aircraft and three airlines tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In detailed information posted on its website, the Treasury identified the affected entities as FLY BAGHDAD AIRLINES, Iraq Express (IRAQ EXPRESS), Fly Baghdad, and two aircraft with tail numbers YI-BAF and YI-BAN. The three airlines had previously been accused of links to the IRGC's Quds Force, a unit of the IRGC. The two aircraft were linked to FLY BAGHDAD AIRLINES. Reuters reported the development, and Odaily, a Chinese crypto news outlet, relayed the news in a flash update. The Treasury's announcement removes the sanctions that had applied to these named entities. The Treasury did not disclose a specific reason for the removal. The website posting also listed the aircraft registrations as part of the action.

A trading dispute involving Taipei-based card store "Little Sheep Card Shop" has triggered a growing backlash among trading card game players after the business abruptly went dark on Aug. 3. The shop, located in Taipei’s Ximending area, reportedly shut down its LINE community, Instagram and Facebook channels overnight, while its physical storefront was found closed. The person in charge, surnamed Zheng, was at one point unreachable. Players say the store was still holding pre-ordered products, consigned cards, grading submissions and unsettled payments, prompting affected customers to organize a self-help group that quickly grew to more than 1,000 members. Online estimates of possible losses have ranged from over NT$100 million to NT$300 million, though police have not confirmed those figures. Taipei City Police Department’s Wanhua Precinct said it has received reports and will ask Zheng to appear for questioning as investigators examine cash flows, the whereabouts of cards, the number of affected customers and whether fraud may be involved. The report also noted that tokenized collectibles platforms such as Collector Crypt, Courtyard and Phygitals have tried to bring trading cards on-chain, but transparency on blockchain does not by itself remove custody risk tied to real-world assets.

A well-known Pokemon card shop in Taipei’s Ximending district, Xiaoyang Card Club, allegedly shut down without warning in the early hours of Aug. 3, deleting its three official LINE groups, closing its Instagram and Facebook accounts, and leaving its physical storefront locked. The report said more than 15,000 players were affected, with unfulfilled pre-orders, consigned collectibles, and cards sent for overseas grading driving estimated losses to NT$300 million. According to the report, the shop opened a physical location on Chengdu Road in January and built a following through in-store operations and active community management. Users said a self-help group formed overnight and quickly grew to more than 3,800 members. Some online posts also claimed the shop’s person in charge, surnamed Zheng, had been seen departing Taiwan through Taoyuan Airport on July 30. Taipei’s Department of Legal Affairs sent staff to inspect the company’s registered address on the morning of Aug. 3, but found the premises closed with no response. Consumer protection official Lin Chuan-chien said that if a business halts operations without notice, consumers may seek refunds and damages. Wanhua Precinct said it has accepted multiple reports and will notify the person in charge to appear for questioning.

Minicoin said it is building an intellectual-property RWA network on the Creditcoin blockchain and will launch its native token, $MINI, as the first public sale project on PenguinSwap Launchpad. The sale is described as a fair public offering with no insider discount, using open-market price discovery to widen token ownership. The company behind the project, Mini Labs, has obtained official authorization from IPX to use the minini IP. IPX owns the LINE FRIENDS franchise, which the article says reaches more than 210 million LINE users worldwide and has over 31 million official LINE FRIENDS followers. Minicoin’s model treats each IP as a full, singular asset rather than a fractionalized one. Each work would be minted as one IP NFT representing complete ownership, with on-chain registration, smart contract royalty settlement in $MINI, creator and fan reward rails based on micropayments, and AI creation tools. The roadmap is split into stickers, music IP, and virtual IP, while the game minini universe: ROOM on PenguinBase is already being used as an entry path for users seeking eligibility for the upcoming $MINI launchpad sale.