The week feels long with this price action. It’s a choppy crypto summer. Every few weeks, things heat up—then chop again. But even when prices move sideways, the news cycle doesn’t. Staying alert means more than just trading. It means knowing what’s going on behind the scenes. Like the recently uncovered $14 billion in stolen Bitcoin. Let’s dive into the biggest crypto updates from this week.
1) $14 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin?
Arkham Intelligence shook the crypto world this week with one of the wildest discoveries yet. They uncovered the largest Bitcoin theft ever—an eye-watering $14 billion.
What Happened?
The victim was LuBian, a massive Chinese mining pool. The theft originally took place in December 2020. At that time, 127,426 BTC were stolen, worth around $3.5 billion. Fast-forward to today, and that stash is now valued at more than $14 billion.
LuBian was once a top miner in the world. It controlled about 6% of Bitcoin’s hash rate in 2020. But after December 28 of that year, the mining pool was silently drained of over 90% of its Bitcoin.
A Hack in Silence
What’s wild is that neither LuBian nor the hacker publicly acknowledged the breach. No press releases. No panic tweets. Just complete silence. Arkham discovered that LuBian had tried to reach out to the attacker using OP_RETURN messages. That’s right—they spent 1.4 BTC to send 1,516 messages through the blockchain.
The messages weren’t random spam. They were direct attempts to recover funds, begging the attacker to return the Bitcoin.
A Bruteforce Exploit
Arkham believes the hack wasn’t a random exploit. LuBian had reportedly been using an algorithm to create private keys. That algorithm turned out to be weak—and brute-forceable. The hacker used this flaw to generate the keys and clean out the wallets.
Now, four years later, the hacker still holds the BTC. In fact, based on Arkham’s data, this anonymous whale is the 13th biggest Bitcoin holder in the world. They even hold more than the Mt. Gox hacker.
2) Airdrop Claims and Updates
Even with sideways price action, airdrop season stays hot. Here are some of the key airdrop updates this week:
- Midnight Airdrop: This one’s big. 24 billion NIGHT tokens are being distributed. The Cardano connection has everyone watching. More info here: Midnight Airdrop
- Rings Protocol: Claim is live now.
- Linea Airdrop: 10% of tokens go to early adopters. Tokenomics just dropped. Claim details here: Linea Airdrop
- Unite Airdrop: Claimable and tradable on MEXC.
- Nemesis Airdrop: Also live and ready to grab.
There’s free money out there—but only if you’re paying attention.
Explore our new list of BNB Airdrops today.
3) Hyperliquid Reimburses $2M After Outage
One of the most impressive stories this week came from Hyperliquid. The decentralized exchange suffered an API outage that lasted around 37 minutes. During that time, users couldn’t execute trades.
Quick Compensation
Instead of hiding behind “decentralization,” Hyperliquid acted fast. They refunded nearly $2 million to affected users in USDC. According to on-chain data, the team has already sent out most of the funds.
One trader summed it up well on X: “They didn’t have to do this. No contracts. No legal obligation. Just integrity.”
No Hack—Just High Traffic
Initially, people feared the worst. But the issue wasn’t an exploit. It was a traffic spike. On July 23, Hyperliquid hit a record $14.7 billion in open interest. Days later, the servers buckled under the load.
The outage happened from 14:10 to 14:47 UTC on July 29. Orders were delayed. API calls failed. Still, the team responded quickly.
For users who lost more than $10,000, there’s a small catch. You’ll need to complete KYC by August 18 to receive the full refund. But you’ve already got $9,999—so that’s not a bad start.
4) Metaplanet Buys More Bitcoin, Hits $2B
While others panic over sideways price action, Metaplanet just keeps stacking sats. The Tokyo-listed firm bought 463 more Bitcoin on August 4. This brings their total to 17,595 BTC.
That latest buy cost them around $54 million. The company’s average cost now sits at about $101,000 per Bitcoin. That’s solid positioning in a market that looks ready for another run.
Eyeing Bigger Moves
It doesn’t stop there. Metaplanet just filed to raise up to $3.6 billion through preferred shares. That money will likely fund more Bitcoin buys.
They’re not hiding their strategy either. Bitcoin is now core to their business. Metaplanet is trying to become the MicroStrategy of Asia. And they’re doing a decent job of it.
Related: Ethereum Treasury companies are coming for your $ETH
5) Justin Sun Goes to Space
In more cosmic news, TRON founder Justin Sun took a short trip to space. He boarded Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle and became the first crypto founder to do so.
The flight didn’t last long, just a few minutes in low orbit. But it was enough to make history. Sun is now the youngest Chinese-born commercial astronaut. And the first Forbes-covered crypto mogul in space.
Blockchain Meets the Final Frontier
Sun used his trip to reflect on Earth. From orbit, he said it looked small and fragile. His message was simple: we must protect it.
He also hinted at future blockchain applications in space. From Earth to orbit, crypto just keeps expanding.
Final Thoughts
Crypto might feel slow this summer, but don’t get lazy. There’s always something happening. From the $14 billion in stolen Bitcoin to massive reimbursements and space flights, this industry never truly sleeps.
Keep your eyes on the charts. Keep tabs on your wallets. And most importantly, stay informed. Whether you’re trading, claiming airdrops, or watching Bitcoin whales rise, you don’t want to be the last to know.
The game never stops. It just changes tempo.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may want to check our other crypto news updates.
As always, don’t forget to claim your bonus below on Bybit. See you next time!
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