The Daily: Eric Trump stands by $1 million BTC price call, Ethereum monthly onchain volume hits highest level since 2021, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! U.S. PCE data came in as expected, but crypto prices still slipped. However, a soft jobs report could give the Fed room to ease — a potential boost for bitcoin, with $150k to $200k still in play this cycle, according to 21Shares' Matt Mena.

In today's newsletter, Eric Trump calls China a "hell of a power" in crypto despite its bans, Ethereum's monthly onchain volume reaches its highest level since 2021, Eliza Labs sues Elon Musk's X, and more.

Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs are on course for $4 billion in August inflows while Bitcoin funds face outflows.

Let's get started.

P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe !

Eric Trump calls China a 'hell of a power' in crypto, sticks to $1 million bitcoin price prediction

The U.S. President's second-oldest son, Eric Trump, praised the impact of Hong Kong and China on the cryptocurrency industry during a fireside chat with David Bailey at Bitcoin Asia on Friday.

• "There is no question that you have made an unbelievable mark on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies," Trump said to the Hong Kong audience, responding to Bailey's suggestion that China is the "other Bitcoin superpower," alongside the U.S. "There's no question that China is a hell of a power when it comes to this world and doing it well," he added.
• Trump also gave credit to crypto adoption in the Middle East and South America, but said the U.S. is "winning the digital revolution."
• His comments come despite mainland China banning institutional crypto trading, exchanges, and bitcoin mining, though peer-to-peer trading and some mining persist in practice.
• Meanwhile, Hong Kong is embracing crypto under a regulated pilot regime, and Chinese officials are increasingly exploring stablecoins and tokenized real-world assets.
• Trump was in Hong Kong to promote his mining venture, American Bitcoin, and also highlighted his roles at World Liberty Financial and Metaplanet.
• Trump said he now spends 90% of his time in the crypto community, reiterating his prediction that bitcoin will hit a price tag of $1 million.
• "I really believe in the next several years bitcoin hits a million dollars," he said. "Buy right now, close your eyes, hold it long term, do not get rid of it. It is the greatest asset in the world. We haven't even scratched the surface of what Bitcoin is gonna be."

Ethereum onchain volume tops $320 billion in August, highest since mid-2021

Ethereum's onchain volume has topped $320 billion in August, hitting its highest monthly level since May 2021 and third-largest overall amid a surge in ecosystem activity as ETH rose to new all-time highs.

• The metric measures economic throughput on the Ethereum blockchain, including transfers, DeFi interactions, and other transactions.
• 30-day transactions also set fresh highs, while monthly active ETH addresses reached their second-highest point ever, and total value locked remains close to peak levels.
• Corporate treasuries tripled their ETH holdings in August, driving demand alongside rising spot ETF volumes and net inflows.
• Transaction fees hit multi-year lows following network upgrades, also boosting usage across Ethereum and its Layer 2s.

IREN run-rate tops $1 billion in annualized bitcoin mining revenue

IREN reported $187.3 million in revenue and $176.9 million in net income for the quarter ending June 30, with annualized bitcoin mining revenue now above $1 billion under current mining economics.

• The company also expects $200 million to $250 million in annualized AI cloud revenue by December as it scales to more than 10,000 Nvidia GPUs.
• "FY25 was a breakout year financially and operationally, with record results that included strong net income and more than 10x EBITDA growth," IREN co-founder and co-CEO Daniel Roberts said.
• IREN's stock is up 16.3% on Friday following the results at $26.80, with a market capitalization of $6.5 billion — placing it ahead of MARA and Riot as the largest publicly-listed bitcoin miner.

Eliza Labs sues Elon Musk's X over alleged anticompetitive actions

Crypto AI software company Eliza Labs and its founder, Shaw Walters, sued Elon Musk's X , accusing it of stealing technical intel to build rival AI products before banning Eliza from the social media platform.

• The startup claims X demanded a $600,000-per-year enterprise license, then suspended its accounts when it refused to pay the "exorbitantly expensive" fee.
• Eliza alleges X "wielded its incredible monopoly power" to suppress competition in the AI agent space through deplatforming and coercion.
• Eliza Labs and X did not return a request for comment from The Block.

NFT brand Pudgy Penguins waddles into mobile gaming with launch of Pudgy Party

Pudgy Penguins has teamed up with Mythical Games to launch Pudgy Party , a fast-paced, lighthearted web3 mobile title packed with mini-games, digital collectibles, and customizable penguins.

• The party-royale game skips token integration at launch but hints at future use of PENGU, MYTH, and other tokens for added utility and gameplay layers.
• Pudgy Party follows Pudgy Penguins' launch of its desktop-based Pudgy Worlds game, Solana-based PENGU token, and the rollout of its penguin plushies and other collectibles in Walmart stores last year.

Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. markets are closed on Monday for Labor Day. Eurozone CPI figures are due on Tuesday. U.S. jobless claims data are out on Thursday, followed by nonfarm payrolls on Friday.
• ECB President Christine Lagarde and U.S. FOMC member Neel Kashkari will speak on Wednesday. FOMC member John Williams speaks on Thursday.
• Optimism, Sui, dYdX, Ethena, IOTA, and Moca Network are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks .
• Taipei Blockchain Week, ETHWarsaw, and Bitcoin Indonesia all get underway.

Never miss a beat with The Block's  daily digest  of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.