WLFI, Justin Sun, Robinhood, S&P 500

From Justin Sun’s clash with World Liberty Financial over blacklisted wallets to Robinhood’s big leap into the S&P 500, the past seven days were packed with stories shaping the future of digital assets.

Treasury giants and exchanges staked their claims in Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC), regulators in the UK tightened oversight, and India once again topped the global adoption charts. Here’s a rundown of the headlines that moved the markets and sparked conversation.

World Liberty Financial controversy engulfs Justin Sun

• The Trump-associated token project triggered widespread criticism after freezing wallets connected to Tron founder Justin Sun.
• The project blocked access to 540 million unlocked tokens and 2.4 billion locked tokens
• Platform administrators activated contract-level permissions to blacklist Sun’s addresses following a transfer of 50 million WLFI (WLFI) tokens worth $9.2 million on Sept. 4.
• The freeze extended beyond the initial transfer. On-chain data revealed WLFI’s controlling address executed the guardianSetBlacklistStatus function after suspicious activity from HTX address “HTX 48” transferred nearly 60 million tokens to a Binance deposit wallet within 32 hours.
• Sun defended his actions through multiple social media posts and stated the transfers were “routine deposit tests and portfolio shuffling, not sales.”
• The Tron founder criticized the blacklisting as “unreasonable” and unjust, asserting that it violated blockchain transparency principles and investor fairness.
• Despite the controversy, Sun announced Sept. 5 investment plans worth $10 million in both ALTS stock and additional WLFI tokens.

Robinhood achieves S&P 500 milestone

• The trading platform will join the prestigious index on Sept. 22, causing shares to surge past $108 following the announcement from S&P Dow Jones Indices.
• Robinhood’s inclusion alongside advertising technology firm AppLovin shows the index committee’s recognition of the company’s market capitalization and trading significance.

SharpLink Gaming explores Ethereum staking expansion

• The treasury company plans to stake portions of its $3.6 billion Ethereum holdings on layer-2 network Linea following its Sept. 10 mainnet launch.
• Co-CEO Joseph Chalom indicated the firm currently stakes nearly all holdings through custodians Anchorage and Coinbase.

Tether considers gold mining investments

• Discussions concerning investments in the refining, trading, and royalty operations of the gold supply chain have been held between mining associations and the stablecoin issuer.
• The investigation expands into physical commodity operations while remaining consistent with Tether’s current gold-backed token sales.

UK proposes stricter cryptocurrency rules

• HM Treasury released draft money laundering regulation changes addressing loopholes and changing risks with stricter requirements for cryptocurrency businesses.
• The proposed updates aim to create “a more risk-based, proportionate regime that is robust against financial crime whilst remaining workable for industry.”

India leads global cryptocurrency adoption rankings

• Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis ranked India first globally for the second consecutive year, surpassing other nations across all criteria, including retail centralized services, institutional adoption, and DeFi usage.
• The United States climbed to second position from fourth place last year, driven by regulatory momentum and increased institutional participation.

Gemini targets $316.7 million IPO fundraising

• The Winklevoss twins’ cryptocurrency exchange filed to raise up to $316.7 million through an initial public offering. They marketed 16.7 million shares at $17-19 each.
• The New York-based exchange and custodian seeks public market access as another major cryptocurrency business pursues traditional capital markets.

Solana community approves Alpenglow upgrade

• Network participants voted overwhelmingly in favor of the technical transformation with 98.27% approval from Solana (SOL) stakers, while only 1.05% opposed and 0.36% abstained.
• Total participation reached 52% of network stakers, indicating strong community engagement in the governance process.

Strategy continues systematic Bitcoin accumulation

• The treasury company acquired 4,048 Bitcoin for approximately $449.3 million at an average price of $110,981 per Bitcoin.
• Total holdings reached 636,505 Bitcoin as of September 1, purchased for approximately $46.95 billion including all acquisition costs.