Author: Claude, Shenchao TechFlow

Shenchao Introduction: Crypto KOL @TheDeFinvestor lists the catalyst list for this week.

The most significant event is that Grayscale Zcash Trust is expected to be listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH on August 25, becoming the first US spot ETF to directly hold privacy coins. ZEC has risen over 70% in the past week and reached an 8-year high.

At the same time, Virtuals Protocol officially opened AI Agent ownership and tokenization to Solana users on August 24, with the ACF mechanism raising over $6.8 million for Agent financing. On the same day, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of "Operation Economic Outcast," claiming it would launch the "largest financial offensive ever" against Iran, with digital assets being a key target area. Kinetiq launched the L2 network Elysium for Hyperliquid, with 50% of the sequencer fees used for KNTQ repurchase and burning. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal is advancing proposals for staking and token economics reform, with POL staking yields expected to nearly double.

ZEC: Grayscale Zcash ETF is expected to be listed on August 25, the first US privacy coin spot product

This is the most certain event of the week.

According to Grayscale's Form 8-K submitted to the SEC on August 21, shares of Grayscale Zcash Trust (ZEC) are expected to start trading around August 25 on NYSE Arca under the ticker ZCSH, with the trust to be renamed The Zcash ETF. The listing still requires relevant regulatory approval, and the document clearly states that "there is no guarantee of listing on the expected timeline."

The S-3 5th amendment document sets the sponsor fee at an annualized 2.5% (calculated based on NAV, accumulating daily), which is the only general recurring expense of the trust. The trust currently holds approximately 391,000 to 393,000 ZEC, with the asset management scale around $263.5 million as of August 21. Coinbase Custody is responsible for custody, and Jane Street Capital and Virtu Americas act as authorized participants.

DCG International Investment Company is still discussing contributing about 200,000 ZEC to the trust in exchange for shares, although this transaction has not yet been finalized. The market reacted strongly: ZEC rose over 70% in the past week, hitting an 8-year high of about $885 before falling back to around $820. The open interest in futures has also surpassed that of DOGE and BNB.

If it successfully lists, this will be the first spot ETF in the US to directly track privacy coins. The privacy feature itself still faces risks of regulation and exchange access, but the opening of institutional channels has changed accessibility.

VIRTUAL: Virtuals officially opens AI Agent ownership to Solana users

On August 24, Virtuals Protocol announced in conjunction with Solana that millions of users can now directly own functional AI Agents on Solana.

According to official reports related to Solana, Virtuals has expanded the AI Agent tokenization system to Solana, allowing users to create tokens linked to AI Agents, and connect Agents to wallets and on-chain services. Agents can autonomously raise capital, set taxes, fund their own intelligence, and trade with their own wallets, with profits shared by the owner.

The core mechanism, Automated Capital Formation (ACF), has raised over $6.8 million for platform Agents as of August 24. Tokens are traded through the Meteora DBC pool with a fee of 1%, of which 70% goes to creators, and 30% enters the Virtuals treasury. After reaching a total of 42,000 VIRTUAL, tokens automatically "graduate," and liquidity shifts to the public Meteora pool, with LP locked for 10 years.

Previously, VIRTUAL has been bridged to Solana via LayerZero, establishing a foundation for early 2025, and further launching an Agent creation launchpad and cross-chain asset bridge in June. As of August 23, there were about 28,200 VIRTUAL holders on Solana. This shift from "creation" to "ownership" targets a broader range of Solana users.

Macro: The US launches "the largest financial offensive ever" against Iran

On August 24, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the launch of Operation Economic Outcast.

Bessent repeatedly used the same phrase in statements and media: "This is the single greatest financial offensive ever marshaled against an adversary," referring to it as "economic D-Day." The action aims to cut off every economic lifeline of Iran and its supporters, focusing on the five major areas of digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping.

The Treasury has sanctioned over 60 entities, individuals, and vessels globally, expanding the reach of secondary sanctions. Any entity assisting Iran in money laundering will be kicked out of the dollar system. "The clock has already started ticking," Bessent stated, indicating that Iran now has two paths: total global isolation or a return to normal economics.

The potential impact of this action on the crypto market mainly lies in the explicit designation of digital assets as target areas for attacks, as well as broader risk-averse sentiment and changes in dollar liquidity. BTC, as a macro asset, may experience emotional disturbances in the short term.

KNTQ: Kinetiq launches Hyperliquid L2 Elysium, 50% fees for repurchase and burning

Kinetiq (the largest liquid staking protocol for Hyperliquid) officially announced Elysium on August 24.

Elysium is a high-performance EVM L2 designed for the Hyperliquid ecosystem, using HYPE as the gas token, and deeply connecting with HyperCore. Its goal is to solve the throughput and peak fee issues of HyperEVM, while also focusing on enhancing the spot trading experience, deploying PropAMM, and managing the token lifecycle (from long-tail AMM initiation → deep liquidity → HyperCore spot order book → HIP-3 perpetual contracts).

The sequencer fee distribution is clear: 25% goes to developers, 25% enters the Kinetiq treasury, and 50% is used for public market repurchase of KNTQ, and all is burned (through the Hyperliquid Assistance Fund). Kinetiq states that Elysium is coming soon, and technical specifications and core partner information will be announced subsequently.

After the announcement, KNTQ briefly rose over 30%, then fell back.

POL: Polygon advances staking and token economics reform, staking yields expected to double

Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal stated on August 23-24 that in response to strong community demand, the team is advancing proposals for staking and token economics reform.

The core content includes: introducing a native staking mechanism similar to L1 in Polygon PoS (which can run concurrently with Ethereum staking); the priority fees for each transaction will be allocated to POL stakers (PIP-85 has been approved, and the native staking can simplify implementation); staking yields are expected to nearly double, with the increment primarily coming from real network fees rather than inflation; staked POL may receive gas discounts as additional incentives; and sPOL remains liquid and usable in DeFi.

Nailwal also revealed that Polygon’s revenue has grown 10 times this year, currently reaching 5000 TPS, with block times reduced by 25%, and efforts are ongoing to bring block time under 1 second. Polygon Labs will be responsible for code development and submission for community forum approval.

Other Catalyst Highlights

NEAR: Launching confidential perpetual contracts powered by Hyperliquid.

NEAR has previously launched Hyperliquid perpetual contracts on near.com, and users can directly deposit assets from 35+ chains to trade on 50+ markets. The official statement has previously made it clear that "the next step is confidential perps." Combined with NEAR's already launched Confidential Intents (private shard execution to avoid MEV and strategy exposure), the confidential perpetual contracts are seen as a natural extension.

Extended: Announcing a European compliance pathway.

Extended plans to establish a dedicated regulatory framework in Europe to gain access for direct engagement with EU retail users, as well as B2B distribution through brokers, fintech, and consumer platforms. The project emphasizes this is a significant expansion of existing business, while also impacting the manner of TGE preparations (including compliance work for tokens and company structures).

Macro Event: Kevin Warsh's speech at Jackson Hole on August 28.

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh will deliver his first significant public speech since taking office at the Jackson Hole annual meeting. The market focuses on his statements regarding communication style, inflation path, and interest rate framework, especially against the backdrop of record US Treasury yields and public debt.