If there is anything one must expect from the crypto industry, it’s change. Every month or week can uncover something new and exciting for all of its users and the future of your investments. Three news items in particular stand out in August 2025, and their impact is likely to play a huge role in how crypto as an ecosystem develops in 2026.
Pepe Coin successor race highlights three favourites
Pepe Coin (PEPE) was one of the top memecoins in history, but it lost over $6 billion in market cap in February 2025. Lack of utility is the primary reason for its downfall. This dramatic collapse left a power vacuum that many crypto raced to fill. Only three earned the spotlight as potential successors: Bitcoin Hyper (HYPER), Pepe Dollar (PEPD), and Lil Pepe (LILPEPE).
Each of them has different appeal and weaknesses. Bitcoin Hyper has a strong brand association with its namesake, but lacks tangible utility. Pepe Dollar has strong tokenomics, enough to be accepted in some of the biggest bitcoin casinos, but its satirical branding can deter investors from taking it seriously. Lil Pepe rides a strong headwind of hype, but no foundation to capitalize on momentum.
What are the differences, and who is the favourite?
HYPER is created as a faster and more scalable version of Bitcoin (BTC). Sharing the name of one of the world’s most valuable digital assets helped its branding, but it has its merits. It offers strong transaction times and reduced fees.
PEPD is a MemeFi token that blends meme culture with concrete payment infrastructure. It includes features like Ethereum layer-2 scaling and Payment Finance (Pay-Fi) for mobile and gaming use. PEPD also comes with Federal Burn as a deflationary mechanic.
LILPEPE is a meme coin built on Ethereum, sponsored by presale hype. It recently raised over $13,77 million after its 8th presale stage, giving it a strong following. However, it also suffers from a lack of utility, which was the reason for PEPE’s downfall.
If Pepe Dollar succeeds, what happens to Pepecoin?
Analysts believe that out of the three contenders, PEPD is the best one suited to fulfil what PEPE couldn’t. It has a strong MemeFi framework, including meme-themed mobile games, and a reliable community-powered token burn. PEPD has the potential to become a strong player in meme-centric trading platforms, showcasing the utility that PEPE didn’t have.
PEPD is already widely accepted in many crypto casinos globally. Among the top-rated websites are BC.GAME, Empire.io, and Mega Dice. There are still more brands to explore out there that it should tap into. With enough support, it could one day tap into high-profile websites like Bitcasino and secure high liquidity and transaction volume.
Monero (XMR) 51% takeover disrupted by DDoS attack
Monero (XMR) was one of the first coins launched in 2014 and was one of the crypto giants along with the likes of Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP). Its contemporaries earned mainstream fame, but Monero stayed away from the limelight. Fitting as a privacy-first crypto with a community that appreciates its level of anonymity.
All of that was threatened when Monero was almost centralised in the first week of August 2025 when the Qubic mining pool tried a 51% takeover. An alleged distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack happened that week, disrupting the attempt temporarily.
Qubic’s co-founder, Sergey Ivancheglo, posted on X that the DDoS attack dropped the mining pool’s hashrate from 2.6 gigahashes per second (GH/s) to 0.8 GH/s. In another post, the day after, he claimed that his team had set up protection to mitigate disruption.
Who was behind the DDoS attack?
Founder of Qubic, Ivancheglo, suspects XMRig developer Sergei Chernykh as the mastermind behind the alleged DDoS attack. The Monero mining software developer stated that he has yet to see proof of the attack even happening. Ivancheglo showed screenshots of Chernykh’s messages on a private Discord server of his plans to exploit Qubic.
Chernykh denies his connections with the alleged attack for two reasons. The first is that the DDoS attack is still not confirmed to have happened, and second, the screenshots only show him saying that he’ll ‘share his plans’. On top of that, Chernykh states that many in the Monero community don’t like the takeover, so anyone could have done the alleged attack.
Is a crypto takeover good or bad?
Monero is a popular cryptocurrency for its focus on anonymity. If one entity ends up owning 51% of the blockchain, it can have the following abilities according to Investopedia:
Rewrite the blockchain’s history, removing immutability.
Reverse non-confirmed transactions, enabling them to double-spend coins.
Disrupt transaction confirmation.
Crypto users generally distrust centralized networks. Hence, the Monero community is largely against the idea of a takeover, so the Qubic mining pool’s unsuccessful attempt is good news for most XMR investors.
Algorand shows promising signs of a turnaround
Algorand (ALGO) is a single-layer blockchain focusing on scalability, security, and fast transactions with low fees using a Pure Proof-of-Stake (PPoS) consensus. It has experienced price fluctuations, putting it in the red around 2023. At one point, people considered it a ‘dead project’ and moved on to other assets.
That’s no longer the case as hope returned to ALGO investors today. The asset showed a surge of over 333% in November 2024, where it spiked from $0.11 to $0.47. It has since dropped to $0.18 again in 2025, but an upward trend to $0.29 was seen this July. Analysts are carefully observing its 200-day moving average for the potential of a spectacular recovery.
What happens next for ALGO and its traders?
From a technical standpoint, ALGO’s price is hovering around the 200-day moving average, which continues to trend downward, a potential warning sign of weakening long-term momentum. Despite these headwinds, a rebound could set the stage for a breakout toward the $0.28–$0.30 range. However, any drop below this may threaten the modest gains made.
For now, the current target for ALGO is to recover at least $0.26. This is still a considerable challenge because of its ecosystem being dominated by Tether (USDT), but the stablecoin giant announced it’s pulling support in September. Analysts expect a sharp 6% decline in Algorand’s price, and investors are pressured to sell soon.
It’s an exciting time for crypto users
August 2025 showed exciting development for crypto investors. It spearheaded news like Monero’s attempted takeover, the memecoin battle to succeed Pepecoin’s crown, and Algorand’s surprising upwards trends. These are interesting stories to watch unfold in the later quarters of 2025, and their development will have strong ramifications for 2026.This mix of tension, competition, and recovery is a reminder that crypto’s greatest constant is change. Staying informed on risks like centralisation threats and opportunities like bullish trends is the key to keeping up with the market. This affects all users, whether you’re a trader, long-term investor, or even a gambler at the biggest Bitcoin casinos.
