Kraken Hit with 'Dust Attack', Tariffs Spark Market Volatility as RLUSD Surpasses $2 Billion

The crypto market saw several developments on August 26, with multiple factors contributing to its volatility. One of the key events was a 'dust attack' targeting Kraken, where a sanctioned wallet sent nearly 12,000 small deposits to linked addresses over eight days, triggering account freezes.

The attack was confirmed by Kraken and attributed to Arkham Intelligence's tracing. The exchange stated that the goal seemed less like theft and more like disruption, spreading sanctioned funds around to force compliance reviews across the industry.

Another factor affecting the market was the escalating trade tension between the US and Canada, with Trump imposing a 50% tariff on certain Canadian goods, prompting Canada's Prime Minister Carney to respond with tiered tariffs covering about $20 billion of annual US imports.

The tariff news contributed to a risk-off sentiment in the market, causing crypto prices to drop. In contrast, Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin reached a milestone of over $2 billion in market cap, while XRP traded at $1.41 with an $88.575 billion market cap.