On August 2, Cardano's Chang hard fork went live, incorporating CIP-1694 and marking a significant shift in the network’s governance. The update allows any Cardano Token Authority (ADA) to participate in governance and vote on management actions. The first phase established an Interim Constitutional Committee, with full governing powers expected in 90 days. Cardano’s CTO Giorgio Zinetti described this as a major milestone, positioning Cardano as a leader in on-chain governance.

Elon Musk’s xAI launched Colossus, a groundbreaking AI training cluster using 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, with plans to double its size in the coming months. Colossus is now the most powerful AI training system, surpassing existing models. Nvidia congratulated xAI, noting Colossus’s exceptional performance and energy efficiency.

Mysten Labs introduced the SuiPlay0X1 gaming console, featuring high-end specs and blockchain support. Pre-orders are open, with deliveries starting in 2025. The console supports standard PC games and blockchain-based games, priced at $600 and available for purchase with cryptocurrencies, including SUI, Solana, and Ethereum. This reflects a growing trend of crypto payments, as seen with WhitePay's integration in Ukraine and Ferrari’s expansion of crypto payment options in Europe by 2024.

On August 30, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the first AI-to-AI crypto transaction, where AI agents used crypto tokens to interact and exchange tokens. This advancement highlights the potential for AI agents to use crypto wallets for transactions, enabling instant, global, and free exchanges.

Ripple also revealed plans to introduce smart contracts to the XRP Ledger on August 2. This move aims to enhance the platform’s functionality and attract more developers. The XRPL smart contracts will allow developers to build decentralized applications without formal change processes. Ripple plans to launch the XRPL EVM Sidechain next year, enabling the use of Ethereum Virtual Machine
tools.