A flaw in Solana’s on-chain governance component could have caused a closely contested proposal to fail even if independent token holders supported it, according to security firm Asymmetric Research. The issue was fixed on mainnet before an Aug. 24 governance vote, averting a scenario in which validator inactivity could have suppressed valid votes and pushed SGP-0002 below its required approval threshold.
Asymmetric Research said it disclosed the vulnerability to the Solana Foundation on July 10, with the network’s mainnet fix completed on Aug. 3. The bug affected svmgov, a governance component used to process votes submitted through Solana validators and independent participants.
Under the flawed design, votes submitted independently could fail to count when their associated validators did not cast votes. That created a mismatch between the preferences expressed by token holders and the final tally, particularly in votes where the margin was narrow.
A narrow margin for SGP-0002
The potential effect was unusually concrete in the vote on SGP-0002. Asymmetric Research’s on-chain estimate found that the recorded approval rate of 67.00% could have fallen to 66.65% without the patch. Solana governance rules required 66.67% support for the proposal to pass.
The difference amounts to only 0.35 percentage points, but it illustrates how participation mechanics can decide protocol votes even when most active voters support a measure. Governance systems rely on accurate vote attribution as much as they rely on turnout; a technical failure that sidelines one category of voter can alter an outcome without any change in sentiment.
Solana’s validator structure makes the issue particularly relevant. Validators produce blocks and participate in the network’s consensus process, while governance frameworks can also allow delegated or independently cast votes. A system that treats a validator’s abstention as grounds to disregard a separate voter’s decision would place practical power in the hands of inactive infrastructure operators.
The repair arrived before the August vote, avoiding a public dispute over whether the result reflected the chain’s stated governance rules. The episode also adds to the case for independent security reviews of governance contracts and vote-processing systems, which can carry protocol-level consequences even when they do not directly expose user funds.
Prediction markets cut fees before midterms
Prediction-market platforms are also preparing for a more active U.S. political cycle. Polymarket said it will waive trading fees in eight market categories through the end of October, covering NBA, politics, economics, weather, finance, culture, public statements under its Mentions category, and technology.
The fee waiver comes as Kalshi and Polymarket have recorded sharp increases in trading activity. Combined volume reached $53 billion in July, up from $26 billion in May, according to the figures provided by the platforms’ market activity data. Sports accounted for much of that volume.
Political contracts remain a smaller but increasingly visible portion of the business. Polymarket has averaged roughly $2 billion in monthly political-market volume this year, while Kalshi has remained below $300 million per month, according to the supplied figures. By July, markets on which party would control the U.S. House and Senate had surpassed $30 million in trading volume.
With U.S. midterm elections scheduled for November, lower trading costs could increase activity in contracts tied to campaigns, legislative control and economic policy. Volume alone does not establish forecasting accuracy, and political markets can be influenced by liquidity conditions, headline-driven trading and uneven participation. Their growth nevertheless gives traders a fast-moving venue to express views on election probabilities.
Webull plans Kalshi-listed crypto perpetuals
Webull, the Nasdaq-listed online brokerage, said it plans to offer crypto perpetual contracts to eligible U.S. customers from November. The initial lineup will include bitcoin and other digital assets, with the contracts listed on the CFTC-regulated Kalshi exchange.
The products would be cleared by a Kalshi clearing entity and accessed through existing futures accounts by Webull users approved for futures trading. Perpetual contracts are derivatives designed to track an underlying asset without a fixed expiry date. They are common in offshore crypto markets but have had limited availability through U.S.-regulated retail brokerage channels.
Webull’s plan would connect crypto derivatives demand with a regulated event-contract platform and existing retail futures infrastructure. Eligibility requirements and futures-account approvals will limit access relative to a standard spot crypto offering, while the products can expose users to losses that move faster than the underlying asset because derivatives positions may use leverage.
Institutional hires and Thai expansion
Ethereum Institutional has appointed David Duong as its U.S. lead. Duong previously served as Coinbase’s head of global investment research and held sell-side macro strategy roles for 17 years at HSBC, Santander and Deutsche Bank.
The appointment gives Ethereum Institutional a senior executive with experience spanning crypto research and traditional macro markets. It follows growing interest in structures that connect tokenized assets, stablecoins and blockchain settlement systems with conventional financial products.
Bitget separately said it will acquire Bangkok-based exchange and broker GMO-Z.com Cryptonomics (Thailand) Co., Ltd. The transaction covers shares held by GMO Internet and related shareholders. The target holds Thai licenses for digital-asset exchange and brokerage operations, giving Bitget a regulated route into Thailand rather than requiring the company to build a local operation from scratch.
Security and service alerts remain active
Several companies reported operational issues alongside the market and product developments. Revolut said disruptions affected multiple services, while stating that customer funds and data remained secure. The company said remediation began after it detected the problem earlier in the day.
Cysic said its Cosmos browser was temporarily unavailable, though its mainnet continued operating. Its cross-chain bridge remains paused following a security incident, with funds connected to pending cross-chain transfers held in the bridge contract, according to the company.
Those notices reinforce a more immediate lesson from Solana’s governance fix: blockchain infrastructure can remain operational while an application, bridge, voting mechanism or financial interface contains a weakness that changes how users’ assets or decisions are handled. The distinction becomes especially consequential when governance votes, derivatives trading and cross-chain transfers are involved.
Curious how Solana compares with other majors? Explore our market overview in Top 10 coins to buy in 2024.
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