Market highlights
- Ethereum made a strong break above US$4,000, reaching its highest prices since 2021.
- Bitcoin dominance declined below 60% before rebounding slightly.
- President Trump signed an executive order allowing crypto assets in 401(k) accounts.
- President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting banks from refusing to serve crypto companies.
- U.S. SEC exempts liquid staking services from securities regulations.
Markets Overview
TradFi markets regained much of the previous week’s losses as risk-on sentiment returned on the likelihood of a rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve at its September meeting, rising to almost 90%. The increasing chance of a rate cut came as President Trump reached a deal with Nvidia and AMD on AI chip exports to China (the companies will pay 15% of revenue derived from sales to China to the U.S. Government).
Later in the week, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said a “freeze” in the war in Ukraine may be near as the U.S. and Russia consider a meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin over the coming days. Japan also agreed to a trade deal with the U.S., sending the Nikkei close to all-time highs as the new week started on August 11.
In other news that may support a more aggressive rate cut agenda from the Fed, Governor Adriana Kugler resigned effective August 8. President Trump nominated bitcoin-friendly economist Stephen Miran to replace Kugler and serve through to January 31, 2026.
Also this week, the Bank of England cut its official bank rate by 25 basis points to 4%, and Canada’s unemployment rate came in just below forecast at 6.9%. Looking to the week ahead, traders and investors will presumably monitor the next release of U.S. inflation data, determining if it provides further support for a September rate cut.
Weekly performance: S&P 500 +2.4%, Dow Jones +1.4%, Nasdaq +3.9%.
Looking ahead:
- Reserve Bank of Australia rate decision – August 12
- U.S. core CPI – August 12 and U.S. core PPI – August 14
- Preliminary UoM consumer sentiment – August 15
- U.S. Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Symposium – August 21 to 23
Crypto Market Sector Performance
Most crypto sectors saw gains this week on bullish sentiment driven by regulatory developments, expectations of a rate cut and renewed Ethereum strength.
Biggest gainer
- Staking Services: LidoDAO (+61%) saw gains on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) guidance that certain staking activities will not be regulated under existing securities laws (more on that below).
Biggest loser
- Privacy coins: Monero (-12.1%) declined, presumably as privacy-focused projects and coins face uncertainty over the potential regulatory impacts of the case against Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm (more on that below).
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Opened the week at US$114,215 and rallied towards US$123,000 due to the likelihood of rate cuts starting in the U.S. from September and signs of altseason beginning. BTC declined to start the new week (+3.3% 7D)
- BTC dominance rapidly declined below 60% but later reversed back towards 61%, demonstrating early signs that altseason may be near.
- Bitcoin investment products saw US$260 million of inflows this week.
As bitcoin regained some of last week’s losses, a whale holding US$349 million worth of BTC moved crypto for the first time in ten years, sending 100 BTC from across 30 addresses to a list of new addresses. The coins being transferred to other wallets, not an exchange, suggest potential reorganisation of the whale’s holdings and aren’t necessarily an indicator that the BTC will be sold. In other BTC whale news, crypto firm Galaxy Digital announced that Strategy and Trump Media absorbed the US$9 billion worth of BTC recently sold by Galaxy on behalf of a Satoshi-era whale.
Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss invested an undisclosed amount of BTC into American Bitcoin Corp., the bitcoin mining company backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. The company acquired around US$2 billion in recent months.
El Salvador approved an Investment Banking Law permitting private investment banks to hold bitcoin and other digital assets on their balance sheets. Under this framework, banks serving “sophisticated investors” can obtain a Digital Asset Service Provider (PSAD) license and even operate entirely as bitcoin banks.
In bitcoin buying news:
- Harvard has accumulated US$116 million worth of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust shares. Similarly, Brown University increased its holdings of BlackRock’s BTC ETF to US$13 million.
- Strategy bought 155 BTC, bringing its holdings to 628,946 BTC.
- Block Inc. bought 108 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 8,692 BTC, worth approximately US$1 billion.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$3,497, and rallied to make a strong break above US$4,000 for the first time in eight months, and the highest prices since the 2021 altcoin season (+13.3% 7D).
- This week’s rally saw Ethereum dominance increase from 11.5% to a top of 13.3% before pulling back slightly, indicating the part of the market cycle where ETH outperforms BTC may soon arrive.
- Ethereum-focused funds saw the highest inflows of digital asset exchange-traded funds (ETFs), gaining US$268 million.
Ethereum transactions are nearing all-time highs as activity on the network surges. Daily transactions on August 5 totalled 1.86 million, just shy of the 1.96 million record reached on January 14, 2024. Growing stablecoin and Uniswap activity are driving much of this growth, with daily transactions on the Ethereum network almost doubling since the start of 2025.
In Ethereum buying news:
- BitMine Immersion now holds 833,137 ETH worth US$3 billion, making it the third-largest crypto treasury in the world and the largest ETH treasury.
Fundamental Global Inc (FGF) announced it’s going to raise US$5 billion to buy more Ethereum. FGF shares gained 5% on the news.
- Sharplink is raising US$200 million to fund further ETH purchases. The capital raise will be completed through the sale of common stock at US$19.50 per share. The company bought a further US$265 million of ETH this week, bringing its holdings to 521,939 ETH.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Altcoins
The crypto market saw some strong gains this week, primarily led by Ethereum strength, which also saw many altcoins rally. While bitcoin’s dominance declined below 60%, it regained some strength over the weekend, currently placing the altcoin season index at 29 (bitcoin season).
DEXcellent
- Aerodrome (AERO) gained 35.7% following the announcement of Coinbase’s Base decentralised exchange (DEX) integration, where Aerodrome and other Base DEXs will be used to facilitate trades, swaps and other transactions.
Cross-chain gains
- LayerZero (ZRO) gained 29.4%. The cross-blockchain messaging protocol’s team announced that it’s proposing a US$110 million acquisition of crypto protocol Stargate.
- Stargate Finance (STG) grew by 22.8% on LayerZero’s proposed acquisition of the project.
High stakes
- Pendle (PENDLE) grew by 29.2% as the U.S. SEC’s guidance on staking activities provided clarity to DeFi and yield-trading protocols, such as Pendle.
- Unifi Protocol DAO (UNFI) gained 23% also due to the clarity surrounding staking activities.
Never break the chain
- ChainLink (LINK) gained 22.9%. The team announced it’s establishing a ChainLink reserve through payment abstraction, which uses off-chain and on-chain revenue to convert the fees into LINK to capitalise the reserve. LINK gained 11% on the news and 33% on the week.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw inflows of US$572 million this week, presumably due to expectations of a September rate cut and President Trump’s executive order to allow crypto investments in 401(k) accounts.
Altcoins saw inflows, with Solana, XRP and Near gaining US$21. million, US$18.4 million and US$10.1 million, respectively.
CoinShares submitted an S-1 form to apply for a Solana Staking ETF, which would be listed on the Nasdaq. It follows other firms filing in recent weeks to stake a portion of their crypto holdings used to back their ETF products, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and 21Shares.
Litecoin hit a five-month high of US$129 as optimism around an ETF approval grows. The odds of a Litecoin ETF being approved in 2025 currently stand at 80%.
Other crypto news
- President Trump signed an executive order on August 7, allowing U.S. 401(k) retirement plans to include alternative assets like cryptocurrency, private equity, and real estate. The directive instructs regulators, including the Labour Department, the U.S. SEC, and the Treasury, to update rules, though critics warn this could expose retirees to higher fees, volatility, and reduced liquidity. The order could lead to billions of U.S. retirement funds flowing into crypto.
- Another crypto-focused executive order was also signed by President Trump. The order prohibits banks from denying services to crypto companies in an effort to eliminate practices such as “operation chokepoint,” which made it difficult for crypto companies to engage with TradFi systems, particularly banking, in the previous administration.
- The U.S. SEC has exempted liquid staking services, including Ethereum’s Lido and Solana’s Jito, from securities regulations. This decision allows these platforms to issue staking tokens and distribute rewards without SEC registration. It follows a similar relief granted in May for other staking activities.
- The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is seeking public feedback on a proposal to allow federally regulated futures exchanges to host spot cryptocurrency trading. This initiative, led by Acting Chair Caroline Pham, aims to leverage existing CFTC frameworks to regulate spot crypto markets within 12 to 18 months.
- Crypto infrastructure company behind PayPal’s PYUSD, Paxos, has applied for a US national trust bank charter. The company first applied for a charter in December 2020 and received conditional approval in 2021, but the approval expired as the bank was not opened within the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s 18-month timeline. It follows Circle and Ripple’s recent applications for a national banking charter after the GENIUS Act was signed into law.
- The SEC and Ripple have jointly withdrawn their appeals in the long-running XRP lawsuit, formally closing the case, while each side will cover its own legal expenses. The 2023 ruling stands, where XRP sales on public exchanges are not securities, but institutional sales were in violation of U.S. securities regulations. XRP gained 10% on the news. Earlier in the week, Ripple announced it would acquire Toronto-based payments platform, Rail, for US$200 million to expand its stablecoin payments services.
- Bo Hines, Executive Director of the White House’s Digital Assets Council, has announced his resignation to return to the private sector. During his tenure, he shaped key crypto policy, including the GENIUS Act and led a working group urging the SEC to establish dedicated digital asset rules. Deputy Director Patrick Witt will reportedly succeed Hines.
- Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong unit has partnered with Animoca Brands and telecom firm HKT to form a joint venture, Anchorpoint Financial. The new company will apply for a stablecoin issuer license under Hong Kong’s newly enacted licensing regime that started on August 1.
- The Ethereum Foundation has pledged to match up to $500,000 in community donations to support the legal defence of Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm. He was found guilty of unlicensed money transmission on August 6 and faces possible retrials on more serious charges. Storm’s appeal funding now reflects a broader defence of privacy-focused code development.
- Stablecoin issuer Paxos, behind PayPal USD (PYUSD) and Pax Dollar (USDP), has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter. Approval would place Paxos under federal oversight, allowing nationwide operations and aligning it with similar moves from Circle and Ripple. The application follows a recent $48.5 million settlement with New York regulators over compliance issues linked to its former Binance partnership.
