Executive brief
Bitcoin is testing the $80,000 level following a historic week that saw the asset gain 24% since Monday. The rally has been underpinned by a tweak in US Treasury buybacks, which pulled long-term yields from 19-year highs and triggered a record short squeeze. Data indicates that over $4.3 billion in shorts have been liquidated since mid-week, clearing resistance levels as institutional demand through spot ETFs surged. On Thursday alone, Bitcoin and Ether ETFs pulled in a combined $827 million, confirming a sustained institutional bid.
Regulatory developments are providing a structural tailwind as the SEC proposed new rules allowing projects to raise up to $75 million while offering a path to end securities contracts once networks become decentralised. Simultaneously, the Clarity Act has been scheduled for a US Senate procedural test on 15 September. While these moves suggest a maturing policy environment, investors face risks from thin weekend liquidity and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. However, the opportunity remains for miners like Riot Platforms to unlock significant portions of their treasuries as falling loan-to-value ratios potentially release over 1,547 BTC from restricted collateral.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- How a Treasury buyback tweak helped bitcoin surge 25% to nearly $80,000 in days; the move pulled yields off 19-year highs and triggered a record short squeeze.
- SEC proposes a path for crypto projects to raise $75 million and later end the token’s securities contract; the new Regulation Crypto Assets proposal allows for raises up to $75m with specific disclosure rules.
- Bitcoin, ether and solana climb as another $1 billion shorts get wiped out; total short liquidations over two days have surpassed $4b.
- Zcash jumps 48% to over $800 as Grayscale spot ETF push adds to ‘next bitcoin’ buzz; ZEC traded above its January 2018 peak as futures volume hit billions of dollars.
- Avalanche Tokenized Asset Value Crosses $3B As RWA Push Grows; total real-world asset value reached the $3b milestone following major securities migrations.
- Nomura-backed Laser Digital wins Japan’s first crypto approval in four years; the firm will offer liquidity to domestic providers before expanding to institutional trading.
- Solana Governance Proposals Target Fee Burns And Faster Disinflation; a new package aims for a 1.5% terminal inflation rate by 2029.
- Arbitrum ZK Settlement Plan Could Cut Withdrawals From Days To Hours; work is advancing to reduce current 7-day withdrawal windows using zero-knowledge proofs.
- Bitcoin rally may free up 1,547 BTC for Riot Platforms; falling loan-to-value ratios near $78,000 could return $120.7m in collateral to the miner.
- Just 1% of wallets control $133M in midterm odds on Polymarket; ten wallets alone produce 17% of congressional betting volume across thousands of seats.
- MANTRA token plunges 18% to record low as blockchain halts after exploit; the network stopped producing blocks following a software vulnerability exploit.
- BitMart weighs partial restart and creditor payouts weeks after announcing shutdown; a detailed roadmap is expected from restructuring counsel by 9 Sept.
- Sandbox stops Base and BNB chain bridging after exploit; the attack impacted under 0.01% of the SAND token supply.
- Adam Back’s Bitcoin treasury deal died, but its $15M obligation did not; BSTR must pay a $15m termination fee after its SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners collapsed.
- Optimism Moves 546.9M OP From Airdrop Reserve To Strategic Fund; governance approved reallocating tokens valued at $49m toward partnerships.
- Aave Debt Concentration Raises Risk Questions After Ethereum Volatility; fewer than 9% of loan positions account for approximately half of total outstanding debt.
- Ripple backs an RLUSD credit fund amid XRP’s best week in months; an institutional lending product is being built using the upcoming RLUSD stablecoin.
- Crypto advocates join in suing Illinois over digital asset tax; industry groups are challenging the state’s recently approved 0.2% crypto tax.
- Cardano Sets Two-Phase Dijkstra Scaling Roadmap For Leios Era; Phase 1 targets Linear Leios code completion in Q4 2026.
- Coldcard ships firmware after $114 million bitcoin theft; AI tools were used to identify bugs following a breach that cost users $114m.
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | $307,453,306.12 | $184,932,208.88 |
| Value traded | $6,371,116,431 | $1,672,525,027.3 |
| Net assets | $96,069,419,933.81 | $14,294,616,403.99 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $53,706,123,160.81 | $12,150,089,895.28 |
3) X trending news
- Trump threatens military bond intervention; the former president suggested utilizing the US military to lower Treasury yields.
- Exploding crypto ETF demand; Bitcoin ETFs saw $507m in inflows on Thursday, the highest since May.
- Solana surges above $100; SOL hit the $100 level for the first time since February as the market rally gained momentum.
- US-Canada trade war escalates; the US officially imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian imports, with Canada matching the move dollar for dollar.
- $550m in longs liquidated; more than $550m worth of long positions were wiped out from the crypto market in a single hour.
- Jim Cramer backs Bitcoin; the television personality told viewers to “go buy Bitcoin” as the asset surpassed $79,000.
- Nasdaq 100 attracts record inflows; the QQQ ETF has seen $10.9b in inflows in August, more than doubling July’s total.
- China real estate investment collapses; real estate investment in China fell 19.2% year-on-year, the largest drop on record.
