Executive brief
The crypto market faced a sharp correction following hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole symposium. Warsh’s emphasis on persistent inflation and the potential for a September rate hike triggered a $488m liquidation cascade across the derivatives market, pulling Bitcoin back from a three-month high of $81,455 to levels below $77,000. Despite this macro-induced volatility, institutional and retail infrastructure continues to expand at a rapid pace. Charles Schwab announced the addition of Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink to its trading platform, while BitGo agreed to acquire NYDIG’s institutional trading arm for $42.5m, signalling continued consolidation among custody providers.
This resilience is further evidenced by BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, which captured $277.6m in a single day, effectively carrying the entire ETF market as rival funds saw net outflows. In the stablecoin sector, Circle secured a major sponsorship with Chelsea FC, placing USDC on the club’s jerseys to drive mainstream audience exposure. Meanwhile, Solana validators narrowly passed a proposal to accelerate disinflation, highlighting active governance despite the broader price retreat. While the immediate directional cue is bearish due to rising rate hike odds, the sustained build-out of AI-backed infrastructure, such as the $100m financing facility provided by Bullish for GPU-backed loans, and Bitwise’s Solana ETF reaching $1b in assets, suggests strong underlying demand. The primary risk remains the sensitivity of leveraged positions to Federal Reserve policy shifts, which can erase gains as quickly as they appear. However, the move by major players like Visa and Dunamu to integrate stablecoin payments in South Korea represents a significant opportunity for on-chain settlement growth.
1) Top 20 news headlines
- Fed Chair Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole: ‘We have work to do’ on inflation; traders quickly raised bets on a September rate hike following the hawkish remarks;
- BitGo to buy NYDIG trading arm for $42.5m in cash and stock; the acquisition includes a $15m earnout and adds roughly 30 employees to BitGo;
- Circle’s USDC takes over Chelsea’s jersey in Premier League first sponsorship deal; reports suggest the club was targeting 65 million pounds a year for the sponsorship;
- Charles Schwab to add Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink to crypto trading platform; the financial giant is expanding its Schwab Crypto platform beyond Bitcoin and Ether;
- Solana vote to double disinflation passes by a hair in dramatic finish; Kraken and Galaxy-linked validators switched sides to narrowly pass the supply cut proposal;
- Ethena Foundation proposes fee switch for ENA token buybacks; the proposal aims to turn 95% of net protocol revenue into ENA buybacks;
- SBI buys 20% stake in Indonesia’s Ajaib for $270 million; the investment aims to build a cross-border blockchain-based settlement network in Southeast Asia;
- Bitwise fund is first Solana ETF to hit $1 billion AUM; the fund reached the milestone amid growing institutional interest in Solana;
- Bullish backs USD.AI with $100 million in financing to drive GPU-backed loans; the debt facility will finance AI infrastructure through stablecoin liquidity;
- Bitcoin hits highest level in 3 months before pulling back; BTC briefly touched $81,455 overnight before retreating on macro fears;
- Visa doubles down on South Korea with Dunamu on stablecoin payments; the partnership explores stablecoin remittances and AI commerce integration;
- BlackRock pulled in 115% of all Bitcoin ETF inflows in a single day; IBIT attracted $277.6m while other funds combined for a net $35.3m outflow;
- Ledger says the viral hack was already patched; Ethereum app version 1.22.3 was released to fix two remaining signing flaws;
- IREN shares fall 8% as costly AI transition weighs on earnings; the company is undergoing a transformation into an AI cloud provider costing up to $30 billion;
- Alpha Modus stock crashed 25% after announcing Bitcoin treasury plan; the firm plans to issue more than 10 times its existing share count for 3,170 BTC;
- The Sandbox pledges 1:1 repayment after $700k bridge exploit; eligible holders on Base and BNB Chain will receive treasury-backed SAND;
- Polish Olympic chief arrested in suspected crypto-linked bribe probe; prosecutors are investigating a 40,000 euro watch allegedly given to bypass regulatory hurdles;
- JPMorgan IBIT structured note missed its early exit trigger; the note closed 30.2% below the $63.69 price needed for an automatic call;
- XRP treasury company Evernorth is a vote away from Nasdaq; the SEC cleared paperwork for a merger and potential listing under ticker XRPN;
- Solana traders save 64-year marmot study via OnlyFans and memecoins; the OnlyMarms token generated more than $150,000 in creator fees for the research;
2) BTC and ETH ETF flows
| Metric | BTC | ETH |
|---|---|---|
| Net inflow | $242,238,213.36 | $234,514,809.47 |
| Value traded | $3,451,725,060.5 | $1,379,463,446.6 |
| Net assets | $100,927,069,182.07 | $15,569,066,120.72 |
| Cumulative net inflow | $54,832,406,106.38 | $12,872,333,864.20 |
3) X trending news
- Bitcoin liquidations hit $200 million; BTC fell $3,000 in just 60 minutes as leveraged long positions were wiped out;
- Spot gold falls below $4,500; precious metals slid as Fed Chair Warsh stated price stability is the central bank’s predominant focus;
- September rate hike odds jump to 48%; hawkish comments from the Fed caused a surge in tightening expectations on Polymarket;
- Charles Schwab adds major altcoins; the $13 trillion asset manager will support Solana, Avalanche, and Chainlink for Schwab Crypto accounts;
- Remembering Hal Finney; today marks 12 years since the passing of the first Bitcoin transaction recipient;
- US corporate profits hit record $4.8 trillion; profits surged 22.8% year on year in the second quarter of 2026;
- SpaceX targets $3.5 trillion revenue; Elon Musk predicts the aerospace company will reach the milestone by the year 2033;
