Markets limped into the evening after a hotter-than-expected inflation print sparked more than 1 billion dollars in crypto liquidations and shaved roughly 133 billion dollars off total market cap. Even so, rate cut hopes are not dead, and the day was far from risk-off across the board. Coinbase flagged early signs of an altcoin season as Bitcoin dominance slipped and non-Bitcoin names rallied over 50 percent since July, setting the stage for a possible rotation from Bitcoin (BTC) into the broader market by September. If leadership is changing, Ethereum (ETH) is making its case. Spot Ether ETFs in the United States have now pulled in more than 3 billion dollars in net inflows in the first half of August, with daily pace near 700 million dollars and assets under management cresting new highs. That demand helped push Ethereum’s market cap to a record and left all holders in profit, according to several trackers, even as performance still zigzags versus Bitcoin. The broader alt complex is showing selective heat too. XRP (XRP) whipsawed alongside the liquidations, but whale accumulation and technicals have bulls eyeing an eventual breakout if volatility cooperates. Stablecoins continue their quiet march into the financial plumbing. New forecasts see dollar-pegged tokens potentially reaching over 1 trillion dollars in annual payment volumes by the end of the decade, rising from about 1 percent of the U.S. money supply today to a possible 10 percent by 2030. If that path holds, reduced cross-border fees and faster settlement would be a tailwind for adoption, but it also puts stablecoins like USDC (USDC) squarely in the conversation for monetary policy and market structure. Policy watchers had plenty to chew on. The Federal Reserve is ending its novel activities oversight program and folding crypto and fintech reviews back into standard bank supervision, a signal that may ease banks’ path to working with digital assets. At the Securities and Exchange Commission, Project Crypto surfaced as an effort to modernize the playbook around non-securities classification, issuance, custody, and trading while keeping investor protections intact. In New York, a newly proposed 0.2 percent tax on crypto and NFT transactions touched a nerve, with critics warning it could nudge activity offshore even as proceeds are earmarked for education and prevention programs. And on the enforcement front, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Russian-linked exchange Garantex and related entities over alleged sanctions evasion via stablecoins, while the Justice Department seized 2.8 million dollars tied to a ransomware operator in a continuing push against cybercrime. Hong Kong tightened the screws on platform safety with new custody standards for crypto exchanges, setting minimums for cold storage, management oversight, third-party checks, and active threat monitoring. The city is betting that higher bars for asset protection will woo institutional capital and differentiate compliant platforms from the pack. In Vietnam, South Korea’s Dunamu, the company behind Upbit, teamed up with MB Bank to launch the country’s first licensed crypto exchange, a notable milestone following new legislation that greenlit digital assets. Corporate headlines spanned hardware, tokens, and strategy. Jack Dorsey’s Block unveiled the Proto Rig, a modular and repairable Bitcoin miner, plus open-source fleet software designed to cut operating costs and extend machine lifespan, ultimately pushing mining to be more decentralized and resilient for operators on the Bitcoin (BTC) network. OKX executed a record token burn, permanently retiring 278,999,999 OKB to shrink supply to 21 million. The 26 billion dollar reduction coincided with a sharp price move in OKB (OKB), and the exchange said it plans to wind down OKTChain by 2026 as it refocuses resources. Meanwhile, American Bitcoin, a company linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is exploring acquisitions in Japan and Hong Kong to grow its Bitcoin reserves and is weighing a potential U.S. listing via reverse merger as it leans into Asian market depth. On the industry advocacy front, more than 80 crypto and fintech leaders urged President Trump to block proposed bank fees for data access, arguing the charges would hamper core business models and slow innovation in open finance. In the courts, Digital Currency Group sued its bankrupt subsidiary Genesis over a promissory note tied to the 2022 market turmoil, another chapter in the long unwind that followed the Three Arrows Capital collapse. Despite the late-day macro shock, the tone into the night felt more rotational than retreat. If Coinbase is right about capital rotating beyond Bitcoin, and if Ethereum ETF demand keeps compounding, the back half of the quarter could see leadership broaden. The counterweight is a still-fickle policy backdrop, where friendlier bank supervision and new SEC frameworks are offset by sanctions actions and fresh tax proposals. For now, builders are shipping, Asia is opening more doors, and stablecoins are quietly scaling into the rails. That mix may be enough to keep risk appetite alive once today’s liquidations clear.
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📈💰The Federal Reserve announced today that it will maintain its current interest rates, citing a strong job market and moderate economic growth. This decision comes as no surprise to those in the crypto community, as many have been anticipating this outcome for weeks. However, this news may have some investors feeling slightly disappointed, as they were hoping for a rate cut to boost the market.💸💻Crypto tickers such as BTC, ETH, and XRP have been trending upwards in recent weeks, with many investors hoping for a continued bull run. However, with the Fed's decision to keep interest rates steady, some may be wondering if this will have a negative impact on the market. While it's impossible to predict the exact effect on crypto prices, it's important to remember that the Fed's decision is based on a variety of factors and not solely on the crypto market.📉🌎The Fed's decision also has implications for the stock market, with many investors closely watching the anno...
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