In markets
Crypto markets surged after US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech, which renewed optimism for interest rate cuts ahead. The US stock market hit its highest valuation in history, surpassing the Dot-Com bubble and the lead-up to the Great Depression. While Solana, Dogecoin, and BNB jumped higher after the speech, all eyes were on Ethereum, which hit a new all-time high of A$7,641/ US$4,953 for the first time since 2021.
Unfortunately, the wheels fell off on Monday after a Bitcoin whale dumped 24,000 Bitcoin, causing cascading liquidations (the whale swapped into 416,000 ETH). Ethereum is now down 11.5% since its weekend peak, with Bitcoin down about the same amount from its all-time high on August 14. Decrypt reports Bitcoin’s technical picture looks weak. Bitcoin is currently trading at A$169,442/US$109,725, which is 5.6% down from seven days ago, while Ethereum ends the week flat at A$6,761/US$4,372. ETH/BTC is currently at 0.03993. Despite the gloomy sentiment, among the majors, only Cardano suffered a fall greater than 10% for the week. September is usually a pretty grim month for prices, with Bitcoin declining 3.77% and ETH falling 6.42% on average historically. Debate over the end of the bull market continues, with Glassnode saying four-year cycles are still very much in play, while Bitcoin Magazine’s David Bailey says they’re a thing of the past and BTC won’t go into a bear market for years. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index is at 47, or Neutral.
From the OTC desk
Crypto markets reel after Powell’s Jackson Hole remarks
Bears dominated markets this week, but bids emerged late Friday during Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole speech. The primary bullish catalyst was the Fed’s shift from a strict 2% inflation target to a more flexible framework. This has raised expectations for a 25-basis-point rate cut at the September meeting, with futures now indicating an 84.6% probability, up from 62% a month ago. However, the rally faded quickly, with cryptocurrency markets plunging Monday evening and Tuesday morning, fueling speculation of a cycle peak. Liquidations totalled approximately $945 million over the past 24 hours amid the high volatility.
Crypto market crash sparks equity contagion
Crypto-linked equities faced heavy selling pressure as traders locked in profits from Friday’s rally. MARA Holdings and Circle each fell about 6% on Monday, while newly listed Bullish dropped 5%. Other crypto-related stocks, including Strategy, declined by 3%. The market is grappling with shifting Federal Reserve signals, a stronger dollar, and broader risk-off sentiment. Chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish undertones tempered optimism despite growing expectations for a September rate cut.
OTC desk activity
- Saw some profit-taking on altcoins and modest BTC dip-buying
- Noticeable uptick in stablecoin purchases
Key economic calendar events (AEST)
- Wednesday, August 27 2025, 12:00 AM: US – Conference Board Consumer Confidence
- Thursday, August 28 2025, 10:30 PM US – GDP (Q2; forecast: 3.1%)
- Friday, August 29 2025, 10:30 PM – US Core PCE / Trade Balance
For any further information, please feel free to reach out.
In Headlines
Ethereum’s God Candle
Ethereum surged 14% on Saturday in a “god candle” amid a rotation from Bitcoin to Ethereum as speculation mounts that the platform could become Wall Street’s new financial backbone. The surge wiped out more than US$357 million (A$551M) worth of short positions in a day and occurred when the Fear and Greed Index was at neutral. Notably, a few hours before the surge, the Wall Street Journal reported that smart money, including Peter Thiel, is now betting that Ethereum “could become Wall Street’s platform of choice to launch new financial products and services.” NovaDius Wealth Management President Nate Geraci attributed ETH’s recent outperformance to Wall Street finally getting their heads around its more complex narrative versus Bitcoin’s Digital Gold. “Now they’re hearing ‘backbone of future financial markets’ & it’s resonating,” he said. The staking queue has 849,730 ETH trying to exit and 588,536 trying to enter.
Digital Asset Treasuries
Tom Lee’s BitMine acquired another 190,500 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings of crypto and cash to US$8.8 billion (A$13.6B). ETHzilla has announced plans to raise up to US$10 billion (A$15.4B) via stock offerings to buy ETH. Joe Lubin’s Sharplink Gaming has authorised a US$1.5 billion (A$2.31B) plan to buy back stock if the stock price is lower than the amount of ETH held per share. Co-CEO Joseph Chalom, formerly of BlackRock, said the authorisation is part of a “disciplined capital markets strategy.” The Hong Kong-based, Nasdaq-listed construction company Ming Shing Group Holdings has struck a US$483 million (A$745M) deal to acquire 4,250 Bitcoin via share issuance. Another Bitcoin treasury company, MetaPlanet, looks set to be added to the FTSE Japan Index. MicroStrategy, meanwhile, has been diluting existing holders by selling 875,301 more shares to raise US$309 million (A$477M) with mNAV at 1.59x.
Big outflows from ETFs last week
After losing close to a billion dollars USD across three days of outflows last week, the Ether ETFs turned the corner with significant inflows on Thursday and Friday. The overall outflow for the week was still US$241.1 million (A$372M); however, that was much better than the Bitcoin ETFs, which bled US$1.178 billion (A$1.81B) in outflows. Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary, CoinShares, Franklin, 21Shares, and WisdomTree filed updated S-1 amendments for their spot XRP ETF applications, suggesting approval is drawing closer. Canary Capital has applied to list an ETF where all held tokens are “American-made”.
BIS unveils plan to ban ‘bad’ coins
Economists at the Bank of International Settlements have proposed outlawing any cryptocurrency that has ever passed through a non-KYC wallet to combat money laundering. The proposal aims to implement a history for every coin’s movement and a risk matrix, where Tradfi will refuse to accept any coin that is not on the “allow” list. “While some users may reasonably claim to have received a tainted token in good faith if information on illicit use is scarce,” the paper states, “such an argument would be less persuasive if there were widespread and affordable compliance service providers.”
Asia crypto news roundup
Reuters reports growing interest in crypto from wealthy family offices in Asia, with UBS saying some Chinese family offices plan to allocate up to 5% to crypto. A lawmaker in the Philippines has introduced a new Bitcoin reserve bill into the house, proposing that the country’s central bank buy 2,000 Bitcoin each year for five years and then put it all into cold storage for 20 years. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) ordered local crypto exchanges to suspend the launch of new lending services until its new regulatory framework is complete. Ripple has partnered with SBI Holdings to distribute its stablecoin Ripple USD (RLUSD) in Japan. RLUSD has also just gone live on Aave’s V3 market on Ethereum.
Singapore banks’ crypto structured notes
Singapore bank DBS has announced it will tokenise structured notes on Ethereum. Structured notes typically blend debt securities and derivative contracts to offer exposure to a range of assets such as stocks and commodities, while paying a regular return. In this case, the underlying asset will be crypto. “Asset tokenisation is the next frontier of financial markets infrastructure,” said DBS’ Head of Foreign Exchange and Digital Assets, Li Zhen. “Our first tokenised product, a crypto-linked note, also addresses the growing institutional appetite for digital assets.”
Digital Euro on public blockchains?
European regulators are ramping up efforts to launch a digital Euro, after the passage of the Genius Stablecoin Act in the US increased pressure to act. The EU is concerned that dollar-backed stablecoins will dominate cross-border transactions if they don’t get moving, and officials are now considering launching the CBDC on a public blockchain like Ethereum or Solana rather than on private infrastructure as initially envisioned. The quick passage of the US law “rattled a lot of people”, one source told the Financial Times. “They’re saying, ‘Let’s speed up, let’s push.’”
The Moonshot Dispatch
Join us every Tuesday at 3 pm (AEST) for a live market update. Hosted by Lee Eaton and Nick Fletcher, we cover the latest crypto news and price movements. Tune in weekly on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook & TikTok.
Need reminding? Subscribe to our YouTube channel and allow notifications to stay in the loop.
Until next week, happy trading!
