Today's news highlights:
Sequans plans to acquire 100,000 bitcoins by 2030
Coinbase completes the $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, becoming the global leader in cryptocurrency derivatives
SEC postpones decision on Bitwise and 21Shares' Solana ETF proposal to October 16
Citigroup is considering providing custody and payment services for stablecoins and cryptocurrency ETFs
Coinbase: The altcoin season may fully arrive in Q3, and the Fed's easing policy may release more potential in the medium term
Ronin will upgrade from sidechain to Ethereum L2, expected to be completed between Q1 and Q2 next year
Greeks.live: 39,000 BTC and 280,000 ETH options are about to expire, with the maximum pain point for ETH at $4,000
Arthur Hayes increased his holdings in HYPE, LDO, and ENA
Ethereum spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $640 million yesterday, continuing a streak of 8 days of net inflows
Macroeconomics
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission clarifies the robust custody standards for virtual asset trading platforms
According to Jin10, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission today issued a circular to all licensed virtual asset trading platforms, clarifying its requirements for robust custody of customers' virtual assets, laying a solid foundation for the industry to gradually adopt more advanced custody technologies under the ASPIRe roadmap. In the latest circular, the Commission lists several good operating practices and the minimum standards that virtual asset trading platform operators should meet, covering responsibilities of senior management, infrastructure and operations of customers' cold wallets, application of third-party wallets, and real-time threat monitoring. In the future, these standards will also become core regulatory requirements for virtual asset custodians and help promote the establishment of an effective virtual asset custody framework in the industry.
US SEC Chairman will discuss Project Crypto on the program tonight at 20:30
US SEC Chairman Paul Atkins tweeted that he will discuss Project Crypto on the 'Mornings with Maria' program tonight at 20:30 (UTC+8).
52 organizations including the American Bankers Association jointly call for amendments to the stablecoin legislation (GENIUS Act)
According to Coindesk, the American Bankers Association and other bank lobbying groups joined forces with the American Financial Reform Organization (typically a staunch opponent of Wall Street policy objectives) and 52 other banking organizations to jointly send a letter to the Senate Banking Committee leadership, requesting amendments to the stablecoin legislation known as the GENIUS Act. In one letter, banking lobbyists and consumer groups requested the removal of a provision in the bill that would allow state-chartered uninsured deposit institutions to gain a competitive advantage; in another letter, bankers requested a ban on stablecoin-affiliated companies offering yields. Lobbyists are seeking to use future cryptocurrency market structure legislation to thoroughly revise the new stablecoin bill.
SEC postpones decision on Bitwise and 21Shares' Solana ETF proposal to October 16
According to The Block, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the decision on whether to approve the Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal. The SEC stated in the submitted documents that the next deadline for the Bitwise Solana ETF and 21Shares Core Solana ETF is set for October 16. Both documents stated: 'The Commission believes that designating a longer period to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change is appropriate to allow the Commission sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein.' As companies modified their filing documents last month to gain SEC approval, the SOL ETF proposal is making progress. Companies including Proshares, Grayscale, Canary, and 21Shares are all awaiting SEC approval.
Citigroup is considering providing custody and payment services for stablecoins and cryptocurrency ETFs
According to Reuters, Citigroup's Global Partnership and Innovation Head Biswarup Chatterjee stated in an interview that the group is exploring providing custody for stablecoins and other services. Citigroup is also exploring custody services for digital assets that support cryptocurrency-related investment products. For example, since the US SEC approved such products last year, many asset management companies have launched ETFs tracking the spot prices of Bitcoin. Additionally, Citigroup is developing services that allow clients to transfer stablecoins between accounts or convert them into dollars for instant payments, and is discussing relevant use cases with clients.
US stocks closed mixed, Circle (CRCL) fell 9.1%, Bullish (BLSH) rose 9.75%
According to Caixin, US stocks closed mixed, with the S&P 500 index up 0.03%, Nasdaq down 0.01%, and Dow down 0.02%. Among them, the S&P 500 index has set a historical closing high for three consecutive trading days. Coinbase (COIN) fell 0.65%; Circle (CRCL) fell 9.10%; Bullish (BLSH) rose 9.75%.
Views
Coinbase: The altcoin season may fully arrive in Q3, and the Fed's easing policy may release more potential in the medium term
Coinbase stated in its monthly outlook that its outlook for the third quarter of 2025 remains optimistic. As September approaches, the current market conditions suggest that the altcoin season may fully arrive (a common definition of altcoin season is when at least 75% of the top 50 altcoins outperform Bitcoin over the past 90 days). Additionally, there are discussions about whether the Fed's rate cut in September means the cryptocurrency market has peaked. Coinbase believes that given the large amount of retail capital sitting on the sidelines in money market funds (over $7 trillion) and other areas, the Fed's easing policy may release more potential for retail participation in the medium term.
Matrixport: Multiple positive factors resonate to drive asset prices upwards, with the trend expected to continue until 2026
Matrixport stated in its latest research report that the US market is entering a new round of liquidity release cycle, with structural capital support likely to drive Bitcoin and risk assets upwards, with the trend expected to continue until 2026. The current capital structure, credit environment, and the early stages of past bull markets are quite similar: abundant liquidity, improved credit environment, and a policy shift towards dovishness, with multiple positive factors resonating to push asset prices higher. US money market funds have rapidly expanded since the fourth quarter of 2018, growing from $3 trillion to $7.4 trillion, setting a historical high, with current annual interest income reaching $320 billion, constituting a significant inflow into high-yield assets. Meanwhile, corporate buybacks are also accelerating significantly. Since 2025, announced buyback amounts have reached $984 billion, with the annual total expected to exceed $1.1 trillion. Current volatility is low, and this capital will continue to flow into US stocks and boost valuations. The structure of the financial system is further amplifying the effects of liquidity. Since 2008, the Federal Reserve has started paying interest on reserves to banks, with this amount currently reaching $3.4 trillion, generating annual interest of $176 billion. In the current high-interest-rate environment, this mechanism makes money market funds and commercial banks the main beneficiaries. The Fed's pace of rate cuts has lagged market expectations for 32 consecutive months, and to close this gap, roughly 62 basis points of cumulative rate cuts are still needed in the coming months. Credit issuance is recovering. Since April 2025, US commercial and industrial loans have increased by a total of $74 billion, showing early signs of a new round of credit expansion cycle. Since June, credit spreads have continued to narrow, and the financing environment has improved, which historically has usually been favorable for Bitcoin, and this trend has also been preliminarily reflected in Bitcoin's price performance. Inflation is expected to gradually fall back to the Fed's target range of 2%, with volatility tending to converge, providing more ample policy space for a rate cut in September. On the fiscal side, liquidity injection is also being strengthened through bond issuance. Since the 'Big Beautiful Act' raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion, the Treasury has net issued $789 billion in Treasury bonds in less than six weeks. This round of large-scale bond issuance coincides with Bitcoin's new upward trend. Historically, during the fiscal expansion cycle led by Trump, Bitcoin prices often rose in tandem with Treasury bond issuance.
Project Updates
Binance Alpha points over 200 can claim 600 TCOM airdrop rewards
Binance Alpha will launch TCOM Global (TCOM) trading at 20:00 Beijing time on August 15. After trading begins, users holding at least 200 Binance Alpha points can claim 600 TCOM airdrop rewards, on a first-come, first-served basis.
The total supply of OKB has officially decreased to 21 million after the burn
According to Etherscan data, OKEx: OKB Buy-Back and Burn wallet will officially transfer 279 million OKB to the null address 0x00…0000 at 14:00 UTC+8 today, achieving true destruction. The total supply of OKB has officially decreased to 21 million.
Binance: Hold at least 240 Alpha points to claim 430 PUBLIC token airdrop
According to Binance's official announcement, PublicAI (PUBLIC) Alpha trading will start at 15:00 (UTC+8) on August 15. Eligible Binance users can use Binance Alpha points to claim 430 PUBLIC token airdrops within 24 hours after trading begins. The Binance Alpha airdrop will be distributed in two phases: Phase 1 (first 18 hours): Users holding at least 240 Alpha points can claim. Phase 2 (next 6 hours): Users holding at least 200 Alpha points can participate in the second phase airdrop, on a first-come, first-served basis. If the event is not over, the score threshold will automatically decrease by 15 points every hour. Claiming an airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours, otherwise, it will be considered a waiver of the airdrop.
Ronin will upgrade from sidechain to Ethereum L2, expected to be completed between Q1 and Q2 next year
Ronin tweeted that it will upgrade from Ethereum sidechain to Ethereum L2. Ronin is a game-focused public chain that was established four years ago as a sidechain for Axie Infinity, which required a faster and more efficient network. At that time, Ethereum's scalability roadmap was still in its infancy. Now, Ethereum's transaction costs and speeds are better than ever. This upgrade also introduces Proof-of-Distribution, a novel mechanism designed to reward long-term developers. The management verification nodes are reviewing the upgrade plan, and the final hard fork for the Ronin L2 upgrade is expected to be completed between Q1 and Q2 of 2026.
Important Data
Greeks.live: 39,000 BTC and 280,000 ETH options are about to expire, with the maximum pain point for ETH at $4,000
According to Greeks.live monitoring, on August 15, a total of 39,000 BTC options expired, with the maximum pain point at $118,000, nominal value of $4.6 billion; 280,000 ETH options expired, with the maximum pain point at $4,000, nominal value of $1.3 billion. The total value of options expiration in this cycle is nearly $6 billion, accounting for 9% of the current total open interest. BTC and ETH prices reached historical highs, and market sentiment is extremely optimistic. Implied volatility data show that BTC short-term IV remains below 35%, while ETH major term IV reaches 70%, matching potential volatility expectations. The options market has recently shown significant divergence, with frequent block trades, and large transactions on both bullish and bearish sides.
Arthur Hayes increased his holdings in HYPE, LDO, and ENA
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Arthur Hayes increased his holdings in HYPE, LDO, and ENA today. In the past 5 days, Arthur Hayes purchased a total of 1,750 ETH (valued at $7.43 million), 58,631 HYPE (valued at $2.62 million), 3.1 million ENA (valued at $2.48 million), 1.29 million LDO (valued at $1.83 million), 184,610 PENDLE (valued at $1.02 million), and 420,000 ETHFI (valued at $516,000).
Ethereum spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $640 million yesterday, continuing a streak of 8 days of net inflows
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (Eastern Time August 14) saw a total net inflow of $640 million into Ethereum spot ETFs. The Ethereum spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was Blackrock's ETF ETHA, with a single-day net inflow of $520 million, currently totaling $11.827 billion in historical net inflow. The second largest was Grayscale's Ethereum mini trust ETF ETH, with a single-day net inflow of $60.7299 million, currently totaling $1.395 billion in historical net inflow. As of the time of publication, the total asset net value of Ethereum spot ETFs is $29.225 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (compared to Ethereum's total market value) of 5.34%, and a cumulative historical net inflow of $12.727 billion.
Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net inflow of $231 million yesterday, continuing a streak of 7 days of net inflows
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (Eastern Time August 14) saw a total net inflow of $231 million into Bitcoin spot ETFs. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was Blackrock's ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of $524 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $58.559 billion. The second largest was Grayscale's Bitcoin mini trust ETF BTC, with a single-day net inflow of $7.3157 million, currently totaling $1.719 billion in historical net inflow. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net outflow yesterday was Ark Invest and 21Shares' ETF ARKB, with a single-day net outflow of $150 million, currently totaling $2.244 billion in historical net inflow. As of the time of publication, the total asset net value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $153.427 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (compared to Bitcoin's total market value) of 6.54%, and a cumulative historical net inflow of $54.988 billion.
Hyperliquid: 24-hour trading volume reached $29 billion, setting a historical high
Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid tweeted that its 24-hour trading volume reached $29 billion, with fee revenue reaching $7.7 million, setting a historical high.
A new wallet withdrew 53,434 ETH from Kraken over the past two days, valued at $244 million
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a newly created wallet withdrew 53,434 ETH from Kraken over the past two days, valued at $244 million.
Financing/Acquisition
Stablecoin protocol USD.AI completes $13 million in Series A financing, led by Framework Ventures
According to CoinDesk, stablecoin protocol USD.AI announced the completion of $13 million in Series A financing, led by Framework Ventures, with participation from Bullish, Dragonfly, and Arbitrum. USD.AI, developed by Permian Labs, provides loans backed by GPU hardware specifically for AI companies, with an approval efficiency improvement of over 90%. The project has received $50 million in deposits and plans to publicly issue an ICO using a gamified distribution model.
Coinbase completes the $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, becoming the global leader in cryptocurrency derivatives
According to The Block, Coinbase has completed a $2.9 billion cash and stock acquisition of the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange Deribit, with Coinbase now leading in global cryptocurrency derivatives market in terms of open contracts and options trading volume. Deribit's annual trading volume is projected to reach $1.185 trillion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 95%. Founders John Jansen and Marius Jansen have exited the company.
Mesh has completed over $130 million in financing, with investments from PayPal Ventures and Coinbase Ventures
According to The Block, Mesh announced it has secured a new round of investment from PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Uphold, ByBit, SBI Japan, among others, bringing the total financing amount to over $130 million. Part of the new funding is settled in PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin, with Mesh technology supporting instant transfers. Mesh provides cryptocurrency payment infrastructure for businesses, allowing users to pay with over a hundred cryptocurrencies, with merchants able to settle instantly in stablecoins or fiat. The company plans to use the new funding to expand its products and API, serving more payment platforms. According to Cryptorank data, this round of financing amounts to $9.5 million.
Institutional Holdings
Sequans plans to acquire 100,000 bitcoins by 2030
According to Sequans' official announcement, Sequans has announced a strategic plan aimed at accumulating 100,000 bitcoins by the end of 2030. The company launched its bitcoin reserve strategy in July 2025 and currently holds 3,171 bitcoins, ranking 22nd among publicly listed companies worldwide. Sequans will continuously optimize its asset structure through phased capital operations, including equity issuance, bitcoin-backed credit, and monetization of intellectual property, to achieve long-term financial stability.
Jeffs’ Brands announces the launch of an AI-supported cryptocurrency treasury program, planning to invest $75 million
According to GlobeNewswire, Jeffs’ Brands will collaborate with Quantum Crypto to launch an AI-driven cryptocurrency treasury management program, planning to invest up to $75 million to optimize returns from Bitcoin and major stablecoins. Quantum Crypto will manage the treasury and compliance, while Jeffs’ Brands retains ownership of the assets. The service provider will charge setup fees, management fees, and performance shares, and will receive company warrants.
