Compiled by: Nona
Fear and Greed Index: 59 (Greed)
Bitcoin price: $118,899
BTC/ETH spot ETF fund flow (up 8.14)
BTC net inflow: $230.93 million
ETH net inflow: $639.61 million
Regulation/Macro
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has clarified the borrowing custody standards for virtual asset trading platforms to safeguard customer virtual asset security.
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 customer 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 minimum standards that virtual asset trading platform operators should meet, covering responsibilities of senior management, infrastructure and operations of customer cold wallets, third-party wallet applications, and real-time threat monitoring, among others. 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.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary responded regarding cryptocurrency reserves: will not purchase and will use confiscated assets.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Bentsen responded regarding cryptocurrency reserves, stating that the value of Bitcoin reserves is approximately $15 billion to $20 billion, and the sale of Bitcoin holdings will cease. They will not purchase but will use confiscated assets.
Fifty-two organizations, including the American Bankers Association, have written to the Senate Banking Committee, calling for amendments to the (stablecoin bill).
The American Bankers Association and other banking lobby groups, along with 52 banking organizations including the National Consumer Law Center (a staunch opponent of Wall Street policy goals), jointly wrote to the Senate Banking Committee leadership, calling for amendments to the stablecoin bill (to guide and establish a national innovation act for U.S. stablecoins) (GENIUS Act). In one letter, the banking lobby and consumer groups requested the removal of a provision in the bill that allows state-chartered uninsured deposit institutions to gain a competitive advantage; in another letter, bankers requested that stablecoin-affiliated companies be prohibited from providing yields. Lobbyists are seeking to thoroughly revise the new stablecoin bill using future legislation on cryptocurrency market structure.
Researchers at the Bank for International Settlements proposed building a scoring system for crypto wallets based on cryptocurrency transfer histories.
Researchers at the Bank for International Settlements proposed in a new paper to score individuals based on their cryptocurrency transfer histories. If a cryptocurrency has been traded through a wallet associated with criminal suspects or commonly used for money laundering, it may receive a lower score. Each country can set a threshold score to determine whether a user can convert that cryptocurrency into fiat currency. The system will target tokens associated with illegal activities while aiming to maintain the permissionless nature of blockchain without collecting user data.
Project/Company Dynamics
WLFI advisor: USD1 has begun minting on Solana but temporarily does not have liquidity.
USD1 has begun minting on Solana, but that doesn't mean it immediately has liquidity. According to information from the WLFI official website, USD1 is already circulating on the Ethereum mainnet, BSC, Tron, and Plume networks.
The gaming blockchain Ronin plans to transition to Ethereum L2 in the second quarter of 2026.
The gaming blockchain Ronin tweeted that it plans to transition to Ethereum L2 in the second quarter of 2026. The transition may occur in phases during the first and second quarters, and could potentially be completed before the second quarter. Officials stated that Ronin will offer applications beyond gaming in the future, with transaction speeds increasing by 12 times, and RON staking rewards being distributed to managing validators and contributors through a new Proof of Distribution model.
The Ethereum validator exit queue has risen to approximately 671,900 ethers, valued at about $3.1 billion.
The Ethereum validator exit queue has risen to approximately 671,900 ethers, valued at about $3.1 billion, with a noticeable increase in recent unstaking demand. The current number of ethers waiting to exit far exceeds new staking demand, with an estimated processing time of about 12 days. Analysts pointed out that factors such as the unwinding of leveraged staking cycles, LST depegging risks, and arbitrage have driven a large amount of ETH unstaking, with Lido, EthFi, and Coinbase as the major sources of unstaking. Additionally, some validators may adjust their positions in advance due to the SEC's clarification on staking compliance and potential new products.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on companies and executives associated with the ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5 and the Garantex exchange.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the now-closed Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex and companies and executives related to its ruble-backed stablecoin A7A5. OFAC accused Garantex, Grinex, A7A5 token issuers, and their executives of laundering ransomware proceeds and evading sanctions. Garantex processed over $100 million in illegal transactions before being shut down, while Grinex was established and continues to operate. The A7A5 token, supported by sanctioned Russian entities, has been used to bypass international sanctions, processing $1 billion in transactions daily.
Coinbase has completed the acquisition of Deribit.
Coinbase has completed the acquisition of Deribit, marking the official establishment of their partnership. Coinbase announced in May this year that it would acquire the derivatives exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion, which includes $700 million in cash and 11 million shares.
The U.S. SEC has postponed the decision on Bitwise and 21Shares' Solana ETF applications until October 16.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the decision on approving the ETF applications from Bitwise and 21Shares for Solana until October 16. The two documents indicate that 'designating a longer period to publish an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change is appropriate, so that the Commission has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the questions raised within it.'
Citibank is considering providing custody and payment services for stablecoins and cryptocurrency ETFs.
Citibank is exploring providing custody and payment services for stablecoins and cryptocurrency ETFs. Biswarup Chatterjee, head of Citi's Global Partnerships and Innovation, stated that the bank's primary consideration is to provide custody services for high-quality assets backing stablecoins. Citi's service business (including treasury, cash management, payments, and other services aimed at large enterprises) remains the bank's core business unit, while it is undergoing significant restructuring. The bank has now launched a blockchain-based 'tokenized' dollar payment system, supporting 24-hour cross-border payments between New York, London, and Hong Kong.
DeFi Technologies Q2 financial report: holding $26 million in digital assets, part of which is used to hedge ETP market risks.
NASDAQ-listed DeFi Technologies disclosed in its Q2 financial report that as of June 30, 2025, the company holds various digital asset tokens totaling approximately $26 million. The company regularly monitors its cash and digital asset reserves in a consolidated manner, and as part of this review, it has allocated part of its digital asset reserve to hedge its ETP market risks.
Deep Dive & Outlook
Policy cycle: The U.S. is reshaping the crypto landscape with regulation.
This wave of opportunities is not evenly distributed; it will concentrate in a few directions. Here’s my personal judgment: stablecoins, on-chain financial infrastructure, and the ZK track driven by compliance will be the first to benefit, while other sectors will have different rhythms.
Deconstructing banks: the legislative changes led by the (GENIUS Act) will push Crypto into the mainstream of fintech.
From bank counters to everything, the legislative changes led by the (GENIUS Act) are deconstructing banks and reshaping the future of finance.
Views
A robot farm in Vietnam made up of 30,000 smartphones: how to steal crypto airdrops from real users?
If crypto airdrops are so easily manipulated, the most direct choice seems to be simply to cancel the airdrop mechanism. However, there are also viewpoints suggesting that airdrops still have their significance. Airdropping tokens to real users participating in the protocol not only helps achieve decentralization of project governance but also disperses control through means such as granting voting rights.
From leading to following: Why SOL struggles against ETH's momentum.
Although Solana still lags behind ETH in key metrics such as market popularity and exchange rate performance, its underlying competitiveness and potential have not diminished. As the 'American chain,' it naturally possesses a higher degree of regulatory adaptability and capital recognition. Currently, ETH is favored by institutions due to treasury strategies, the ETF craze, RWA, and stablecoin applications, which also leaves room for SOL to catch up and switch narratives.
