Bull vs. Bear

State Street Joins JPMorgan For Crypto Push

Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Coinbase begins rolling out DEX trading on its platform, Sofi uses Bitcoin Lightning, Pennsylvania bill bans public officials, MetaMask jumps into the stablecoin business, A US government wallet recovers $332K ETH, and so much more

HAPPY FRIDAY - Let’s dive in.

Market Snapshot

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  • Bitcoin fell as long-term sentiment turned bearish for the first time since mid-2023 as traders awaited Powell's address for signals on potential rate cuts

    • Weak jobs data and tariff-driven inflation create uncertainty, with Bitcoin's support levels under scrutiny

  • DOGE, XRP and SOL also weakened, while ether showed relative resilience

  • Analysts remain optimistic on BTC’s long-term outlook, citing President Donald Trump’s support for including crypto in 401(k) plans

Market Predictions

  • Bettors on Kalshi are predicting what will Jerome Powell will say during speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium

  • Trade your predictions on a range of events, only on Kalshi

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Headline Roundup
The major headlines driving crypto markets

  • State Street, a Boston-based custody bank with $49T in AUM under its watch, has joined JPMorgan's blockchain platform as the first third-party custodian for tokenized assets (CD)

  • Only 15% of traders profited from Kanye West’s ‘YZY’ token, amid controversial launch (TD)

  • Options data indicates that Bitcoin traders are split, with nearly equal bullish and bearish block trades (DC)

  • Executives from stablecoin issuers Circle and Tether to meet with top figures in South Korea's biggest financial groups this week (DC)

  • Ethereum is having its strongest third quarter on record, rising 13% in the first 20 days of August, within sight of its 2021 peak (TD)

  • Gemini secures a MiCA license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (CD)

  • Hyperliquid now controls more than 80% of the DeFi perps market, processing up to $30B daily (CD)

  • Global stablecoin supply is surging since the approval of GENIUS, led by yield-bearing tokens (TD)

  • SoFi becomes first US bank to use Bitcoin lightning for remittances (BT)

  • World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin, USD1, is added to Coinbase’s “roadmap,” meaning a listing could soon come (TB)

  • xStocks, a Solana-based platform, has surpassed $500M in on-chain transaction volume (TD)

  • Starknet approves SNIP-31, enabling Bitcoin staking in the coming weeks (TB)

  • SOL Strategies publicly discloses that it now holds slightly more than 400k Solana tokens in its treasury (TD)

  • Crypto gaming handheld shipments delayed over 'excessive' import duties (DC)

Venture Capital

  • DigiFT raises $11M in its latest funding round led by Japan’s SBI Holdings (TB)

M&A Announcements

  • VERB Technology has acquired $713M worth of TON (TB)

  • Crypto security company Kerberus acquires Refract, the makers of an anti-fraud browser extension for wallets (TB)

Launches

  • Aave launches on Aptos this week, marking its first-ever deployment on a non-EVM blockchain (BL)

  • MetaMask announces the launch of a native stablecoin, mUSD (DC)

  • Coinbase begins rolling out DEX trading on its platform, unlocking all base tokens for users (TD)

  • MEXC cryptocurrency exchange expands its credit/debit card payment service to support 45 fiat currencies and 34 crypto assets (CD)

Regulation

  • The CFTC is now into its third crypto sprint, widening its review beyond spot trading as it works with the SEC to shape U.S. crypto rules (DC)

  • Pennsylvania bill bans public officials from crypto transactions (CS)

  • U.S. DOJ shifts stance on how prosecutors plan to view software developers in the digital asset industry (TB)

  • U.S. OCC drops its consent order against Anchorage Digital (TB)

  • Fed Governor Waller signals strong support for digital assets, calling stablecoins a vital tool for sustaining the dollar’s international dominance (CD)

  • U.S. DOJ announces it will no longer charge decentralized software developers under the same law used to convict Tornado Cash co-founder (DC)

  • U.S. House slips a provision into must-pass defense legislation prohibiting the Fed from issuing a central bank digital currency to individuals (TB)

Cybersecurity

  • An investor loses $91M worth of Bitcoin to a social engineering scam (DC)

  • A US government wallet recovers $332K ETH as authorities continue consolidating stolen assets (TD) 

  • Australia markets regulator set to expand crackdown on online scams with over 3,000 involving crypto since July 2023 (CT)

Extra Reads

Chart of the Day

Bitcoin whales scooped up 16,000+ $BTC during the recent dip

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