Crypto Market

BTC and ETH Market Insight

With the July CPI and PPI data easing, market expectations for a September rate hike have notably cooled, with the probability now declining to around 30%. Despite some warming in macroeconomic indicators, the cryptocurrency market continues to show weakness. Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a slight pullback, dipping from the $65,000 support level down to $62,000. During the same period, ETF funds saw a net outflow of $389.7 million, failing to sustain the significant inflows seen previously. In contrast, Ethereum (ETH) demonstrated greater resilience, with ETFs recording a net inflow of $6.7 million. Additionally, the Coinbase Bitcoin premium index has remained in negative territory for over 90 consecutive days, setting a new historical record. These signals collectively suggest that the market is gradually tightening risk exposure to crypto assets, with U.S. investors showing diminished buying appetite and capital allocation shifting focus.

Upcoming Macro Calendar - Source: Trading Economics

Options Market

Over the past week BTC and ETH options markets remained relatively calm but saw spot prices pull back from the prior week’s recovery. BTC traded around $63,000 (from ~$64,920) and ETH near $1,880 (from ~$1,915). Implied volatility stayed compressed across short tenors, with BTC 1W ATM IV holding near ~25.2% (little changed from ~25.4% last week) and ETH 1W IV easing further from ~36.3% to ~33.0%. Realized volatility declined more sharply (BTC RV ~19.6%, ETH RV ~25.5%), widening the volatility risk premium to a solidly positive level. That being said, it seems more attractive to go long gamma for any potential swings. Skew remained moderately bearish but moved mixed versus last week—BTC 25Δ 1W skew eased to ~10.9 vol points while ETH 25Δ 1W skew rose to ~9.5 vol points. ETF netflows reversed, turning mixed-to-negative for BTC with notable outflows and remaining selective for ETH after the stronger inflows of the previous week.

Altcoins and Blockchain News

• CZ publicly donated to a destruction address, burning 4,444 BNB Life tokens, 4,444 MarsCoin tokens, and 4,444 Niu Lai tokens.
  
  
• According to CoinGlass data, Coinbase's Bitcoin Premium Index has been in negative territory for 90 consecutive days from May 19 to August 16, with the latest reading at -0.1066%, setting a new record for the longest continuous negative premium since the index's launch.
  
  
• Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs recorded a combined inflow of $1.1 billion last week, ending the net outflow trend that had persisted for most of 2026, as institutional funds return to the crypto asset market.
  
  
• The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced this Friday that it has granted "preliminary conditional approval" for a federal trust bank charter to World Liberty Trust Co., a crypto project linked to Trump.
  
  
• ENA treasury company StablecoinX (USDE) released its first quarterly results after going public, reporting that as of the end of Q2 2026, the company holds approximately 3 billion ENA tokens, accounting for about 20% of ENA's total supply.
  
  
• SpaceX has completed its $60 billion acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor.
  
  
• On August 14, Tether, the issuer of USDT, announced that it has completed a full independent audit of its FY2025 financial statements by KPMG U.S., and received an unqualified audit opinion.

Macro

The major indices finished a mixed week: the DJIA shed 0.56%, the S&P 500 added +0.4%, and the Nasdaq slipped 0.3%. The Chinese stock market finished the week lower: the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.33%, the CSI 300 slipped 0.36% and the Hang Seng index fell 2.15%.