Quick Take

• BTC’s 3-month and 6-month implied volatility fell to 2-year low; Crypto.com integrates with Sei to provide custody; ZOOZ Power selects Crypto.com to support its digital asset treasury strategy.
• US spot BTC ETFs had a net inflow of US$887 million last week, compared to $2.3 billion the week before. Spot ETH ETFs saw a net inflow of $557 million in the same period, compared to $638 million the week before.
• On the macro side, US retail sales rose 0.6% in August, outpacing forecasts of 0.2% and indicating resilient consumer spending. The US Federal Reserve delivered a 0.25% interest rate cut. The ‘dot plot’ of individual officials’ expectations pointed to two more cuts in 2025, although there was a wide disparity. The latest CME FedWatch Tool showed a 92% probability of a rate cut in October. Meanwhile, Bank of Canada lowered its benchmark rate by 0.25% to 2.5%, Bank of Japan and Bank of England both left rates unchanged.
• Notable updates: Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade is scheduled to go live on 3 December; Mantle will begin upgrading its mainnet to OP Succinct on 16 September; PayPal is expanding its PYUSD to eight new blockchains.
• Notable events in the coming week: US S&P Global Manufacturing & Services PMI, Core Personal Consumption Expenditures, Fed Chair Powell’s Speech.

Weekly Market Index

Price, volume, and volatility indices were down by -0.30%, -8.19%, and -13.84% respectively last week. Volatility drop was led by ATOM (-34.03%) and DOGE (-28.34%).

Tokens in our index showed mixed price actions last week. This coincided with the Fed Chair Powell noting that the FOMC remains divided on additional rate cuts planned for 2025, adding to market uncertainty.

Despite an overall drop in the price index, IMX (+19.71%), NEAR (+19.43%), and AVAX (+10.84%) were among top gainers. AVAX’s increase coincided with news that South Korea’s crypto custody service provider BDACS launched its first Korean-won-backed stablecoin on Avalanche.

Chart of the Week

Bitcoin’s at-the-market (ATM) implied volatility, which tracks its expected price movements from one week to six months, fell close to 1-year lows for the 1-week and 1-month durations and fell to 2-year lows for the longer tenors (3-month and 6-month). This potentially suggests expectations of smaller price swings and a relatively stable market for BTC.

Weekly Performance

Top-cap tokens showed mixed price changes last week. BTC and ETH decreased by -0.1% and -1.6% respectively. NEAR and AVAX led the price increase, with AVAX’s increase coinciding with news that South Korea’s crypto custody service provider BDACS launched its first Korean-won-backed stablecoin on Avalanche. NEAR’s increase aligned with the overall increase in the Artificial Intelligence category, following news that the Ethereum Foundation launched the ‘dAI team’ to develop tools that let AI agents and bots transact.

All key categories decreased in market capitalisation in the last seven days, except Artificial Intelligence.

News Highlights

Crypto.com News 

• Crypto.com integrated Crypto.com Custody with the Sei Network to provide custody for SEI tokens. The SEI tokens will be stored in a cold storage solution to protect assets used by institutional investors for treasury management, validator rewards, and ecosystem growth.
• ZOOZ Power has chosen Crypto.com to support its digital asset treasury strategy, leveraging Crypto.com’s OTC trading desk to buy bitcoin for its strategy.
• Crypto.com Custody Trust Company achieved SOC1 Type II and SOC2 Type II compliance. These certifications validate Crypto.com Custody’s commitment to transparency, governance, and robust security for institutional clients.

Adoption

• US State of Michigan advanced the crypto reserve bill to its second reading. If enacted, the state would be able to invest up to 10% of funds from Michigan’s ‘countercyclical budget’ and ‘economic stabilisation fund in crypto. 
• AnchorX, a financial technology company, launched its AxCNH yuan-pegged stablecoin, representing the first stablecoin tied to CNH with a license from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA) in Kazakhstan. It aims to facilitate cross-border transactions for the Belt and Road initiative.
• South Korea’s crypto custody service provider BDACS launched its first Korean-won-backed stablecoin KRW1 on Avalanche, following a proof-of-concept with Woori Bank. KRW1 is not circulated publicly.
• DBS Bank, Franklin Templeton, and Ripple will launch tokenised trading and lending for institutional investors on the XRP Ledger. This aims to provide a way for investors to shift between stablecoins and yield assets to manage volatility.
• Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures plans to launch a $250 million digital asset investment fund in 2026. The fund will target investments in digital assets in the financial services sector.
• UBS, PostFinance, and Sygnum executed a cross-bank payment on Ethereum using a permissioned framework. The transaction was conducted using deposit tokens on a public blockchain without relying on traditional payment systems.
• Openbank, the digital arm of Banco Santander, launched crypto trading for Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Polygon, and Cardano for retail customers in Germany. The service will expand to more crypto assets in the coming months and to Spanish customers in the near future.

Regulation

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved generic listing standards, streamlining spot crypto ETF approvals by eliminating the need for individual reviews.
• The US Treasury Department requested public comment on the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The Act was passed into law in the US previously, and the Treasury is looking for information to tailor its guidelines.
• UK and US are set to announce enhanced regulatory cooperation in the crypto sector. The meeting was between UK chancellor Rachel Reeves and US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent, and aims to build closer coordination in crypto and capital markets.

Investment Vehicles

• The Rex-Osprey XRP ETF and DOJE ETF debuted last Thursday, representing the first ETFs of its kind in the US. The XRP ETF had nearly $38 million in inflows in the first day, exceeding other ETFs launched in this year, while the DOGE had $17 million inflows.
• Grayscale officially launched the Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF (GDLC), the first multi-asset crypto ETP in the US. GLDC offers exposure to the five most ‘established (largest and most liquid)’ and holds BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, and ADA.
• Bitwise filed for an ETF focused on stablecoin and tokenisation. The ETF will invest in both stocks and crypto.
• The London Stock Exchange listed a bitcoin staking ETP by DeFi Technologies’ subsidiary Valour. The product has a 1.4% annual yield, and is currently available for institutional and professional investors before the UK will allow retail investors to buy crypto ETNs on 8 October. 
• The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME) will offer options on Solana and XRP futures on 13 October. This is the first time the group has expanded its options products beyond bitcoin and Ether.

Others

• The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expanded its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee (DAMS) with new crypto leader appointments. New members included representatives from Uniswap Labs, Aptos Labs, BNY, and Chainlink Labs.

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