Global markets were mixed, with the Dow Jones (-0.08%) and S&P 500 (-0.01%) edging lower, while the Nasdaq (+0.03%) ticked higher ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated Jackson Hole speech on Friday, with markets pricing in an 80% chance of a September rate cut while the 10-year Treasury yield edged up to 4.34%. Investors weighed concerns over a potential recession, with economist EJ Antoni warning of debt-fueled growth, against positive news from India, where proposed tax cuts aim to bolster domestic consumption amid US tariff tensions. Meanwhile, the US announced plans to coordinate security guarantees for Ukraine, and Brazil's finance minister said a reduction in US tariffs depends on Washington's openness to talks. European markets gained 0.1% led by healthcare stocks after Novo Nordisk surged 6.6% on positive drug news and Vestas Wind Systems jumped 15% on favorable US renewable energy tax credit guidance, while miners retreated on commodity demand concerns.

The global crypto market cap decreased 0.76% in the past 24 hours to $3.88tn.

  • In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations decreased 39.19% and totaled $324.05m. Long positions accounted for 70.9% of these liquidations. In terms of market share, ETH dominated with 41% of total liquidations, followed by BTC at 17.8%.
Source: Coinglass
  • According to SoSo Value data, US Spot BTC ETFs saw outflows accelerate with $121.8 million in net outflows on August 18, representing a 762.1% deterioration from the previous session's smaller outflows, driven primarily by the two market leaders as BlackRock's IBIT shed $68.7 million and Ark's ARKB lost $65.7 million while most other funds recorded zero flows. The concentrated outflows from just two of the twelve ETFs suggests institutional profit-taking or tactical repositioning, particularly notable given that only Bitwise's BITB managed a modest $12.7 million inflow against the tide. Despite the intensifying outflows following a week that saw $519.6 million in net inflows from August 11-15, total assets remained substantial at $150.9 billion with $2.77 billion in daily volume, indicating the selling pressure may reflect institutional rebalancing ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium rather than fundamental bearishness on Bitcoin.
US BTC Spot ETFs. Source: SoSo Value
  • According to data from SoSo Value, US Spot ETH ETFs saw outflows intensify with $197 million in net outflows on August 18, representing a 231.4% deterioration from the previous day's $59 million outflow, with selling pressure broadening across major funds as BlackRock's ETHA led outflows with $87.16 million, followed by Fidelity's FETH at $78.4 million and Grayscale's ETHE at $18.7 million. The outflows were widespread, affecting seven of the nine ETFs. Despite the accelerating outflows following strong inflows of $639 million, $729 million, and $523 million on August 14, 13, and 12 respectively, total assets remained substantial at $27.7 billion with $2.1 billion in daily volume, indicating the selling may reflect natural profit-taking after ETH's recent surge toward record levels rather than fundamental shifts in institutional sentiment.
US ETH Spot ETFs. Source: SoSo Value
  • The Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed decisions on several cryptocurrency investment products, including Truth Social's Bitcoin-Ethereum ETF and products from 21Shares and Bitwise, setting new decision deadlines for October.
  • Solana's real-world assets grew 124% year-to-date to $390 million according to a Messari report released Monday, driven by leaders like Ondo Finance's USDY, while the network's DeFi total value locked reached $8.6 billion despite on-chain app revenue dropping 44% quarter-over-quarter to $576 million.
  • BitMine Immersion Technologies accumulated 373,000 Ether tokens worth $6.6 billion over the past week, bringing its total holdings to 1.52 million ETH as the company pursues its "alchemy of 5%" strategy to acquire 5% of Ethereum's circulating supply, though its share price dropped 14.2% during the same period despite institutional investor interest in its ETH accumulation strategy.
  • CMB International Securities Limited, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank managing over $1.7 trillion in assets, launched a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange offering 24/7 trading of Bitcoin, Ether, and USDT for professional investors after securing a virtual asset service provider license in July, making it the first Chinese bank-affiliated broker in Hong Kong to offer such services despite crypto trading remaining banned in mainland China.