Global markets retreated as trade tensions escalated, with the Dow Jones (-0.34%), S&P 500 (-0.4%), and Nasdaq (-0.34%) all closing lower. The US launched an investigation into tariffs on wind turbines, while a trade deal with Europe was outlined, but with caveats for automakers. The EU is racing to secure lower US tariffs on its car industry. Meanwhile, the UK reported higher-than-expected inflation at 3.8%, casting doubt on further rate cuts, and the Eurozone saw a surprise uptick in activity, bolstering the case for the ECB to hold rates.

The global crypto market cap decreased 0.85% in the past 24 hours to $3.84tn while the 24h volume decreased 20% to $144bn.

  • In the past 24 hours, crypto liquidations decreased 34% and totaled $227.35m. Long positions accounted for 67% of these liquidations. Notably, long positions liquidated totaled $152 million, a 14% increase, while short positions liquidated were $75 million, a significant 70% decrease. In terms of market share, ETH dominated with 37.5% of total liquidations.
Source: Coinglass
  • According to SoSo Value data, US Spot BTC ETFs recorded another daily net outflow on August 21 of -$194m, continuing on the recent trend of outflows, with the top ETFs, including IBIT and FBTC, seeing daily outflows of $127m and $32m respectively. Overall, investors pulled out $1.15bn over the past four days, a stark contrast to the $519m and $1.1bn inflows seen in the preceding weeks.
US BTC Spot ETFs. Source: SoSo Value
  • According to data from SoSo Value, US Spot ETH ETF market saw a notable reversal with a daily net inflow of $287.6m, a stark contrast to the previous days' outflows with a $240.1m outflow on August 20 and a $422.3m outflow on August 19.
US ETH Spot ETFs. Source: SoSo Value
  • State Street became the first third-party custodian on JPMorgan's Digital Debt Service platform, purchasing $100 million in tokenized commercial debt from OCBC in the inaugural transaction, marking a significant milestone as one of the "Big Three" asset managers with $49 trillion in assets under custody enters the tokenized real-world asset sector that has grown 65% in 2025 to over $26.4 billion.
  • Onchain analyst Dethective linked a wallet that sniped Kanye West's YZY token for $1 million in profits to the same network behind LIBRA token extraction, with the combined schemes pulling nearly $23 million across both launches using suspected insider knowledge, as confirmed by blockchain security firms Nansen and Cyvers.
  • Tether and Circle are meeting with the CEOs of South Korea's four largest banks this week to discuss potential partnerships.
  • Ethena Labs announced its protocol has generated over $500 million in cumulative revenue with its synthetic stablecoin USDe reaching an all-time high supply of $11.7 billion, as synthetic stablecoins gain market share within the broader stablecoin market that jumped 4% in August to $277.8 billion amid growing regulatory clarity following the GENIUS Act.
  • The United Kingdom has sanctioned Kyrgyz banks and cryptocurrency exchanges linked to Russia's $9.3 billion ruble-backed stablecoin.
  • Ming Shing Group Holdings, a NASDAQ-listed Hong Kong construction firm, has agreed to a $483 million deal to acquire 4,250 Bitcoin through a share issuance.