Home Blog Page 26

JPMorgan sees Hyperliquid partnership weighing on Circle, Coinbase

info@uweb3.io
-
0
JPMorgan sees Hyperliquid partnership weighing on Circle, Coinbase

Hyperliquid is one of crypto’s fastest-growing trading venues and the leading decentralized perpetual futures exchange. The platform processed more than $150 billion in trading volume in July alone, while its volume relative to Binance climbed to 11.5%, underscoring its growing share of the derivatives market. USDC balances on Hyperliquid have swelled to roughly $6 billion, making it an increasingly important distribution channel for the stablecoin.

Under the new arrangement, Coinbase will classify USDC on Hyperliquid as “on-platform,” collecting the income generated by reserves and paying 90% of it to Hyperliquid. JPMorgan estimated Coinbase previously split nearly all of the revenue evenly with Circle.

The bank cut earnings estimates for both companies, citing the Hyperliquid agreement and weaker crypto markets, though it expects higher interest rates to provide some support for USDC-related revenue over the longer term.

USDC has also lost momentum in recent months. Its circulating supply has fallen to about $73 billion from nearly $80 billion in March, part of a broader $10 billion contraction in the stablecoin market since May as crypto trading activity cooled and new regulated rivals chipped away at the dominance of USDC and Tether’s USDT.

Japanese investment bank Mizuho said in a report last week that Circle’s final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish First National Digital Currency Bank is a positive milestone, but investors may be overestimating its significance.

Bitcoin Trader Warns of ‘Lower High’ as $64,000 Returns on US CPI Drop

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin Trader Warns of ‘Lower High’ as $64,000 Returns on US CPI Drop

Bitcoin (BTC) spiked past $64,000 into Tuesday’s Wall Street open as US inflation saw a surprise sudden downturn.

Key points:

  • Bitcoin returns to near the top of its local trading range on US inflation data.
  • The biggest drop in CPI since April 2020 boosts crypto and risk assets.
  • Traders remain in wait-and-see mode over whether local resistance will break.

US CPI ignores Iran pressure with snap drop

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD gaining more than 2% on the day as the June print of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in below expectations.

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

At 3.5% versus the anticipated 3.8%, CPI posted its largest monthly decline since April 2020, per data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Energy led the drop despite headwinds from the US-Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz oil route.

“The index for energy fell 5.7 percent in June after rising 3.9 percent in May, 3.8 percent in April, and 10.9 percent in March,” an official news release stated. 

“The energy index was the largest contributor to the monthly all items decrease, more than offsetting increases in other indexes including those for shelter and food.”

US CPI 12-month % change. Source: BLS

Risk assets reacted positively, with US stocks in the green and crypto showing particular relief.

Market expectations of future Federal Reserve financial policy changes also turned dovish, with the odds of interest-rate hikes dropping sharply. The latest data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool nonetheless maintained consensus for a 0.25% hike at the Fed’s September meeting.

Fed target rate probabilities (screenshot). Source: CME Group

“This print should help temper what had become an excessively hawkish market tilt to the monetary policy outlook,” economist Mohamed El-Erian wrote in a response on X.

Trader warns of BTC price rejection

Bitcoin traders remained cautious with local resistance above $64,000 still in place.

Related: Bitcoin bear market will bottom when two-month RSI metric hits zero, trader predicts 

In ongoing market analysis, X commentator Exitpump noted short positions getting “squeezed” as a result of the CPI print.

“Sellers haven’t been able to push price lower because of strong passive demand and now seeing shorts closing out slowly forcing price to grind up,” it summarized. 

“Still a range trading environment.”

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Exitpump/X

The latest data from CoinGlass put 24-hour crypto short liquidations at just over $220 million.

BTC/USD vs. crypto liquidations (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Continuing, trader Killa said that they would eye “signs of exhaustion” should the BTC price take out the local highs.

“There’s still a liquidity pool sitting above 64.8K, but right now we’re testing the weekly open. If we can’t reclaim and hold the weekly open, this is likely just a lower high before we move down to test the $60K region,” an X post read.

ECB picks 36 firms including Deutsche Bank and Revolut for CBDC pilot

info@uweb3.io
-
0
ECB picks 36 firms including Deutsche Bank and Revolut for CBDC pilot

The European Central Bank (ECB) selected 36 banks and payment firms to join a pilot of the digital euro starting in the second half of next year as it prepares the central bank digital currency (CBDC) for potential issuance in 2029.

The group, selected from among 50 applicants, includes Adyen, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, SumUp, UniCredit and Worldline, the ECB said on its website.

While legislation enabling the currency has yet to be finalized, the central bank is pushing forward with the project because it sees adoption of private dollar-backed stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle Internet’s USDC as a threat to Europe’s monetary autonomy.

The 12-month pilot will test a beta version of the digital euro across the ECB and 19 euro-area national central banks. It will cover online and offline transfers between individuals, in-store payments and e-commerce purchases.

Although it won’t have legal status, the currency will be close to the design set out in draft European Union legislation. The ECB’s staff, along with employees of national central banks, will act as consumers. Selected restaurants, cafeterias and online merchants will accept payments during the pilot.

U.S. June CPI fell 0.4%, likely cooling move toward Fed rate hikes

info@uweb3.io
-
0
U.S. June CPI fell 0.4%, likely cooling move toward Fed rate hikes

U.S. inflation in June came in far softer than forecast, likely putting on hold what were fast-rising expectations for imminent Federal Reserve rate hikes.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) decline 0.4% in June versus economist forecasts for a decline of 0.1% and May’s sharp rise of 0.5%.

On a year-over-year basis, CPI was up 3.5% versus forecasts for 3.8% and 4.2% in May.

Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was flat in June, versus forecasts of 0.2% and May’s 0.2% increase. On a year-over-year basis, core CPI rose 2.6% against expectations for 2.8% and 2.9% in May.

Bitcoin added to earlier gains following the soft numbers, rising to $63,400, up about 2% over the past 24 hours. U.S. stock index futures also rose, the Nasdaq 100 up 1.25%.

Bond yields fell sharply, the U.S. 2-year Treasury down seven basis points to 4.19% and the 10-year down five basis points to 4.56%.

Benchmark nearly doubles Hut 8 price target to $165 on Beacon Point AI data center deal

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Benchmark nearly doubles Hut 8 price target to $165 on Beacon Point AI data center deal

Companies including Hut 8, Core Scientific (CORZ), Hive Digital (HIVE) and Bit Digital (BTBT) have repositioned portions of their power and infrastructure assets to serve AI workloads, betting that long-term contracts with hyperscale customers will generate steadier, higher-margin revenue than cryptocurrency mining alone.

Hut 8 has signed two 15-year, triple-net, take-or-pay leases covering 597 megawatts of IT capacity at its River Bend, Louisiana, and Beacon Point, Texas, campuses. According to Palmer, the agreements represent $16.8 billion in contracted base-term lease value and could rise to $42.8 billion if tenants exercise renewal options.

Palmer said the Beacon Point agreement was the primary driver behind the higher valuation. The broker estimated that the project’s first phase alone carries $9.8 billion in base-term contract value and about $655 million in average annual net operating income.

He also pointed to Hut 8’s financing strategy, noting the company recently completed $4.25 billion of investment-grade project financing for Beacon Point after raising $3.25 billion for River Bend. The deals validate management’s strategy of lowering its cost of capital by converting development assets into long-term contracted cash flows.

Beyond its existing projects, the report highlighted Hut 8’s development pipeline, which totals more than 9 gigawatts across projects under exclusivity, development, construction and management, providing what it called a long runway for future growth.

Crypto consolidates after selloff as South Korea’s market meltdown drives crypto volumes higher

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Crypto consolidates after selloff as South Korea’s market meltdown drives crypto volumes higher

Bitcoin BTC$62,749.82 consolidated following Monday’s selloff, trading at $62,600 after tumbling from $64,400 to $61,800 over the course of 24 hours.

Ether (ETH) tracked the larger cryptocurrency, trading in a relatively tight $1,770-$1,790 range. Trading volume across ETH pairs increased by 2.2% to $8.95 billion over the past 24 hours, suggesting a healthy balance of buyers and sellers rather than opposed to apathy.

Lighter (LIT) rebounded from Monday’s downturn, rising by 5.7% since midnight UTC as it looks to stage another rally following a 200% surge since May.

U.S. equities were mixed, with Nasdaq 100 index futures adding 0.31% while S&P 500 index futures fell by 0.12%, reflecting uncertainty after U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran would be hit by “very heavy” strikes on Tuesday.

Gold extended its decline from January’s record high to languish around $4,020 per ounce, falling about 28% since Jan. 29.

Derivatives positioning

  • Bitcoin derivatives positioning remains broadly unchanged. Open interest (OI) held at $17.1 billion; the three-month annualized basis stayed at 3.8%; and annualized funding rates ran between 0%–8% across multiple venues — with Bybit’s earlier negative outlier now brought into line.
  • No meaningful leverage was added in either direction, and no stress signals emerged in the funding structure.
  • Options positioning remains call-biased, but continues to moderate. The 24-hour call/put ratio sits at 58/42, softer than yesterday’s 64/36, and the one-week delta skew has compressed further to ~15% from 26% a week ago.
  • The at-the-money term structure stays in contango (front end ~31–32%, long end ~43%), and Deribit’s implied volatility index, DVOL, at 37.43 is near multiyear lows. Low-stress, mild call bias, but the options premium is quietly fading.
  • Coinglass data shows $283 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 74-26 split between longs and shorts. BTC ($66 million) and ETH ($50 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations.
  • The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $61,300 as a core liquidation level to monitor in the event of a price drop.

Token talk

  • Ethena (ENA) mirrored LIT’s surge on Tuesday, rising by 5.7% to lead the altcoin market. Unlike LIT, however, ENA is in a deep downtrend dating back to September, since when it has lost more than 90% of its value.
  • There were also encouraging signs in the AI sector on Tuesday, with NEAR rising 3.3% and FET gaining 1.7%.
  • JUP and WLFI continued to show weakness amid dwindling trading volume, falling by 1.5% and 0.5%, respectively.
  • CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator paints a more positive picture with a reading of 54/100. It spent most of June below 50/100.
  • One potentially bullish driver of altcoin price action could be the deep selloff in South Korea’s stock market. The benchmark KOSPI index has dropped 10% since Friday, leading to an inverse correlation with the country’s crypto exchanges.
  • Wu Blockchain reported that Upbit trading volume surged by 1,426% following KOSPI’s plight, indicating a potential unwind of the machine chip trade that saw investors ditch crypto at the tail end of last year.

Bitcoin holds near $62,000 as RHODL compression signals the historic market rotation

info@uweb3.io
-
0
Bitcoin holds near $62,000 as RHODL compression signals the historic market rotation

Bitcoin is currently down roughly 50% from its October 2025 all-time high of approximately $124,000. Trading near $62,000, it has spent the past five months grinding sideways between $60,000 and $80,000, leaving the market in a state of apathy.

But a closely watched onchain metric suggests this quiet period may be setting the stage for a significant move.

Glassnode’s RHODL Ratio, which compares the wealth held by long-term holders with that of newer market participants, reached 6.5 in early July, its second-highest reading in Bitcoin’s history. It has since begun to decline and is now below 6. Crucially, this compression is occurring while the price stagnates, rather than collapses.

In 2022, the ratio rolled over alongside a violent selloff. The collapse of FTX sent Bitcoin tumbling to around $15,000. The situation in 2026 looks different. Bitcoin continues to trade near $60,000, while coins change hands without signs of panic.

This suggests a gradual transfer of supply from long-term holders, many of whom accumulated throughout 2023 and 2024, to a new cohort of buyers who view current prices as a discount.

U.S.-Iran hostilities over Strait of Hormuz drag crypto lower after positive week: Crypto Markets Today

info@uweb3.io
-
0
U.S.-Iran hostilities over Strait of Hormuz drag crypto lower after positive week: Crypto Markets Today

The crypto market pulled back during Asian and European hours on Monday, with bitcoin BTC$62,661.33 falling to $63,100 from above $64,300 at the weekly close at midnight UTC.

That’s a decline of about 1%. Steeper losses hit the altcoin market. Lighter (LIT) led the downside cascade, sliding 8% in its first major selloff since rallying by more than 200% over the past two months.

The exit from riskier assets was felt across equity markets, too. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 9.2% as SK Hynix, the memory-chip maker that went public in the U.S. on Friday, slumped 15%. Japan’s Nikkei and China’s SSE both fell more than 2%.

The drops reflected reignited tensions in the Middle East as Iran and the U.S. fought over control of the Strait of Hormuz, with both nations firing airstrikes against each other.

U.S. equities are also indicated to open lower, with Nasdaq 100 index futures and S&P 500 futures losing 0.9% and 0.25% since midnight, respectively.

It’s worth noting that going into the weekend bitcoin and the broader crypto market enjoyed a period of bullish price action, steering itself away from immediate danger, and Monday’s selloff could also be attributed to profit-taking.

Derivatives positioning

  • Bitcoin derivatives positioning held steady this week. Open interest (OI) was steady at $17 billion, while the three-month annualized basis held at 3.8%.
  • Funding rates were little changed to positive across multiple venues, with Bybit the notable exception at roughly -13% annualized on BTC perps. Stable OI alongside a firm basis and constructive funding suggests the market is holding its positioning without meaningful new leverage being added in either direction
  • Options positioning has tilted bullish. The 24-hour put/call ratio sits at 64/36 in favor of calls, and while the one-week delta skew remains elevated at 16%, it has narrowed from 26% a week ago, suggesting call demand is easing off rather than building.
  • The at-the-money term structure remains in contango, with the front end around 34%-35% and the long end at ~43% out to mid-2027, which implies traders see a calm longer-term volatility environment
  • Coinglass data shows $253 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 76-24 split between longs and shorts. BTC ($70 million) and ETH ($60 million) led in terms of notional liquidations.
  • The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $62,000 as a core liquidation level to monitor, in case of a price drop.

Token talk

  • AI tokens FET and NEAR showed strength, rising by around 1.5% apiece despite the rest of the market suffering losses.
  • Hyperliquid (HYPE) followed rival LIT down, dropping by around 3.3% to $65.1, its lowest point since July 2.
  • CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator reflects the recent volatility. The measure is reading 56/100 after rising from last week’s average of 50. This implies more risk-on sentiment from investors following months of heavy losses.
  • One of the most volatile tokens of late has been ADA$0.1586, which suffered a grueling 39% downturn in June before bouncing by more than 40% at the start of July. It has since retraced that upshift, losing 19% since July 4.
  • Solana-based decentralized exchange jupiter (JUP) has also struggled of late, losing more than 15% over the past week as daily trading volume dwindled to just $17 million, down from 2025 when it regularly topped $500 million.

BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley join UK government's tokenization taskforce

info@uweb3.io
-
0
BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley join UK government's tokenization taskforce

The 54 firm-strong group, which is backed by the City of London Corporation, will spend the next year working on live tokenisation use cases across UK financial markets.

SBI Holdings’ blockchain initiative pivots to Solana for tokenization, stablecoin issuance

info@uweb3.io
-
0
SBI Holdings’ blockchain initiative pivots to Solana for tokenization, stablecoin issuance

Japanese asset giant SBI Holdings’ (8473) blockchain initiative is turning to Solana for its stablecoin and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization efforts.

SBI Solana Global, previously SBI R3 Japan, aims to use the network to connect Japan’s domestic market to global liquidity, according to a Monday post on its website.

The SBI Solana Global joint venture, which also counts Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) among its shareholders, now includes the Solana Foundation, the Zug, Switzerland-based organization that oversees the layer-1 network.

“By creating a new market for Japan-originated digital assets, the collaboration aims to establish Japan as a core hub for onchain finance in Asia,” SBI Holdings said in the statement.

SBI Holdings lists supporting the issuance and distribution of stablecoins, supporting the structuring and distribution of tokenized RWAs and developing payment infrastructure for AI agents among the venture’s functions.

The blockchain initiative previously centered around Corda, the permissioned blockchain developed by R3.

SBI Holdings has been active in expanding its digital asset business in recent months, agreeing to buy Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank last month for around $289 million.

1...252627...1,248Page 26 of 1,248