Crypto State of Play

Bitcoin trades near $79,600, about 37% below the October 2025 peak and back above its pre-Warsh level, and the main chain runs undisturbed 3,919 blocks past the fork with hashrate inside its one-month band.

$79.6k

bitcoin now

3,919

blocks past the fork

-50%

ether from peak

1. 5 SepBitcoin trades near $79,600 and Ether near $2,453, down about 1.4% and 1.9% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 02:22 UTC), and the whole market stands near $2.70tn, above its pre-Warsh level. The main chain runs 3,919 blocks past the fork point with hashrate inside its one-month band and the next difficulty change expected at about +1.19% (mempool.space).
2. 29 AugBitcoin trades near $77,700 and Ether near $2,434, down about 2% and 3% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 13:44 UTC), and the whole market stands near $2.64tn. The main chain runs 2,945 blocks past the fork point with hashrate inside its one-month band (mempool.space).
3. 28 AugKevin Warsh gives his first Jackson Hole keynote as Fed chair, titled 'In Our Time', and commits to no rate path; risk assets sell off and Bitcoin ends the desk's evening snapshot 3.5% down at $77,430. The next FOMC decision is 15-16 September, with fresh projections (federalreserve.gov).
4. 23 AugThe first downward difficulty change since the fork, and an ordinary one: -1.31%, at block 963,648 (mempool.space).
5. 22 AugBitcoin trades near $77,400 and Ether near $2,435, up about 3% and 4% in 24 hours (the desk snapshot at 06:54 UTC), and the whole market stands near $2.69tn. The main chain runs 1,888 blocks past the fork point with hashrate inside its one-month band (mempool.space).
6. 21 AugBitcoin trades near $77,100 and Ether near $2,385, up about 7% and 4% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 13:04 UTC), and the whole market stands near $2.62tn. The main chain runs 1,827 blocks past the fork point with hashrate inside its one-month band (mempool.space).
7. 19-20 AugThe ETF inflow run accelerates: roughly $517m net on the 19th and $606m on the 20th, the month's heaviest day, IBIT taking $503m of it (Farside data).
8. 17-18 AugThe spot Bitcoin ETFs turn: roughly $298m of net inflows on the 17th and $189m on the 18th, IBIT taking over half of each, after five flat-to-down sessions from 10 August (Farside data).
9. 14 AugSix days after the BIP-110 split at block 961,632, the main chain has extended more than 800 blocks past the fork point with hashrate steady (mempool.space). No disruption inside the network. Read our report →
10. 11 AugRevolut's app starts selling $ZAMA, a token with an optional confidential mode, to its 70 million users. The EU's 2027 money-laundering rulebook describes exactly that feature, and the ban catches coins where the privacy is optional. Read our report →
11. StandingBitcoin remains well below the October 2025 peak, and no failure inside the network caused it.
12. StandingEther remains more than half below its own peak, and the argument about what Ethereum actually earns has never been louder.

Tron carries $94.27bn of USDT against Ethereum's $88.31bn on the two contracts' own counts, and around $310bn of digital dollars are in circulation, $311.5bn on DefiLlama's 5 September count.

$74.7bn

USDC in circulation

$183.4bn

USDT in circulation

$311.5bn

digital dollars

1. 4 SepTron holds $94.27bn of USDT total supply against Ethereum's $88.31bn, read off both contracts; DefiLlama's same-day snapshot matches Tronscan to the dollar and puts Tron's net circulating figure near $92.3bn (Tronscan; DefiLlama). Read our report →
2. 28 AugCircle becomes Chelsea FC's principal partner and front-of-shirt sponsor from the 2026/27 season, with Circle and USDC branding on the men's, women's and academy shirts, first worn at home to Brighton on 30 August. Terms undisclosed (club and company announcements).
3. 21 AugFinCEN's proposed customer identification rule for permitted stablecoin issuers closes its comment period. Elsewhere in the GENIUS rulebook, the OCC's licensing forms take comment to 25 September and Treasury's first rule to 19 October (Federal Register).
4. 17-18 AugThe US Treasury proposes its first rule under the GENIUS Act, covering who may issue, offer and sell payment stablecoins; it reached the Federal Register on 18 August and comment runs to 19 October.
5. 15 AugThe OCC gives World Liberty's trust bank preliminary conditional approval, on the same terms seven other crypto firms have already been given since December 2025. Read our report →
6. 13 AugTether says KPMG has completed the first full audit of its 2025 financial statements with an unqualified opinion, reserves exceeding liabilities by $6.8bn on the company's figure, gold bars physically inspected.
7. 12 AugCircle's cirBTC goes live on Ethereum: an institutional wrapped bitcoin, 1:1 backed, held at Circle National Trust Bank, the company says.
8. 5 AugCircle reports Q2: USDC circulation at $73.3bn, up 19% in a year, and final OCC approval for Circle National Trust, one of the first national trust charters for a stablecoin issuer.
9. 4 AugWestern Union launches Stablecard: a wallet and Visa card spending its USDPT stablecoin, issued by Anchorage Digital Bank and built on Solana, live in 37 markets at launch.
10. StandingAround $310bn of digital dollars are in circulation, $310.7bn on DefiLlama's 29 August count, though June's $7.7bn fall was the largest monthly drop since Terra collapsed in 2022.
11. StandingThe US GENIUS Act is law, and its rulebook has moved from drafting to formal proposals at Treasury and the OCC.

Uniswap's burn has a second engine running and a third queued: v4 fees are live on seven chains and three more fee votes entered governance in early August.

186k

UNI burned in a day

~$325k

a day from v4 fees

3

fee votes in flight

1. Early AugThree further fee-activation proposals, covering v2 and v3 deployments across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum and more, enter Uniswap governance to feed the same burn.
2. 27 JulProposals 99 and 100 execute: v4 protocol fees go live on seven chains including Robinhood Chain, 46.6M UNI voting for against 1.3M opposed.
3. StandingRobinhood Chain pushed $6bn of swaps through its first fortnight.
4. JuneUniswap's fee switch is live: protocol fees buy and burn UNI, a record 186,000 of them in a single day.

The UK is writing a pro-innovation objective for the Bank of England into the Financial Services and Markets Bill, and September holds the calendar: Lords debates on the 7th and 9th, CLARITY cloture on the 15th, the BoE consultation closing on the 22nd, the FCA window opening on the 30th.

7 Sep

Lords debate BoE objective

15 Sep

CLARITY cloture ripens

30 Sep

FCA window opens

1. 4 SepThe Financial Services and Markets Bill reaches its final stages: Parliament's bill page shows consideration of amendments, updated 4 September, ahead of the Lords debates on the BoE secondary objective on 7 and 9 September (bills.parliament.uk; gov.uk).
2. 27 AugHM Treasury announces a new secondary statutory objective for the Bank of England: supporting innovation in payment systems and digital money, stablecoins included, via government amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The Lords debate them on 7 and 9 September, financial stability stays primary, and the Bank will report annually to Parliament (gov.uk).
3. 21 AugRegulation Crypto Assets is published in the Federal Register; public comment closes 20 October 2026 (SEC's own rulemaking page).
4. 20 AugThe CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee holds its inaugural meeting: 43 industry members in Washington, the commodities regulator moving while Congress waits, with Mike Selig styled chairman in the commission's own follow-up release. Read our report →
5. 18 AugThe SEC proposes Regulation Crypto Assets: 402 pages, approved 3-0 by Atkins, Peirce and Uyeda, the full current roster of a five-seat commission, five days after cancelling the meeting called to vote on it. Two fundraising tiers at $20m and $75m a year, a one-time $5m startup exemption, and a safe harbour once an issuer's promised work is finished or ceased. Read our report →
6. 15 AugThe SEC pulls its 14 August open meeting the day before, cancelling the vote on proposing Regulation Crypto Assets; the tokenisation exemption is reported delayed again. Read our report →
7. 11 AugCoinbase opens crypto derivatives to UK professional investors: futures, perpetuals and options across more than 170 contracts at up to 50x leverage, on the MiFID permission won in July. The 2021 ban still keeps every retail saver out. Read our report →
8. 8 AugSenate Majority Leader Thune files cloture on the motion to proceed to the CLARITY Act, and the chamber leaves for recess without voting. The motion ripens at 2:15pm on 15 September.
9. DiaryThe FCA's application window for the full UK crypto regime opens 30 September and runs to 28 February 2027, with full commencement on 25 October 2027. A perimeter policy statement is expected in September.
10. DiaryThe Bank of England's systemic stablecoin consultation closes 22 September: individual holding limits are dropped in favour of a temporary £40bn per-coin issuance guardrail, with the Code of Practice finalised by end-2026. The innovation objective announced on 27 August will sit above the same regime once the Bill passes. Read our report →
11. DiaryEurope's MiCA review consultation, covering scope, stablecoin rules and DeFi, now closes 30 September, extended from 31 August (European Commission).
12. StandingRegulation Crypto Assets is a proposal rather than law until comment closes and a final rule is voted. Europe's MiCA is fully in force.

Five ETF sessions to 4 September put a net $869m into the spot Bitcoin funds, 3 September's $730.8m the heaviest day on Farside's table, and Strategy's 31 August filing shows it buying again: 4,603 BTC, taking holdings to 845,050.

+$731m

3 Sep, heaviest ETF day

845,050

BTC held by Strategy

$79.6k

bitcoin, 5 Sep

1. 3 Sep$730.8m enters the spot Bitcoin ETFs, the heaviest single day on Farside's running table, past 20 August's $606.3m; the spot ETH funds take $141.4m the same day. The window's five sessions to 4 September net +$869m for the Bitcoin funds, with 1 September's $236.5m the one outflow day (Farside).
2. 31 AugStrategy's 8-K records 4,603 BTC bought between 24 and 30 August for $369.7m at an average of $80,318, the first purchases in three weeks, taking holdings to 845,050 BTC at an average cost of $75,412, with about $6.7bn of dollar liquidity (SEC EDGAR).
3. 29 AugBitcoin trades near $77,700 and Ether near $2,434, down about 2% and 3% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 13:44 UTC); the total market stands near $2.64tn, down from $2.69tn a week earlier.
4. 28 AugThe run ends on the day of the Warsh speech: $201.9m net leaves the spot Bitcoin ETFs, the first outflow day since 14 August, with ARKB leading the selling; the spot ETH funds still add $102.1m (Farside data).
5. 27 AugHyperliquid's HYPE sets a record $86.71 before retracing to about $81.57, below the old $82.43 mark, while the spot ETH funds take $225.8m, their heaviest day of August (CoinGecko; Farside data).
6. 24-27 AugFour more inflow days, $337.6m, $314.3m, $232.2m and $242.3m, stretch the spot Bitcoin ETFs' run to nine straight sessions and about $3.04bn since 17 August (Farside data).
7. 24 AugStrategy's weekly 8-K shows a second straight week without bitcoin purchases: 840,447 BTC held at an average cost of $75,385, $2,006.5m raised selling MSTR shares, and $6.69bn of dollar liquidity across two designated pools (SEC EDGAR).
8. 24 AugBitMine says its Ether treasury has reached 5,847,611 ETH, 4.8% of the whole supply on the company's own figures, inside $14.9bn of total crypto and cash as of 23 August; more than 5 million of those ETH are staked (SEC exhibit).
9. 22 AugBitcoin trades near $77,400 and Ether near $2,435, up about 3% and 4% in 24 hours (the desk snapshot at 06:54 UTC); the total market stands near $2.69tn.
10. 21 AugThe 21st finalises far higher than its early tally once IBIT posts: $307.5m net into the spot Bitcoin funds, $239.3m of it IBIT, and $184m into the spot ETH funds (Farside data).
11. 21 AugGrayscale files its fifth S-3 amendment for the Grayscale Zcash Trust, renaming it The Zcash ETF for a planned NYSE Arca listing under ZCSH, with a Coinbase entity as custodian. A filing, not an approval, and no listing date is set (SEC EDGAR).
12. 21 AugBitcoin trades near $77,100 and Ether near $2,385, up about 7% and 4% in 24 hours (CoinGecko, 13:04 UTC); the total market stands near $2.62tn.
13. 19-20 AugTwo more inflow days, and heavier: roughly $517m net into the spot Bitcoin ETFs on the 19th and $606m on the 20th, the heaviest day of the month, IBIT taking $503m of the 20th's total (Farside data).
14. 19 AugThe US Treasury says it will at least double its long-end buyback operations, to at least $4bn per operation from 9 September; long yields fell and the crypto rally accelerated the same week (Treasury's own release).
15. 18 AugA second straight inflow day: $189m net into the spot Bitcoin ETFs, IBIT taking about three quarters, while the spot ETH funds add $71m with ETHA dominant (Farside data).
16. 17 AugInflows return: roughly $298m net into the spot Bitcoin funds, over $160m of it IBIT, ending a five-session flat-to-down run that began 10 August (Farside data).
17. 15 AugGoldman Sachs agrees to pay up to $2.25bn for NEOS Investments, whose 19 options-income ETFs hold $30bn, including the largest bitcoin and ether income funds. Read our report →
18. 15 AugUBS's 13F shows 1.95 million IBIT call underlying shares at 30 June against 80,000 three months earlier, while its put line more than halved. Read our report →
19. StandingIBIT dominates the traffic in both directions.
20. StandingTokenised real-world assets stand near $39.2bn on RWA.xyz's 5 September count, its distributed asset value measure, and Strategy is buying bitcoin again after the cycle's first sales.