Bitcoin Above $77,000 — ETF Flows at Record Pace

Weekly market review

Last week was one of the strongest of the year for crypto markets. Bitcoin rose from around $64,000 to above $77,000, and on Monday 24 August it touched almost $79,000 — its highest level since May.

Several drivers lined up at once. The US Treasury announced it would double its buybacks of long-dated bonds, pushing long-end yields lower and freeing up risk appetite among investors. At the same time President Trump pressed Congress to pass the Clarity Act, which would define more clearly whether cryptocurrencies are securities or commodities. The bill remains stuck in the Senate, with a procedural vote expected in September. (Reuters)

Ether squeezed the shorts

Ether followed bitcoin higher and climbed above $2,500 during the week, after trading in a $1,900–1,950 range as late as Wednesday. The move triggered more than $1.4 billion of forced short liquidations, and a single trader reportedly lost $24 million shorting ether within seconds.

Investor sentiment has clearly turned greedy: the Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently sits between 68 and 80 depending on the source, placing it between "greed" and "extreme greed". Markets were also positioning ahead of the Fed's Jackson Hole symposium — weaker jobs data and softer inflation have reduced expectations of rate hikes, which is typically supportive for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.

ETF net flows at record pace

Between 17 and 21 August, spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.918 billion in net subscriptions. Spot ether ETFs took in $697 million, reversing the previous week's nearly $392 million of net redemptions.

Smaller products drew capital too: spot solana ETFs gathered $28.34 million, spot XRP ETFs $39.78 million and spot HYPE ETFs $3.89 million. (CoinDesk)

Largest weekly haul since October 2025

Combined, bitcoin and ether ETFs booked roughly $2.6 billion of net inflows over the week — the largest weekly total since October 2025. It signals that institutional demand has returned in force precisely as the macro backdrop — bond buybacks, rate-cut expectations and regulatory progress — created a favourable environment for risk-taking.

A single week of flows still does not settle the long-term direction. For a long-term investor, regular buying and diversification matter more than individual flow records.

Fasset raised $68 million led by SBI Group

Stablecoin neobank Fasset announced a $68 million funding round led by Japan's SBI Group, valuing the company at $1 billion. According to CoinDesk, Fasset already raised $51 million in May, taking its total funding this year to $119 million.

CEO Mohammad Raafi Hossain says Fasset processes more than $40 billion in annualised transaction volume across 125 countries, with revenue up sixfold year on year.

Traditional finance is building stablecoin rails

The round and the volume growth behind it show that traditional financial institutions — here one of Japan's largest financial groups — see an increasingly strong strategic interest in stablecoin infrastructure. The trajectory mirrors how decentralised trading venues gradually moved from the margins into the financial mainstream.

USDT strengthens across emerging markets

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said on 23 August that USDT usage is growing in emerging economies such as Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia and Turkey. In his view the stablecoin is increasingly used in both domestic and cross-border trade, as a digital dollar and as a store of value amid local currency devaluation, dollar shortages and financial restrictions.

As concrete examples Ardoino cited import and export settlement in Venezuela, financing of commercial transactions in Bolivia, peer-to-peer (P2P) trading in Argentina and inflation hedging in Turkey. The trend illustrates how dollar-pegged stablecoins are shifting from a speculative asset class into everyday financial infrastructure in countries where the local currency offers no reliable store of value.

Phantom drops Sui support in September

Wallet provider Phantom announced it will end support for the Sui network on 24 September 2026. After that date users can no longer view, send, swap or otherwise manage their Sui assets through the Phantom wallet. The assets remain on-chain as normal, and users can access them with any Sui-compatible wallet using the same credentials.

The change is a reminder that wallet support for a given network is not a permanent feature but a business decision. Users should follow announcements from their wallet providers and move funds to a compatible alternative in good time when needed.

What the week tells us

The move was unusually broad: prices, flows and sentiment all turned in the same direction. When institutional demand returns through ETF products and the macro backdrop supports risk-taking, price moves amplify quickly — as the $1.4 billion of short liquidations showed. That same leverage works in both directions.

Meanwhile a slower but more durable shift continues in the background: stablecoins are cementing their role as payment infrastructure in emerging markets, and traditional financial institutions are investing in the companies building it. To keep the bigger picture in view, use our comprehensive guide to crypto investing.

Keep stacking — with discipline.