THE WEEKLY WRAP
Crypto markets edged lower this week, with total market capitalisation falling 0.84% to US$2.17 trillion. Sentiment improved slightly, with the Fear and Greed Index climbing to 29, moving out of “Extreme Fear” and back into “Fear”.
ETF flows told a much stronger story. Bitcoin products recorded US$853.54 million in net inflows, reversing last week’s US$61.53 million outflow, while Ethereum products attracted another US$244.94 million.
Meanwhile, the never-ending CLARITY Act saga continues. The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on September 15, although prediction markets still put its chances of becoming law in 2026 at around one-in-five.
Elsewhere in ETF land, Grayscale withdrew its registration applications for proposed Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR) and Polkadot (DOT) ETFs. The withdrawals were voluntary rather than SEC rejections, with Grayscale providing no detailed reason for the decision.
BTC vs GOLD vs NASDAQ vs ETH vs VAS
🟡 Gold: +2.07%
🔵 Nasdaq: +16.67%
🔴 Vanguard Australian Shares: +5.75%
🟠 Bitcoin: -26.84%
⚪ Ethereum: -36.88%
The Nasdaq extended its lead this week, climbing from +13.63% to +16.67% year-to-date, remaining the strongest-performing asset on the chart. Vanguard Australian Shares also improved, rising from +4.56% to +5.75%.
Gold recorded the biggest turnaround, moving from -6.15% to +2.07% and pushing back into positive territory for the year.
Crypto was comparatively steady. Bitcoin improved slightly from -27.00% to -26.84%, while Ethereum moved from -37.13% to -36.88%. Both remain well below their starting levels for the year, with Ethereum continuing to be the weakest performer of the five.
Source: TradingView, BTC, GOLD, NASDAQ, VAS, ETH
BTC
Bitcoin’s biggest wallet cohort is suddenly accumulating at its fastest pace in months.
Addresses holding more than 10,000 BTC added a net 46,420 BTC as of 9 August, almost double their March accumulation peak. Meanwhile, smaller 0.1–1 BTC wallets have moved in the opposite direction, distributing around 9,700 BTC.
Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin remains trapped inside the same two-month range, with price continuing to bounce between roughly US$57,800 support and US$67,300 resistance.
BTC is currently sitting around US$64,100, right in the middle of the range, with neither buyers nor sellers managing to take control.
For now, it’s still a waiting game. A clean move beyond either side of the range would be the first real sign that Bitcoin is ready to break out of this sideways stretch.
Source: TradingView BTC/USD
ETH:
In the news this week Ethereum’s roadmap is getting a refresh, with Vitalik Buterin putting greater focus on privacy, quantum resistance, scaling and native rollups. At the same time, EIP-8363 is stirring debate by proposing that part of validator rewards be burned as more ETH is staked, which could significantly reduce issuance if staking participation keeps rising.
Binance ETH NUPL has fallen to around -0.35, pushing it back into a zone that has appeared around several major ETH drawdowns in previous cycles. It does not confirm that a bottom is in, but it suggests a large portion of Binance-held ETH is sitting on unrealised losses and that market stress is becoming more pronounced.
Source: CryptoQuant
ALTCOINS
Altcoin sectors were mostly positive this week, with meme coins leading the way at +2.98%. AI followed at +2.01%, while DePIN gained 1.33% and RWA edged higher by 0.24%.
PENGU helped lift the meme sector with a 4.86% gain, while HYPE added 1.68%. The biggest movers came elsewhere, with CRV jumping 30.18% and Pump.fun surging 30.22%, giving the Solana ecosystem a strong boost.
DeFi was the only sector to finish slightly lower at -0.07%, while it was a tougher week for XRP maxis, with XRP down 5.67%.
Source: https://defillama.com/narrative-tracker
CRV
CRV was one of this week’s biggest movers, jumping 30.18%, while activity across the Curve ecosystem also picked up.
LlamaLend V2 is now live on Ethereum, while cheaper borrowing helped borrower-minted crvUSD grow 29% during July. More recent data shows LlamaLend TVL climbing another 4.9% to US$146 million, with borrowing and crvUSD supply continuing to increase.
CRV has ripped around 60% from its June range low, climbing from roughly US$0.17 to US$0.27 and moving back towards the top of its broader trading range near US$0.29.
The short-term move has been strong, but zooming out gives it some perspective. CRV is still more than 80% below its 2025 peak, so this remains a recovery inside a much bigger drawdown.
For now, the key level is the US$0.29 range high. That is where this rally gets properly tested.
Source: TradingView CRV/USD
THIS WEEK’S INSIGHTS
Are You Actually Buying Crypto?
Crypto ETFs are booming, but there’s one detail that often gets missed: buying a Bitcoin ETF is not the same as buying Bitcoin.
You might get similar price exposure, but what you own, how it trades and what you can actually do with it are very different.
We break down how crypto ETFs work, what sits behind them and why TradFi keeps piling in.
