While most market participants were resting, the crypto industry continued to move actively. Key events unfolded on several fronts at once: from the launch of a new trading instrument on Polymarket to important statements from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and warnings from one of the largest financial institutions in the United States.
Market on the rise: bitcoin and altcoins are growing
Bitcoin (BTC) demonstrated confident upward momentum. Over the course of the day, the price rose from $77,200 to a local high near $81,800, after which it corrected and settled around the $80,895 mark. The 24-hour gain amounted to 4.13%. Ether (ETH) also showed positive dynamics, rising 4.33% to $2,506, with a trading range near $2,380–$2,525.
The wave of growth swept across nearly the entire top 25. The leaders were Zcash (ZEC) with a gain of 15.62%, Uniswap (UNI) at 9.99%, and Cardano (ADA) at 6.79%. XRP added 5.72%. The only notable laggard in this group was Monero (XMR), which lost 2.09%. In the top 100, the best result was shown by Pons (PONS), surging 32.16%, while Dash (DASH) strengthened by 16.02%. Among falling assets, Filecoin (FIL) stood out with a decline of 5.74%.
Institutional interest remains high. Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded a powerful inflow of $730.87 million. Products based on Ethereum attracted $141.39 million, Solana — $6.40 million, XRP — $6.14 million. Even Dogecoin ETFs received $419,410. The fear and greed index jumped to 74 points, remaining in the "greed" zone. For comparison: a month ago, this indicator was at 27 points, which indicates a radical shift in sentiment.
The active growth did not come without consequences. According to exchange analytics, positions of 96,304 traders were liquidated over the course of the day for a total of $537.28 million. The main blow fell on short positions — $456.46 million versus $80.82 million on longs. This is a classic scenario of short squeezes during a sharp upward move.
Events of the night: new products and important signals
The prediction market platform Polymarket officially launched the Polymarket Perps service. Now users outside the United States can trade perpetual contracts with leverage up to 20x on cryptocurrencies, stocks, commodities, and other assets. This is a significant step in the evolution of the platform, which is expanding its functionality beyond simple event bets.
Meanwhile, Fidelity issued an important warning. The company believes that August's rise in bitcoin and the market as a whole is not yet proof that the bear cycle has ended. Analysts expect that the bottom may only be reached in November 2026, based on the theory of four-year cycles. Among the factors that could reverse the market, they cite an exit from the period of low volatility, regulatory clarity, monetary policy easing, and the arrival of institutional investors.
The IMF confirmed that El Salvador has not used public funds to purchase bitcoin since June 27, 2025. All accumulated coins were acquired exclusively through private donations. The Fund does not expect further accumulation of BTC beyond the documented donations. This statement came after the approval of the second and third reviews of the EFF program, which opens access for the country to approximately $140 million in additional financing.
In the DeFi sector, Curve DAO approved funding for the yRisk team to manage risks of the crvUSD stablecoin and the Llamalend protocol. Notably, both members of yRisk are lead developers of the Resupply protocol, which lost about $9.6 million in June 2025 as a result of an attack. The vote passed unanimously: 536.9 million veCRV supported the initiative, with no one voting against.
My comment: The launch of perpetuals on Polymarket is an attempt to carve out a niche between classic derivatives and event contracts. However, Fidelity's warning about a possible prolonged bear market looks more than timely. The current growth may be merely a correction within a broader downtrend. Investors should remain cautious and not give in to euphoria, despite positive ETF flows.