Morning crypto market digest: Tether winds down aUSDT, CME Group sues CFTC, and Ark Invest shifts from Robinhood to Coinbase
The market starts the day in a sideways trend. Bitcoin (BTC) at 07:27 MSK is trading near $63,943, showing minimal volatility. Over 24 hours, the asset fluctuated in the range of $63,779 – $66,354. Ethereum (ETH) also stalled at the $1,735 level. The overall picture points to a consolidation phase before a potential impulsive move.
Top 10: Tron and Hyperliquid in Focus
Among the top capitalization leaders, the best daily performance is from Tron (+0.94%), and the weekly leader is Hyperliquid (+26.88%). However, Tron also showed the maximum drop in 24 hours (-7.28%), indicating high speculative activity. The smallest losses over the day were recorded for BNB and Tron (-0.34%).
Top Morning News
Tether shuts down the Alloy project and the gold-backed stablecoin aUSDT. The company is reassessing priorities, focusing on more liquid products, particularly the XAUT token. aUSDT allowed users to deposit XAUT as collateral and issue a dollar-denominated token without selling gold assets. The closure process will be phased: new positions are already unavailable, and users can return aUSDT and retrieve gold until September 17. This is not the first instance—Tether previously wound down CNHT (based on the yuan) and EURT (based on the euro). XAUT remains a popular stablecoin with a market cap of $3 billion.
CME Group intends to sue the CFTC over perpetual futures. CME CEO Terrence Duffy stated that the lawsuit will be filed on Thursday. The main argument is that perpetual contracts should be classified as swaps under the Dodd-Frank Act. Previously, the CFTC approved such contracts for Kalshi and took a neutral stance on a similar proposal from Coinbase. Duffy calls perpetual futures a "disaster" due to high leverage and participant inexperience, comparing the situation to the pre-crisis environment of 2008.
Cathie Wood's Ark Invest buys Coinbase and sells Robinhood. The company purchased Coinbase shares worth $18.4 million through three ETFs, while simultaneously selling Robinhood shares for nearly $29 million. Notably, Coinbase stock itself closed down 2.57%, extending its monthly decline to almost 13%, while Robinhood surged 8.78%. After the sale, Robinhood remains the fourth-largest position in the flagship ARKK fund, while Coinbase now ranks eighth.
My expert commentary: Tether's actions are a clear signal to the market: the company is concentrating on scaling and liquidity, abandoning niche products. The CME lawsuit against the CFTC could set a precedent that redefines derivatives regulation in the U.S. And Ark Invest's capital shift from Robinhood to Coinbase is a bet on the institutional, rather than retail, future of the crypto market.