The crypto market at a crossroads: regulatory breakthrough and new signals from Strategy — digest for August 12
The past night brought several landmark events capable of redefining the direction of the entire market. The head of the OCC spoke in favor of granting crypto companies access to banking licenses, Strategy announced a return to active bitcoin purchases, and the SEC is preparing a surprise for the tokenized assets market.
Leaders' dynamics: consolidation before a breakout
Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $63,794 as of 8:45 AM Moscow time. Overnight volatility was moderate: quotes tested support at $63,200, followed by a rebound to $64,450, but the asset failed to hold above that level and returned to the $63,800 zone. This is a classic accumulation pattern ahead of significant news flow.
Ethereum (ETH) is showing similar dynamics, holding around $1,890. During the night session, there was a local dip to $1,853, but bulls quickly bought up the decline, bringing the price back to previous levels. Such a reaction indicates that large players are in no hurry to lock in profits, awaiting clearer signals.
No notable movements occurred in the top 10 by market capitalization. The best performers were Dogecoin (DOGE) with a gain of 2.91% and BNB (+2.19%), while Hyperliquid (HYPE) corrected by 1.47%. Among the top 100, Canton (CC) stood out, adding 5.52%. The laggards included Audiera (BEAT) with a drop of 10.7%, as well as Lighter (LIT) and Uniswap (UNI), losing 6.37% and 5.41%, respectively.
ETF flows and liquidations
Spot bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $4.89 million, while Solana products attracted $1.43 million. At the same time, Ethereum funds lost $1.76 million. This confirms the continued institutional appetite for the leading cryptocurrency amid caution toward altcoins.
Over the past day, exchanges liquidated positions of 76,376 traders totaling $175.22 million. The largest liquidation order was on the BTCUSDT pair on Binance, amounting to $2.46 million. Such figures indicate a high level of leverage, creating risks of sharp movements if key levels are breached.
Regulatory breakthrough: OCC and SEC
The head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Jonathan Gould, made an important statement: crypto companies should gain access to the U.S. national banking license. He emphasized that the agency is ready to consider applications from anyone conducting legitimate activities, including those involving digital assets. Over the past 18 months, the OCC has received 40 applications to establish new banks, with decisions on many of them made within 120 days.
In parallel, Strategy's head, Phong Le, confirmed that the company will resume bitcoin purchases before the end of the year. Since the start of the year, Strategy has acquired approximately 175,000 BTC, selling only about 7,000 — meaning purchase volume exceeded sales by 25 times. The proceeds were directed toward dividends on preferred shares and share buybacks, but the focus is now shifting back to building reserves.
Even more intriguing is the report that the SEC may present an exemption for trading tokenized stocks as early as Friday. The regulator will hold an open meeting to consider a special regime for certain crypto-asset contracts. This potentially paves the way for 24/7 trading of tokenized securities on the blockchain, although public companies will be able to object to third-party digitalization of their shares, and platforms will be required to tighten KYC/AML rules.
My view: the combination of banking licenses for crypto firms and a potential SEC exemption is not just a tactical move but a fundamental shift in integrating digital assets into the traditional financial system. If these initiatives materialize, we will see not just price growth but a qualitative change in market structure. However, it is worth remembering: any regulatory easing is often accompanied by increased oversight, which could lead to temporary volatility. The strategy remains the same — watch volumes and levels, not the noise of headlines.