While most market participants were resting, the crypto industry continued to move actively. Stablecoin neobank Fasset attracted a major investment round, Tether's CEO pointed to new adoption centers, and Ledger eliminated a critical vulnerability in its Ethereum application.
Leaders' dynamics: bullish momentum persists
As of the morning of August 24, bitcoin (BTC) strengthened around $77,050, demonstrating a confident upward trend. Over the day, the asset gained 1.10%, and over the week—an impressive 21.41%. The trading range over the past 24 hours was $75,600 – $77,800, indicating high volatility and a battle by bulls for control of the $77,000 level.
Ether (ETH) also showed impressive dynamics, rising 2.90% over the day and 28.87% over the week. Quotes for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap stabilized near $2,447, with fluctuations observed overnight in the range of $2,360 – $2,480.
Among the top 25 leaders by market cap, Zcash (ZEC) stood out with a gain of 6.51%, Sui (SUI)—by 4.56%, and Hedera (HBAR)—by 4.41%. At the same time, UNUS SED LEO (LEO) and Monero (XMR) corrected by 1.85% and 3.03%, respectively.
Phenomenal growth of Ethena and ETF inflows
Among the top 100 assets, Ethena's (ENA) weekly result was a true breakthrough: growth of 99.54%. Stacks (STX) and Official Trump (TRUMP) also showed outstanding dynamics, adding 93.91% and 76.33%, respectively. The week's laggard was JUST (JST), losing 7.59%.
Institutional interest remains a key market driver. Over the past week, spot ETFs demonstrated significant capital inflows: bitcoin funds attracted about $1.92 billion, Ethereum products—$697.18 million. Funds on XRP ($39.78 million), Solana ($28.34 million), and Chainlink ($13.35 million) also showed positive dynamics. The only exception was products on BNB, which recorded an outflow of $262,000.
Liquidations and overnight events
Over the past day, positions totaling $300.38 million were liquidated, affecting 72,982 traders. Interestingly, shorts suffered more: $167.16 million versus $133.23 million for longs. The largest liquidation order was executed on Binance for the ETHUSDT pair, amounting to $6.86 million.
In the corporate sector, stablecoin neobank Fasset raised $68 million in a funding round led by Japan's SBI Group, reaching a valuation of $1 billion. The company processes over $40 billion in transactions annually across 125 countries, and its revenue grew sixfold over the year.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino noted that USDT is becoming an integral part of the financial systems of developing economies. According to him, the stablecoin is actively used for international trade in Venezuela, P2P settlements in Argentina, commercial transactions in Bolivia, and protection against inflation in Turkey.
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet confirmed that the vulnerability in signing scripts in the Ethereum application was fixed two weeks ago. The issue was discovered by the Ledger Donjon division, and users with up-to-date firmware and application versions are protected.
My view: The current market dynamics indicate a transition to a sustained bullish cycle. The growth of Ethena and Stacks amid stable ETF inflows points to rising risk appetite, but the sharp increase in short-position liquidations could trigger a short-term correction. I recommend maintaining caution and not opening excessive leverage at current levels.