The publication of August US CPI set the tone for the entire day: core inflation rose 0.3% month-on-month versus the expected 0.2%, making a Federal Reserve rate hike at the September 15–16 meeting almost a certainty. Headline CPI matched the forecast at +0.4% m/m and +3.4% y/y, while core inflation decelerated to 2.4% y/y — the lowest since 2021. The probability of a Fed rate hike surged to 81–90%: Polymarket gives 81%, CME FedWatch 85–90%, BTC-ECHO above 87%. Producer inflation (PPI) accelerated to 5.4% y/y, and 30-year Treasury yields hit a peak not seen since June 2004 at 5.309%.
Bitcoin initially dipped to ~$76.5K before a short squeeze launched it to an intraday high of ~$79.8K (some sources log ~$79.6K), after which it retreated to ~$77.4K. Mass liquidations swept the market: from ~$387M to ~$732M in a single day depending on the source, of which BTC shorts accounted for ~$424M. Total crypto market cap recovered to ~$2.7T. Analysts at Grayscale and CoinShares called the data a "speed bump" for crypto, expecting shallow dips while noting that the hot core inflation caps bitcoin below $80K.
Technically, bitcoin remains in a tight range: a daily "golden cross" again failed to deliver a sustained breakout (the 4-hour held, RSI ~43.3), and the $80–82K zone continues to act as strong resistance. Key support lies at $76–77K; a break below opens the door to $72–74K. Meanwhile, bitcoin reserves on Binance reached a two-year high of 693,000 BTC.
Ethereum was the day's standout performer. For the first time since early February, it broke above $2,600 and reached ~$2,663, gaining over 6.5%. On Bitstamp, the short squeeze liquidated $215M in shorts versus $91M in longs; ETH accounted for roughly 40% of $758M in daily liquidations. Earlier in the session it had tested support at $2,431 following hot PPI data. Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee forecast a "rip-it rally" targeting ETH short-sellers, noting that Bitmine Immersion Technologies — which he chairs — has accumulated 5.9M ETH (~4.9% of supply). Solana briefly reclaimed $100 before fading to ~$99.30 as its 4-hour Supertrend flipped bearish with resistance at $103.91. Zcash, which had surged over 130% in a month, pulled back sharply — approximately 12% to ~$1,134 per CoinDesk and ~16% from its peak per U.Today — triggering $28.37M in liquidations.
Spot bitcoin ETF outflows accelerated: $282.6M on Thursday, the largest since July 13, reaching $449M over three days. The main contributors were ARKB ($164M), GBTC ($36M) and FBTC ($33.6M). Spot ether ETFs lost $29.8M, Solana ETFs $483K. Aggregate net assets of bitcoin ETFs stand at ~$97.5B. The outflows were not one-sided, however: BlackRock's IBIT accumulated nearly $687M in BTC over three green days prior, and ETHA added $251.4M in ETH over 20 consecutive trading days without a single outflow. Meanwhile, Bitwise is winding down its Dogecoin ETF (BWOW): the last day of trading on NYSE Arca is expected October 14, with the fund holding only ~$688K in assets.
The headline regulatory story is the updated CLARITY Act. Senator Cynthia Lummis released a revised 630-page text five days before the procedural vote. The key provision requires DeFi protocols controlled by outside forces to register with the CFTC for spot digital commodity transactions. More than 100 amendments were incorporated at Democrats' request. The cloture vote on the motion to proceed is scheduled for September 15 at 14:15 ET, requiring 60 votes with the GOP holding 53 seats; no Democratic support has been publicly announced. Polymarket prices the odds of the bill becoming law in 2026 at 18%; Galaxy has lowered its estimate to ~10%. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly urged the Senate to advance the bill.
Regulatory activity extended beyond the US. Germany's Finance Ministry circulated a proposal to abolish the one-year tax-free holding period for crypto: assets purchased from January 1, 2027 will be taxed at a flat 26.375%. The UK House of Lords ordered HM Treasury to develop a national strategy for digital-asset regulation (194 votes to 138). ESMA warned that prediction markets are "rampant with insider trading." Russia's financial monitoring service now requires an INN when opening crypto depository accounts, and Canada's OSFI finalized capital rules for 2027, clarifying that tokenized deposits are legally indistinguishable from traditional ones.
The top security incident remains the Liquid hack. Blockstream publicly refused to pay a ransom to the group that drained ~4,000 BTC (~$320M) from the Liquid Network federation wallet through an Elements vulnerability on September 6. While ~3,400 BTC were returned on September 7, ~598 BTC (~$46–47M) remain with the attackers, who demanded a 10% "bounty." Blockstream called the retention theft and pledged to involve law enforcement. Patch Elements v23.3.4 was released; Liquid resumed block production and transactions, though peg-outs remain suspended.
A post-mortem from Brevo explained the phishing wave targeting Trezor users: a single-sign-on authentication flaw allowed access to 138 customer accounts. The phishing emails reached approximately 347,000 Trezor subscribers, and around 2,500 clicked the malicious link before the domain was blocked. Osmosis disclosed that on June 25 an attacker minted 40+ BTC in nBTC tokens, but the protocol did not detect this for 74 days, leaving allBTC 36% undercollateralized. The US Department of Justice, working with Tether, froze over $52M in crypto tied to the Xinbi Guarantee scheme; the Scam Center Strike Force's total seizures have reached $938M.
Institutional convergence continued. Nasdaq agreed to invest $100M in Payward — Kraken's parent company — and expand its partnership on tokenized equities and surveillance technology. According to Bloomberg, UniCredit is exploring crypto custody, brokerage, tokenized products, and stablecoin-based fixed income: the bank is selecting a technology partner, talks are in early stages, and no final decision has been reached. Metaplanet reduced its Series 10 options pool by 41.1% following investor concerns about dilution and announced a subsidiary in Hong Kong. Standard Chartered initiated coverage of SKY with a $0.325 target by end of 2028. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called a $400K BTC target by 2030 reasonable, saying the cycle bottom is likely behind us.
The stablecoin infrastructure continues to expand. Circle agreed to acquire Tazapay for $400M in stock: the operator processes over $25B in annual volume, roughly 60% of which is in stablecoins, with the deal expected to close in 2027. U.S. Bank completed a cross-border pilot of its stablecoin USDCD on Stellar. PayPal, M0, and MoonPay launched PYUSDx — a "stablecoin as a service" platform that processed over $100M at launch. Coinbase, through a partnership with Moov, will offer stablecoin payments to over 1,000 US banks and credit unions. MoneyGram launched a Visa card with stablecoins in Colombia, and neobank Nu is entering the US market with deposit-to-USDC/EURC conversions. Denmark's central bank warned about the risks of growing stablecoins to the financial system.
India took a step toward institutional tokenization: SEBI launched a Demat 2.0 pilot under which REC, Larsen & Toubro and IIFL raised approximately ₹1,025 crore (~$107–116M) in tokenized corporate bonds with settlement in the RBI's wholesale digital rupee. Maharashtra is considering tokenizing up to 50% of selected grid assets, while India and Russia are working on a CBDC settlement mechanism for bilateral trade approaching $60B.
In other developments: Kalshi plans ~60 perpetual contracts on stocks and ETFs (Tesla, Apple, Nvidia) with 24/7 trading — Citadel Securities warns of a "parallel shadow market." MEXC's stock futures volume surged 130% m/m in August. Bitcoin reserves on Binance hit a two-year high of 693,000 BTC. ECDSA.Fail researchers reduced the estimated cost of a key quantum-attack step on BTC and ETH by 86% — to ~$1.496B — while the Ethereum Foundation set December 2029 as the deadline for post-quantum security. Apple removed Pump Fun from the US and India App Stores. The People's Bank of China added 20 tons of gold in July — the largest purchase since 2023.