Crypto Currents: Record ETF outflows fail to deter large corporate buys

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ETF STREAKS SNAPPED AMID PROFIT-TAKING: After a period of strong performance, crypto investment products saw significant outflows. Spot bitcoin ETFs (BTC) recorded their second-largest single-day outflow in history, with a net $812M pulled from the funds. The withdrawal was led by redemptions from Fidelity’s FBTC and ARK Invest’s ARKB. At the same time, spot ether ETFs (ETH) saw their 20-day inflow streak come to an end with a $152M outflow. A report from CoinShares suggests the reversal was likely triggered by hawkish sentiment from the recent FOMC meeting, which dampened investor expectations for a near-term interest rate cut.

CORPORATE TREASURY MOVES: Despite market jitters, corporate accumulation of digital assets accelerated. Strategy (MSTR) purchased an additional 21,000 bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 628,791 BTC. Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) announced its holdings have now surpassed 50,000 BTC. SharpLink Gaming (SBET) acquired another $54M worth of ether (ETH), bringing its total to $1.65B. Metaplanet (MTPLF), a Japanese firm, also made its first significant bitcoin purchase of August. Following its merger, Interactive Strength (TRNR) also detailed the tokenomics for its Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) utility token, which is a core component of its unique digital asset treasury.

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:

• ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, purchased an additional $30M worth of Coinbase (COIN) shares and $17M in BitMine (BMNR) stock during Friday’s market sell-off, and is reportedly eyeing the new “Bullish” IPO, along with Blackrock (BLK), separately interested in buying as much as $200M of shares in aggregate at the IPO price.
• France’s Rassemblement National political party is reportedly drafting a bill to utilize surplus energy from the country’s nuclear power plants for bitcoin mining, according to French newspaper outlet Le Monde.
• A report from JP Morgan (JPM) noted that bitcoin miner profitability reached its highest monthly level in July since the April 2024 halving, driven by bitcoin’s price reaching a new all-time high.
• A report from Ripple identified major banks like Citigroup (C), JP Morgan (JPM), and Goldman Sachs (GS) as leaders in adopting blockchain technology for services like asset tokenization and payments.
• Bullish, the owner of CoinDesk, has filed for an IPO in the U.S. with the goal of raising up to $629M, which would give it a valuation of as much as $4.2B. The company has stated it will convert a large part of the money raised into stablecoins, as reported by Bloomberg. Bullish is seeking a listing under the ticker “BLSH”.

PRICE ACTION: As of time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $114,853.63, while ethereum (ETH) was $3,654.37.