Live Feed

Minutes released by the Federal Reserve showed no mention of support for an interest rate cut, underscoring a clear shift in the central bank’s policy discussions over the past year. With recent data pointing to slight signs of easing inflation and companies unexpectedly reducing hiring in July, markets expect the Fed to leave its benchmark rate unchanged again at its Sept. 15-16 meeting. Against that backdrop, Fed officials remain divided on whether additional rate hikes are needed to further contain inflation, while also taking a more cautious view of risks tied to labor-market resilience and the full-employment goal. Fed Chair Wush has refrained from commenting on the monetary policy path during the remainder of the term, leaving markets without clear guidance from the central bank’s top official.

Federal Reserve minutes released on Aug. 19 showed the central bank held rates steady at its July meeting while inflation risks dominated discussions on the economic outlook. According to the minutes, many officials maintained that a rate hike could be needed if inflation does not cool further. The minutes also noted the meeting took place before the release of July inflation and employment data. Since then, the latest data has shown slower July inflation and a weaker labor market, and traders have lowered expectations for a September rate hike. Additional inflation and employment data is also due before the Fed’s next meeting.

According to the Fed minutes, many participants said broad-based price increases had appeared across a range of goods and services over the past year.

According to the Fed minutes, no decision was made on the number of monetary policy meetings. Fed Chair Waller said there will be no changes to the 2026 meeting schedule.

According to minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee released by the Federal Reserve, nearly all members viewed it as appropriate to keep language in the policy statement saying the Fed would achieve price stability.

XRP recorded notable outflows from major exchanges including Binance, Upbit and Coinbase despite ongoing downward pressure, The Crypto Basic reported, citing CoinGlass data. Over the past seven days, XRP posted net outflows at every major exchange except Bitstamp and Gemini. Binance saw the largest net outflow at $32.32 million worth of XRP, followed by Upbit at $23.94 million, Coinbase at $8.12 million and Bybit at $6.91 million. Bitstamp and Gemini were the only exchanges to post net XRP inflows during the same period, though those totaled just $1.21 million and $230,000, respectively. The outlet said XRP price action remained weak, but investors continued withdrawing XRP from exchanges despite the decline, which could somewhat ease sell pressure by reducing the amount of XRP immediately available for sale.

Coinbase announced on its official X account that it will delist nine perpetual futures contracts at 1:00 p.m. UTC on Sept. 3: Espresso (ESP), DoubleZero (2Z), RedStone (RED), AEVO, Aethir (ATH), Kaspa (KAS), SKY, POPCAT, and BRETT.

Coinbase has launched the fourth cohort of Base Batch, an accelerator program that provides funding for projects built on Base, its in-house Ethereum layer-two network. The program will select 10 teams and invest $100,000 in each, while also offering an eight-week bootcamp. Applications will close on Sept. 9, and the selected teams will gather in New York for a demo day.

Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 by year-end as the U.S. Treasury expands purchases in the long-term bond market to curb surging Treasury yields, Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick said in a note to clients, Cointelegraph reported. Kendrick said a break above Bitcoin’s key resistance level of $65,500 could signal that this cycle’s low is already in place, and investors should now prepare for a move toward $100,000 by year-end. He added that larger U.S. Treasury purchases of long-dated bonds are the kind of government intervention Bitcoin favors, as the cryptocurrency’s fixed supply can serve as a hedge against currency debasement.

Ethereum core developer Nethermind has ended its validator operations for LayerZero and joined Chainlink’s cross-chain protocol CCIP as a node operator, The Block reported. Nethermind had been considered one of LayerZero’s main external validators. Nethermind said it had stepped away from operating within LayerZero’s decentralized verifier network, or DVN, and joined the Chainlink CCIP network as a node operator and strategic technology provider. Amid reports that Kelp DAO’s rsETH bridge hack in April occurred on a LayerZero-based bridge, more firms appear to be shifting cross-chain operations from LayerZero to CCIP.

Bitcoin began a short-term surge after the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double its bond purchases starting in September, Cointelegraph reported. The outlet said BTC hit its highest price since June 2 after the U.S. stock market opened on Aug. 19, as markets reacted to a U.S. government liquidity measure. At its intraday peak today, BTC was up more than 6%. Meanwhile, the yield on 30-year U.S. Treasuries fell in the short term as the Treasury expanded its bond-buying plan.

Jonathan Gould, head of the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said final rules to implement the GENIUS Act, a U.S. bill aimed at establishing a legal framework for stablecoins, are scheduled to be released by November. Speaking at the SALT conference in Wyoming on Aug. 19, Gould added, "We are moving at a very rapid pace."

DEXs accounted for a record 24% of total crypto spot trading volume in July, according to data from The Block and DeFiLlama cited by Unfolded. Over the same period, trading volume on centralized exchanges declined. Unfolded said the DEX share of spot trading has risen steadily for years, with the trend accelerating since mid-2024. It added in English, "If it is simply DEX dominance rising because overall crypto market volumes are shrinking, perhaps this trend is less meaningful than it appears."

Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, will let Base app users trade crypto perpetual futures with up to 50x leverage through Hyperliquid, Decrypt reported. By integrating the Hyperliquid protocol, Coinbase will provide access to more than 290 perpetual futures markets on the Base app. Chintan Turakhia, Coinbase’s head of engineering, said trading volume in today’s crypto market is concentrated in perpetual futures, with about 75% of total crypto trading volume coming from futures rather than spot trading. Turakhia added perpetual futures had also been the most requested feature among Base app users. Coinbase rebranded its wallet service as the Base app last year.

As Ethereum briefly surged above $2,100, Chinese investment firm Longling Capital transferred 1,800 ETH, worth about $3.67 million, to Binance and appears to have sold the holdings, according to an AmberCN analysis. Exchange deposits are typically seen as intended for selling.

Well-known crypto trader Killa said Bitcoin has started rebounding from its low and argued that waiting for a perfect bottom could mean missing the subsequent uptrend entirely. Killa said it is better to build positions actively and accept potential pullbacks during that process than to keep holding cash while waiting for an entry point that may never come. Killa added that the Bitcoin cycle is changing and the traditional four-year cycle could shift, making staggered buying across multiple price levels such as $70,000, $65,000, $60,000 and $55,000 preferable to focusing on a single bottom while trying to catch a falling knife. On a broader view, Killa said Bitcoin’s long-term price target remains above $150,000.

Major exchanges have seen $1,307 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $1,572 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

World Liberty Financial CEO Zach Witkoff said on X that the Trump family-linked DeFi project has appointed U.S. financial law specialist Mack McCain as chief legal officer and chief administrative officer of World Liberty Financial and all affiliated entities. McCain will also serve as chief trust officer at World Liberty Trust Company, National Association, or WLTC, which is undergoing its establishment process. Before joining World Liberty, McCain served at Robinhood as chief of staff to the chief legal, compliance and corporate affairs officer, and as deputy general counsel for regulatory matters, according to the post.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has ended its civil case against former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang after both accepted consent orders of judgment admitting liability for fraud charges, Crypto Briefing reported. Under the settlement, the CFTC imposed a five-year trading ban and a 10-year registration ban on Ellison, while Wang received a five-year trading ban and an eight-year registration ban.

Major exchanges have seen $1,182 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $1,439 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

Ethena is building a $1 billion collateralized lending program with crypto prime broker FalconX, according to CoinDesk. Through the program, Ethena plans to use USDe collateral for overcollateralized institutional credit loans, a move it said will diversify the protocol’s revenue sources and offset weaker profitability from its delta-neutral strategy that relies on perpetual futures funding rates.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has fallen below $68,000. BTC is trading at $67,964.35 on the Binance USDT market.

BTC has fallen 1.60% in 5 minutes after touching $68,258.09 on the Binance USDT market. Currently, BTC is trading at $68,258.09.

Major exchanges have seen $1,065 million worth of futures liquidated in the past hour. In the past 24 hours, $1,345 million worth of futures have been liquidated.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $69,000. BTC is trading at $69,096.58 on the Binance USDT market.