Grayscale reappoints founder Barry Silbert as chairman and hires top Wall Street talent as it looks to defend its ETF revenue lead and sharpen its institutional edge.

Grayscale adds Wall Street veterans as founder Barry Silbert returns to chair

Macro analyst Alex Krüger says the weekend’s sell-off has likely marked a 
tradable low for the crypto market, arguing that the move closely mirrors the 
2024 “August crash” that bottomed on a Monday. “I see the current move as a 
smaller scale replay of last year’s August crash (which bottomed on Monday),” 
Krüger wrote on late-Friday in a post on X, adding that he would “be looking 
to add to longs on Monday, ideally before the US cash open,” if the overnight 
session remained panicky. He framed the decline as a classic shakeout rather 
than the start of a new downtrend. Krüger’s read hinges on macro first, crypto 
second. He notes that 2024’s August break came in a sequence—BoJ tightening, a 
hawkish FOMC, then weak payrolls—and he sees the present sequence as 
“similar.” There was no carry-trade impulse this time, he said, but markets 
digested a modestly hawkish Fed, mixed Big Tech earnings, a hotter-than- 
expected PCE inflation print, and finally a “horrid” US payrolls report—after 
which risk assets slid in tandem and crypto tracked equities lower. The latest 
PCE data, released July 31, showed headline inflation accelerating to 2.6% 
year over year and core PCE at 2.8%, a notch above forecasts—what Krüger 
summarized as “slightly hot.” Related Reading: Crypto Hacks Surge 27% In July: 
$142M Stolen As 2025 Trend Continues Earnings tape-bombs reinforced the risk- 
off mood. Microsoft and Meta beat estimates and initially rallied, while 
Apple’s reception was cooler and Amazon’s results were “very poorly received,” 
with AMZN sliding about 7–8% as investors questioned AWS’s momentum. 
Coinbase’s report landed at the other extreme for crypto beta: revenue missed 
expectations and the stock fell, a backdrop Krüger called “dreadful” for 
sentiment. “Even though the aforementioned concerns emboldened bears, this 
week’s move has been mainly a macro story, given how crypto traded mostly in 
line with equity indices,” he wrote. He also flagged an unusual political and 
geopolitical coda to this weekend’s rout. After the weak jobs report—plus an 
unusually stark revision by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May and June were 
revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs—markets lurched, and the White House’s 
subsequent decision to reposition two US nuclear submarines amid heated 
exchanges with Moscow added to stress, he said. Kremlin officials later tried 
to downplay escalation risk, calling the submarine moves “routine.” Krüger 
called the nuclear rhetoric and presidential barbs at the Fed “noise” for 
markets, but said the combination likely helped flush leveraged positions into 
the close. On crypto-specific drivers, Krüger listed a cluster of narratives 
that, in his view, amplified bearish conviction without changing the macro 
center of gravity: disappointing Coinbase results; debate around whether 
MicroStrategy could curtail its at-the-market equity issuance, limiting 
incremental BTC buys; questions about the sustainability of “DATs” (digital- 
asset treasury companies) tied to ETH; and, on the other side of the ledger, 
the SEC’s new “Project Crypto,” a policy push to modernize securities rules 
and move more market infrastructure on-chain—“an extremely bullish development 
that should drive inflows later in the year,” as he put it. The SEC’s chair 
outlined “American Leadership in the Digital Finance Revolution” last week, 
framing tokenization and on-chain market plumbing as a regulatory priority. 
Related Reading: Trump-Appointed Group Calls For Easier Crypto Regulations 
From Federal Authorities Krüger’s base case is timing-driven: either crypto 
“bottomed after today’s close, given the sheer violence of that final dump, or 
will be bottoming together with equities on Monday.” In his plan, the trigger 
to add risk was early Monday—assuming the overnight remained disorderly—on the 
view that the analog to August 2024 would rhyme at the turn of the week. “A 
violent shakeout,” he wrote, not a regime change. He remains constructive into 
the fourth quarter, citing three pillars: a still-solid US economy, the start 
of Fed rate cuts, and a steadily improving regulatory climate that should 
broaden institutional and retail participation. Policy churn could amplify 
that path. Krüger pointed to Fed Governor Adriana Kugler’s 
resignation—effective this month—as a potentially market-relevant shift 
because it hands the White House an earlier-than-expected Board vacancy, and 
to former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh’s call for a new “Treasury–Fed accord” as a 
signpost for constraints on central-bank independence. On Monday he added, 
“This will prove to be very important later on,” citing Warsh’s argument about 
“limits on the Fed’s independence to help the govt with its finances.” Whether 
those institutional dynamics translate into earlier or deeper rate cuts 
remains open, but markets have already moved to price odds to 85% for a 
September cut following the payrolls miss. Krüger’s longer arc is unabashedly 
bullish but explicitly conditional on the macro. “I remain bullish on crypto 
into Q4,” he wrote, while warning that ETH-linked treasury plays could “lose 
momentum dramatically” later in the year if goods inflation re-accelerates as 
corporates pass tariffs through. He set a one-year Bitcoin target for mid-2026 
at $200,000–$250,000—“extreme, but possible”—on the premise that a more dovish 
Fed in 2026 would coincide with ongoing adoption. For now, he is treating last 
week’s cascade as an echo of 2024’s Monday bottom. As he put it: “Now let’s 
see how this ages.” At press time, BTC recovered to $ Featured image created 
with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Has The Crypto Market Bottomed? Analyst Says ‘This Is It’

The CFTC is seeking feedback on how to more effectively regulate spot crypto 
trading as it moves to implement recommendations from the Trump 
administration.

CFTC seeks to allow spot crypto trading on registered exchanges

Binance’s new browser-native wallet redefines self-custody with keyless 
access, seamless transaction approvals, real-time analytics, and pro-level 
tools—all built for serious desktop traders. New Binance Wallet Web App 
Enables Keyless Self-Custody on BNB and Solana Crypto exchange Binance 
announced on Aug. 4 the release of Binance Wallet (Web), a desktop-native, 
self-custody platform aimed at providing streamlined, […]

Binance Launches Desktop Wallet With Secure Auto Sign for Seamless Crypto Trades

The CFTC&#8217;s initiative could streamline crypto regulation, fostering innovation 
and potentially increasing market stability and investor confidence.
The post CFTC explores allowing futures exchanges to offer spot Bitcoin, 
crypto trading appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

CFTC explores allowing futures exchanges to offer spot Bitcoin, crypto trading

Stellar (XLM) is currently stabilizing near the $0.42 mark after a volatile 
July rally that pushed prices up by more than 75%. Related Reading: Polkadot 
Powers Up: Breakout Structure Signals A Bullish Week Ahead Following a brief 
pullback to around $0.37, buyers have stepped in, keeping the token above 
critical support zones. As of early August, XLM trades between $0.384 and 
$0.392, signaling a period of healthy consolidation rather than panic-driven 
selling. Technical analysis shows that XLM is approaching key resistance at 
$0.4007, with immediate support sitting at $0.376. The Relative Strength Index 
(RSI) remains neutral, while decreasing trading volume indicates that current 
moves are driven more by profit-taking than bearish sentiment. XLM&#8217;s price 
trends to the upside on the daily chart. Source: XLMUSD on Tradingview 
Analysts Predict 5x Rally by Q4 — Can Stellar (XLM) Deliver? Despite short- 
term volatility, analysts are optimistic about XLM’s prospects heading into Q4 
2025. Projections suggest that if the current support levels hold and bullish 
momentum returns, the token could target $0.52 and eventually push toward 
$0.60 or beyond. Some bold forecasts even point to a 5x rally, potentially 
sending XLM as high as $1.50. A key driver behind this bullish outlook is 
increasing whale accumulation. On-chain data reveals a rise in wallet 
addresses holding over 10 million XLM, signaling strong confidence from long- 
term investors. Exchange inflows remain stable, further indicating that large 
holders are not rushing to exit positions. Institutional Interest and Long- 
Term Fundamentals Support XLM Institutional sentiment toward Stellar has 
improved significantly in 2025. Several asset managers have included XLM in 
their infrastructure-focused crypto portfolios, reflecting growing confidence 
in Stellar’s real-world utility. Key partnerships with companies like IBM, 
MoneyGram, and Franklin Templeton continue to bolster the network’s relevance 
in cross-border payments and CBDC development. Additionally, Stellar’s focus 
on fast, low-cost global transactions and the development of its smart 
contract platform, Soroban, support its position as a top-tier altcoin. If the 
price can hold current levels and gain momentum above $0.40, Stellar could be 
poised for another major leg up. Related Reading: Dogecoin Just Hit A Prime 
Risk-Reward Entry, Says Analyst As XLM holds firm around $0.43, a breakout 
above key resistance could spark the rally analysts have been forecasting, 
potentially making Stellar the next top-performing crypto. Cover image from 
ChatGPT, XLMUSD chart from Tradingview