The SEC staff guidance on liquid staking could be a boon for institutions that want to include the technology in products, but there’s still uncertainty.

SEC staff liquid-staking guidance leaves regulatory questions, could be contested

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday prohibiting federal 
regulators from enabling financial institutions to deny services based on 
political beliefs, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities such as 
crypto services. White House: &#8216;The Trump Administration Has Already Ended 
Operation Chokepoint 2.0&#8217; According to the Fact Sheet release, the order 
directs federal banking regulators […]

Trump Bans Debanking, Citing ‘Digital Asset Industry’ Targeting

Vitalik Buterin says public companies that buy and hold Ether broaden the 
token’s access to a wider range of investors, but cautioned on leveraging too 
heavily.

Vitalik backs Ethereum treasury firms, but warns of overleverage

Last Friday’s US July Employment Situation release has delivered the kind of 
statistical jolt that rarely shows up outside crises, forcing traders to re- 
evaluate both the macro outlook and Bitcoin’s near-term path. Payrolls grew by 
just 73,000, but the shock lay in the record-large negative revisions: May and 
June were marked down by a combined 258,000 jobs, slicing the three-month 
hiring average to 35,000 and erasing nearly all of the second-quarter’s 
reported momentum. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that revisions of that 
magnitude have been seen only during the Covid collapse. Is Bitcoin Really 
Facing A Black Swan Event? Bloomberg Economics chief US economist Anna Wong 
wrote: “The downward revisions to May and June payrolls in the July jobs 
report constitute a black swan event – a three-standard-deviation move with 
less than a 0.2% chance of occurrence in the last 30 years. Adjusted for our 
estimate of the job overstatement from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ birth- 
death model, the three-month hiring pace turns outright negative.” The data, 
she wrote in a terminal note circulated Friday, “flipped the labor-market 
script” from re-acceleration to abrupt cooling. Related Reading: Bitcoin Could 
See Another Crash To Fill This Imbalance Before Rally To $120,000 The market’s 
crypto voice on the issue has been Bitwise Europe’s head of research, André 
Dragosch, who spent the morning posting a string of warnings on X. First came 
the news, ”According to Bloomberg chief economist Anna Wong, the most recent 
payroll revisions were a ‘black swan event’.Will probably get even worse 
before it gets better…”, then the maxim, “Yes – bad for payrolls = good for 
bitcoin, at least over the medium to long term.” Minutes later he argued that 
deeper revisions could force emergency easing: “NOTE: There is a strong case 
for a negative June jobs print after further downside revisions which could 
lead to a 50 bps rate cut in September… Plan accordingly. #Bitcoin” By mid- 
afternoon he pushed the point to its logical extreme: “ATTENTION: We are 
probably just a single negative NFP print away from a significant repricing in 
Fed rate cut expectations. US labor market &amp; inflation data surprises are 
still as bad as during Covid but traders only price in 2 cuts until Dec 2025… 
Printer is coming… ” Interest-rate futures moved sharply in Dragosch’s 
direction. On Wednesdays, the CME FedWatch Tool showed a 91 percent 
probability of at least one cut at the 17–18 September FOMC meeting. 
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari acknowledged that “the real underlying 
economy is slowing,” while Governor Lisa Cook called the size of the revisions 
“concerning.” Related Reading: US Delay On Bitcoin Audit Is A Bullish Red 
Flag, Says Strike CEO Bitcoin’s price action captured the tug-of-war between 
recession fear and liquidity hope. The flagship cryptocurrency slumped to 
$111,920 on 2 August, its lowest print since early July, immediately after the 
payroll release and President Donald Trump’s subsequent firing of BLS 
Commissioner Erika McEntarfer. A tentative rebound toward $111,500 followed as 
rate-cut odds ballooned this week. Yet, Bitcoin remained tethered to macro 
headlines rather than its own cycle. Still, the first clear sign of 
positioning for easier policy has emerged in fund flows. Spot Bitcoin ETFs 
recorded a net $91.6 million inflow on 7 August, snapping a four-day outflow 
streak that had drained more than $380 million from the vehicles. Whether 
Bloomberg’s and Dragosch’s black-swan framing proves prescient will depend on 
the next few data prints and the Fed’s tolerance for risk. For now the market 
is caught between those poles: one bad jobs number away from a full-blown 
policy response, but one more shock away from a broader risk-off spiral. The 
only certainty, as Wong’s probability math and Dragosch’s full-throated alerts 
both imply, is that the margin for error has evaporated. At press time, BTC 
traded at $116,359. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from 
TradingView.com

Bitcoin Faces A Black Swan — Bitwise Sounds The Alarm

Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, is believed to be targeting spot 
XRP, according to an ETF expert, signaling a major push as crypto demand and 
momentum accelerate. Blackrock Could Be Closing in on Spot XRP ETF, Expert 
Says Nate Geraci, president of registered investment advisor Novadius Wealth 
Management, joined the Thinking Crypto podcast, published […]

Blackrock Will File for Spot XRP ETF, Says Expert as Finish Line Approaches

Dubai has officially cemented its position at the forefront of global crypto 
regulation. This bold regulatory step positions Dubai as a global trailblazer 
in shaping the future of institutional crypto markets and blending innovation 
with compliance. As jurisdictions around the world debate how to handle 
digital assets, Dubai is already laying the groundwork for the financial 
infrastructure of tomorrow. Why This Approval Matters For Global Financial 
Markets The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) has officially approved 
the first-ever cryptocurrency options license, marking it a breakthrough 
moment for the emirate region&#8217;s rapidly evolving digital asset ecosystem. 
Related Reading: China Greenlights Launch Of Its First Crypto 
Stablecoin—Report As highlighted in the press release, the permit was granted 
to a Nomura-backed digital assets firm, Laser Digital. This permit has 
authorized the firm to offer over-the-counter (OTC) crypto options trading to 
institutional investors under VARA&#8217;s regulatory framework. This development 
solidifies Dubai&#8217;s status as a premier global hub for cryptocurrency and 
blockchain innovation. With VARA granting Dubai its first crypto options 
license, it provides a clear regulatory pathway for firms seeking to offer 
complex instruments and crypto derivatives. By doing so, Dubai is setting the 
bar for how governments can blend innovation with compliance. The approval of 
Laser Digital under VARA&#8217;s framework reflects a commitment to fostering a 
business-friendly environment with robust regulatory standards, including 
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements. This 
gives institutional investors confidence that the space is both progressive 
and secure. Why Listed Spot Trading Launched Matters For US Crypto Markets 
While the first-ever cryptocurrency options license has been approved, the US 
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), under Caroline D. Pham, has 
launched a listed spot crypto trading initiative. According to the release, 
this license opens the door for regulated exchanges such as the Chicago 
Mercantile Exchange (CME) to offer direct trading of real crypto tokens, not 
just for futures contracts, but under official United States oversight. 
Related Reading: Has The Crypto Market Bottomed? Analyst Says ‘This Is It’ It 
is important to note that spot trading is where you buy and sell the actual 
asset itself, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, for immediate settlement, which 
hasn&#8217;t been regulated at the federal level. It&#8217;s different from trading 
futures or derivatives, where traders speculate on price without owning the 
asset. “Under President Trump’s strong leadership and vision, the CFTC is full 
speed ahead on enabling immediate trading of digital assets at the Federal 
level in coordination with the SEC’s Project Crypto,” Acting Chairman Pham 
stated. If this goes through, it would bring spot and futures trading under 
the same regulatory rulebook, making the crypto market simpler, clearer, and 
more secure for everyone involved, which is a step forward for the crypto 
industry. It will also pave the way for retail and institutional investors to 
engage in crypto markets with a higher level of trust, knowing that trading is 
taking place on federally regulated exchanges. Featured image from iStock, 
chart from Tradingview.com