Crypto Market Update: ETH Funds Absorb US$1.3 Billion in Weekly Inflows, CFTC Moves to Secure DeFi Market

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) was priced at US$26.86, up by 5 percent. Its lowest valuation on Wednesday was US$203.35, and its highest valuation was US$211.54.

• XRP was trading for US$3, down by 1.6 percent in the past 24 hours, and at its lowest valuation of the day. Its highest valuation on Wednesday was US$3.04.

• SUI (Sui) was trading for US$3.47, down by 0.1 percent in the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation of the day was US$3.44, and its highest level of the day was US$3.51.

• Cardano (ADA) was priced at US$0.8629, down by 1.1 percent. Its lowest valuation for Wednesday was US$0.8571, and its highest valuation was US$0.8751.

Today's crypto news to know

ETH inflows hit US$1.3 billion following Powell’s policy hints

ETH funds have seen a massive US$1.3 billion worth of inflows over the past week as traders respond to dovish signals from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Data from SoSoValue shows ETH-based exchange-traded products have absorbed US$3.7 billion since June, compared with US$900 million in outflows from Bitcoin funds.

The surge also coincides with ETH hitting a new all-time high of US$4,955 on Sunday (August 24).

Publicly listed companies joined the rush too, adding ETH to their corporate treasuries and pushing collective holdings to nearly 5 percent of total supply. That accumulation rate is running at more than twice the fastest quarterly pace Bitcoin has ever seen, according to Standard Chartered’s (LSE:STAN) Geoffrey Kendrick via DLNews.

Trump Media, Crypto.com seal US$6.4 billion CRO treasury deal

Trump Media & Technology Group shares climbed 5 percent on Tuesday (August 26) after the company confirmed a US$6.42 billion partnership with Crypto.com to launch a CRO-focused treasury vehicle.

Dubbed the Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, the new entity will be seeded with US$1 billion in CRO and its balance will be structured as an equity line for future token purchases. As part of the agreement, the company will operate a validator node on the Cronos blockchain, staking all its tokens to earn network rewards. CRO prices soared 30 percent in a single day after the announcement, even as most of the crypto market lagged.

Still, the deal has stirred controversy among token holders, as it requires reissuing 70 billion CRO previously “burned” to reduce supply, effectively inflating circulation by more than 200 percent.

CRO jumped 40 percent on the announcement and was up by over 25 percent over 24 hours at the time of writing.

Canary Capital files for first spot ETF tracking Trump meme coin

Crypto fund manager Canary Capital has submitted paperwork to launch the first spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) tied directly to US President Donald Trump’s meme coin, $TRUMP, according to a Reuters report.

Unlike earlier applications filed under the 1940 Investment Company Act, Canary’s proposal was lodged under the 1933 Securities Act, meaning the ETF would hold $TRUMP tokens outright rather than use offshore subsidiaries or cash equivalents. The application comes despite skepticism from analysts, who note that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) typically requires a futures ETF to trade for six months before approving a spot product.

The filing follows the SEC’s February announcement that meme coins fall outside its securities jurisdiction, a decision seen as aligning with the president’s pro-crypto stance.

The $TRUMP token has lost more than 70 percent of its value since launching in January. Analysts expect the SEC to rule on several meme coin ETF applications later this year.

DeFi industry coalition advocates for developer protections

The DeFi Education Fund and a coalition of more than 110 crypto companies, investors and advocacy groups sent a letter to the Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to update financial rules to ensure developers and non-custodial actors are not misclassified as intermediaries. The signatories include major players in the DeFi space, such as Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN), Kraken, Ripple, a16z and Uniswap Labs.

“Provide robust, nationwide protections for software developers and non-custodial service providers in market structure legislation,” the letter reads. “Without such protections, we cannot support a market structure bill.”

CFTC to integrate Nasdaq Market Surveillance platform

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced on Wednesday that it plans to integrate Nasdaq’s Market Surveillance platform, a financial surveillance tool developed by Nasdaq.

“As our markets continue to evolve and integrate new technology, it’s critical that the CFTC stays ahead of the curve,” acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham said in a press release. “Nasdaq Market Surveillance will, for the first time, provide the CFTC with automated alerts and cross-market analytics that will benefit each of the CFTC’s operating divisions and better protect our markets from fraud, manipulation and abuse.”

The CFTC asserts that using the platform will allow the agency to more efficiently analyze market trends and spot unusual trading activity, enabling staff to take quicker action against bad actors.