On the new day, Bitcon is trading at $59,088 and the leading altcoin Ethereum is trading at $2,511. The total value of the cryptocurrency market is 2.06 trillion dollars. Bitcoin’s market cap is $1.17 trillion, Ethereum’s market cap is $303 billion.

Arthur Hayes explains why Fed rate cuts aren’t helping Bitcoin

Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of an exchange, shared his theory on why the US FED’s interest rate cuts may not have the expected impact on Bitcoin prices. In a post on September 2, Hayes emphasized that Bitcoin prices were declining despite Fed Chairman Jerome Powell confirming that there would be an interest rate cut in September in his Jackson Hole speech on August 23.

Following Powell’s speech, Bitcoin prices briefly rose to $64,000, but fell to $57,400 on September 2, a 10% decline. Currently, the price has recovered slightly to the $59,238 level. While explaining this situation, Hayes drew attention to reverse repo agreements. These agreements involve the sale of securities with the condition that they be repurchased at a higher price on a certain date and currently yield 5.3% interest.

This rate is higher than short-term government bonds, which yield 4.38%. So major money market funds pulled their cash out of government bonds and into reverse repos, reducing the amount of money circulating in the market for risky assets like crypto. Hayes stated that an additional $120 billion has entered reverse repos since the Fed announced that it would cut interest rates in September. He emphasized that this contradicts the expectation that low interest rates will generally be positive for high-risk assets such as Bitcoin. It is generally thought that low interest rates will create more liquidity in the market by encouraging borrowing and spending.

It is assumed that a weakening dollar could make Bitcoin stronger as safe, interest-bearing investments are no longer that attractive. According to the CME Fed Watch tool, there is a 69% probability of a 25 basis point interest rate cut and a 31% probability of a 50 basis point interest rate cut at the Fed’s meeting on September 18. A larger rate cut would indicate a more aggressive stance by the Fed, which could lead to a stronger market reaction and a larger increase in economic activity.

Monthly fees for DeFi protocols dropped 24% in August.

Monthly fees generated by decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in August decreased by 24.4% compared to July, falling to the lowest level since February. According to data from The Block, DeFi protocols raised $288.38 million in August, which is significantly lower than $381.45 million in July. Lido generated the highest fee at $76.18 million, followed by Uniswap, Jito and PancakeSwap. Total DeFi revenue also decreased by 19.7% to $59.53 million, the lowest level since February.

Independent researcher Nick Ruck stated that as the returns in DeFi protocols decreased, investors turned to memecoins. During the same period, Bitcoin miners’ revenue decreased by 10.5% to $851.36 million. This decline was attributed to factors such as the US elections and uncertainties in the crypto sector. JPMorgan lowered its price targets for Bitcoin miners due to the falling Bitcoin price and increasing network hashrate.

hacker in august Crypto losses from attacks exceeded $313 million

In August, cryptocurrency hackers stole $313.86 million worth of digital assets in more than 10 cyberattacks. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, 93.5% of these losses, or $293.4 million, were due to phishing attacks alone.

Two of the five biggest attacks in August were phishing attacks that resulted in the loss of $238 million in Bitcoin and $55.4 million in Dai. Other notable losses include Ronin Network losing $5.1 million due to unauthorized crypto transactions despite achieving a $12 million recovery, and Nexera losing $1.83 million due to a smart contract vulnerability. Losses due to cyber attacks are still a major concern for the crypto industry.

According to a report published by Immunefi on August 29, by 2024, $1.21 billion worth of digital assets have been lost in the crypto industry due to hacking and fraud incidents. In July, India’s WazirX crypto exchange suffered one of the biggest cyberattacks of 2024, losing $234.9 million from a multisig wallet. The exchange has now implemented a phased plan to restructure its financial operations, which includes legal proceedings in Singapore.

In an effort to protect the cryptocurrency industry from financial losses resulting from hacks, a team of ethical hackers have come together to strengthen defenses and prevent breaches. Led by Paradigm researcher and white-hat hacker Samczsun, this SEAL anti-hack response team has received more than 900 hack-related reports since its founding in August 2023.

ImmunefiAccording to ‘s August 22 report, almost 80% of cryptocurrencies fail to regain their value after a hack or security breach. This loss of value can cause more damage to projects than the security breach itself.

On the new day, Bitcoin is trading at $57,486 and the leading altcoin Ethereum is trading at $2,437. The total value of the cryptocurrency market is 1.97 trillion dollars. Bitcoin’s market cap is $1.13 trillion, Ethereum’s market cap is $293 billion.

Whales are accumulating Bitcoin: Wallets holding 100+ BTC hit 17-month high

The number of people holding at least 100 BTC in their Bitcoin wallets has increased in the last month and reached the highest level in 17 months. According to data from blockchain analysis platform Santiment, 283 new wallets exceeded the 100 Bitcoin threshold in August. With this increase, there are now 16,120 wallets in the network, a level not seen in 17 months. Additionally, the number of wallets holding at least 10 Bitcoins has also increased.

These wallets have accumulated more than 133,000 Bitcoins in the last 30 days, and the total value of these coins exceeds $7.6 billion. Blockstream CEO Adam Back stated that whales bought 450 BTC per day after the Bitcoin price dropped on August 28 and said, “They continue to buy cheap.” Santiment attributed these purchases by whales to small investors impatiently selling their holdings.

Crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr stated that small investors may be under selling pressure as prices fall. The Crypto Panic and Greed Index measured 26 points at the “Fear” level in early September. Despite this, Bitgrow Lab founder Vivek Sen noted that this surge of whales could be a positive sign for the market, and historically whale purchases often bring new records for Bitcoin.

While Bitcoin ETFs resulted in monthly losses, Ethereum ETFs began to lose interest after the breakout series.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US ended the month in the red, with net outflows of nearly $94 million in August, despite eight consecutive days of net inflows. According to SoSoValue data, this amount is comparable to a single good or bad day. For example, the funds had a net gain of over $250 million on August 23, but lost $237 million on the worst day, August 2.

With the decline in Bitcoin price throughout August, the total net assets of all Bitcoin funds in the market decreased by $4.24 billion to approximately $53.8 billion. The funds achieved a series of eight consecutive days of net inflows, but the outflows towards the end of the month, especially the first outflow of BlackRock’s IBIT fund, which is the leader in the sector, since May, turned the monthly net inflow into negative. On Friday, the last trading day of the month, IBIT and many other funds recorded zero net inflows, while four funds experienced outflows.

The biggest outflows came from Grayscale’s GBTC fund, with a $70 million outflow on Friday. GBTC has reached cumulative outflows of almost $20 billion since the beginning of the year. Additionally, ARK and 21Shares’ ARKB fund recorded an outflow of $65 million, Bitwise’s BITB fund recorded an outflow of $16 million, Fidelity’s FBTC fund recorded an outflow of almost $13 million, and Invesco’s BTCO fund recorded an outflow of $11 million.

On the Ethereum front, spot Ether ETFs generally closed the day on Friday without any notable entries or exits. When they launched in July, spot Ether ETFs recorded over $1 billion in trading volume in their first two days, but volume has largely decreased since then. According to SoSoValue data, these funds have recorded a total net outflow of $477.25 million since their inception.

As of the end of the month, the funds held assets worth approximately $7 billion in total. Grayscale’s ETHE and ETH funds account for $5.4 billion of this total, while BlackRock’s ETHA fund ranks as the third largest fund. The weekly outflow was a total of $12.6 million across all spot Ether funds.

Bitcoin volatility is likely to decrease as the market awaits Fed interest rate cuts, according to QCP Capital

Bitcoin price volatility is expected to trend downward as market participants prepare for the possibility of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) starting to cut interest rates next month. QCP Capital analysts said, “We expect volatility to continue its downward trend as the market positions for possible interest rate cuts by the Fed ahead of the US non-farm payrolls report to be released next week.” he stated.

According to QCP Capital, next week’s US nonfarm payrolls data and GDP data to be released on Friday will give market participants more clarity on whether a possible interest rate cut will occur and the size of the cut at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on September 18. Non-farm employment data, one of the important economic indicators of the USA, will be announced on Friday, September 6. This data is considered a critical element that can directly affect the decisions the Federal Reserve will make regarding interest rates.

The previous non-farm employment report, published at the beginning of August, revealed that the US unemployment rate showed an unexpected increase from 4.1% to 4.3%, and this caused a sales wave in global markets due to concerns that the Fed might be late in reducing interest rates. QCP Capital analysts stated that the US GDP report to be released today may have an impact on the Bitcoin price, but it will have a more limited impact on the cryptocurrency market. This effect may remain even more limited, especially if this data supports the narrative that the US economy is slowing down.

Although there are signs of a slowdown in the economy, it is still unclear whether an impending recession is certain. Analysts also observed that derivatives market participants were hedging against short-term bearish risk for both Bitcoin and Ether. “In the period through October, risk reversal indicators have pointed towards put options on both Bitcoin and Ethereum, indicating that the market is still wary of a possible decline.” They said.

Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, makes a significant contribution to law enforcement agencies to prevent the illegal use of stablecoin technology by fraudsters.

As previously announced, it continues its efforts to prevent illegal use of stablecoin technology and provide support to law enforcement agencies. In this context, lastly, the US Department of Justice, TetherHe announced that he made a significant effort in recovering $5 million worth of USDT stolen through fraud.

The seizure of these funds, obtained by directing victims to fake crypto investment platforms through online relationships, is considered a significant success in the fight against cyber fraud.

Tether assisted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by freezing multiple wallets and supported the successful seizure of these funds. This collaboration demonstrates the value of the company’s proactive initiatives to fight crimes and contribute to the rescue of victims.

Making a statement regarding their support to the US Department of Justice, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, “Our company continues to support the fight against the illegal use of cryptocurrencies by cooperating with law enforcement. We expressly condemn the misuse of USDT or any cryptocurrency for criminal activities. “We will continue to focus on our ongoing collaborations to fight fraud.” he said.

To date, Tether has supported more than 145 law enforcement agencies in 40 different investigations, recovering over $108.8 million USDT and redistributing it back to its rightful owners, and voluntarily blocking more than 1,900 wallets linked to illegal activities to assist law enforcement globally.