ETF data & derivatives trends
Spot Bitcoin ETFs drew record inflows this week, with around 20,685 BTC were added. The influx pushed US spot Bitcoin ETF holdings to around 1.32 million BTC worth US$150 billion.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ:IBIT) led with US$1 billion in net buys, while Fidelity's Advantage Bitcoin ETF (TSX:FBTC) topped US$843 million and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (BATS:ARKB) added US$182 million.
Meanwhile, US Ethereum ETFs saw outflows of US$62 million over the week.
Altcoin ETFs are also taking shape. In mid-September, the SEC approved the first US ETFs for XRP and Dogecoin. DOGE jumped by 20 percent upon its ETF debut. This altcoin ETF wave, now backed by giants like Grayscale and Franklin Templeton, is reshaping flows and legitimizing more speculative assets.
On the derivatives side, leverage is at a near-record level.
Bitcoin futures open interest surpassed US$220 billion in September. CryptoQuant notes clusters of orders just above and below the spot price, so any sharp swing, even a small break, could trigger “record liquidations.”
Bitcoin liquidations have totaled approximately US$13.71 million over the past four hours, predominantly from long positions, indicating continued selling pressure in the market.
Ethereum liquidations reflected a similar trend, with about US$10.85 million liquidated in the same period, of which US$10.08 million were long positions, signaling sustained bearish momentum.
The perpetual funding rate for BTC was at 0.0064 percent, while the ETH funding rate stood at 0.001 percent, indicating a neutral or balanced market without strong bias toward bullish or bearish positioning.
Market indicators showed an RSI level of 41.03 as of 8:00 p.m. UTC, suggesting neutral conditions.
Next week's crypto news to watch
Bitcoin has formed a rising wedge pattern over the past month, with a bearish divergence noted by on-chain analysts. Technically, Bitcoin appears to be in a mild consolidation after last week’s surge.
CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler has observed that Bitcoin is trading just above its short-term holder realized price.
In equities, the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and Nasdaq Composite (INDE XNASDAQ:.IXIC) hit record highs as crypto pulled back modestly on Friday, reflecting a temporary decoupling.
Key crypto catalysts to watch next week include potential announcements out of Korea’s Blockchain Week, scheduled to run in Seoul from September 22 to 28.
Additionally, LayerZero (ZRO) is scheduled for a major token unlock on September 20 of approximately 25.7 million ZRO tokens, roughly 8.5 percent of the current circulating supply, valued at around US$52.5 million
Other significant upcoming unlocks include Optimism’s 116 million OP tokens on September 21 and AltLayer’s 3.7 million ALT token release on September 25.
Today's crypto news to know
Stablecoin startups post fundraising record
Funding for stablecoin-related companies has surged to unprecedented levels this year, with 14 firms raising a combined US$537 million so far, according to DefiLlama data. That figure marks a sharp jump from the US$84 million raised across all of 2024, underscoring a wave of investor confidence in fiat-pegged digital assets.
The year’s biggest deal came in July, when Hong Kong’s OSL Group (HKEX:0863) secured US$300 million.
Analysts have linked the momentum to favorable regulatory shifts, including the GENIUS Act, signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in July, which provided legal clarity for stablecoin issuers.
The sector’s rapid rise is also visible in secondary markets. For instance, after its initial public offering in June, Circle (NYSE:CRCL) is now trading at four times its debut value.
Watchdog flags Trump-linked crypto firm for token sales to sanctioned actors
A watchdog group has accused World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture tied to US President Donald Trump, of allowing its tokens to flow into the hands of users connected with sanctioned entities.
According to Accountable.us, WLFI tokens ended up with wallets linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group, Iran’s Nobitex exchange, and Russian traders, despite long-standing US restrictions.
The report highlights one case on Jan. 20, 2025, when WLFI sold 600,000 tokens, worth roughly US$10,000, on Trump’s inauguration day to a wallet later tied to Lazarus transactions.
Even after DeFi platforms flagged the account, the wallet continued operating until late August, receiving WLFI’s branded USD1 stablecoin as part of an airdrop. Separate sales were traced back to Iran’s Nobitex in October 2024, a platform that Chainalysis has previously identified as a hub for sanctions evasion.
The allegations raise questions over WLFI’s compliance and could intensify regulatory pressure on the company.
Trump’s team has not publicly responded to the claims.
Ethereum Foundation announces next hard fork details and timeline
Ethereum’s Fusaka hard fork is scheduled for mainnet launch on December 3, 2025, according to an announcement shared by Ethereum researcher Christine D. Kim.
The upgrade will include 11 to 12 Ethereum improvement proposals focused on scalability and network efficiency, particularly doubling blob capacity to enhance layer-2 transaction throughput.
Testing will occur on public testnets throughout October and November. A US$2 million audit competition is underway to ensure Fusaka’s code security ahead of deployment.
The upgrade follows May’s Pectra hard fork and sets the stage for subsequent improvements planned for 2026.
PayPal’s US dollar stablecoin expands to nine blockchains
PayPal Holdings' (NASDAQ:PYPL) US dollar stablecoin, PYUSD, is expanding to nine new blockchains through a partnership with interoperability protocol LayerZero.
The move broadens the token’s reach beyond its native issuance on Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, and Stellar, making it accessible across networks like Avalanche, Aptos, Tron, and others.
As part of the rollout, LayerZero created a wrapped version called PYUSD0, which is fully interchangeable with the original token and operates within its Hydra Stargate system.
The expansion is designed to accelerate adoption and cement PYUSD’s role as a dollar-backed instrument across the crypto ecosystem. Since launching in 2023 through issuer Paxos, PYUSD has grown steadily, with supply climbing from US$520 million at the start of the year to US$1.3 billion.
Kraken, Trust Wallet partner to expand xStocks access
Kraken has partnered with Trust Wallet to expand access to xStocks, a tokenized equities product developed by Backed.
This collaboration, announced on Friday, brings 60 tokenized US equities to over 200 million Trust Wallet users worldwide, allowing them to trade these assets across multiple blockchains using a variety of local fiat currencies.
“For xStocks to achieve true mass adoption, seamless integration with the world’s most popular self-custody wallets is vital. Bringing xStocks to Trust Wallet places open and interoperable tokenized equities directly into the hands of millions, alongside the crypto, stablecoins and DeFi assets they already use every day,” said Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi.
In the coming weeks, the team said it will continue collaborating with partners to introduce xStocks to additional high-performance blockchains and leading consumer applications.
Canadian regulators called to crypto action
In a speech on Thursday, the Bank of Canada’s executive director of payments, Ron Morrow, said that Canada is behind other countries in developing rules for the use of stablecoins and should consider regulations for digital assets given the growing interest in them domestically and the US' efforts to enable widespread adoption.
“Governments are moving to regulate stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies so consumers can reap their benefits and be protected from credit and liquidity risks. In fact, many jurisdictions worldwide either have, or will soon have, a regulatory framework for cryptoassets,” Morrow said during a keynote speech at the ONE Conference in Ottawa.
He called on federal and provincial regulators to “work quickly and collaboratively to evolve our regulatory frameworks.”
