State Street, a Boston-based custody bank with $49 trillion in assets under its watch, is pushing deeper into digital assets by joining JPMorgan’s blockchain-based tokenized asset platform Digital Debt Service as the first third-party custodian.

The first transaction State Street anchored was a $100 million tokenized commercial paper issuance by the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC), a Singapore-based banking group, according to a Thursday press release.

State Street Investment Management, the bank's asset management arm, purchased the debt. J.P. Morgan Securities acted as placement agent.

The move comes as traditional finance heavyweights and global banks are getting increasingly involved in tokenization of financial instruments, or real-world assets (RWA), placing bonds, funds and credit on blockchain rails. The process promises operational benefits such as increased efficiency, faster and around-the-clock settlements and lower administrative costs.

The tokenized asset market could grow could balloon in the next few years, though projections vary from McKinsey's $2 trillion by 2030 to Ripple and BCG's almost $19 trillion by 2033.

By joining JPMorgan's blockchain platform, State Street can now offer clients custody of tokenized debt securities without changing its traditional servicing model.

In this particular case, State Street manages client holdings in a digital wallet directly connected to JPMorgan’s system, eliminating manual steps in settlement and recordkeeping. The infrastructure supports delivery-versus-payment settlement, with the option for same-day (T+0) settlement, and automates corporate actions such as interest payments and redemptions through smart contracts.

"This launch reflects a meaningful step forward in our digital strategy — where we manage a digital wallet on-chain and lay the groundwork for interoperability across blockchain networks," Donna Milrod, State Street's chief product officer, said in a statement.

The bank pursued initiatives to tokenize a bond and a money market fund, Milrod said in October. The firm also selected Switzerland-based Taurus as a tokenization partner.

Read more: DBS Launches Tokenized Structured Notes on Ethereum, Expanding Investor Access

Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT uncovered a high-profile social engineering attack on Thursday, with the victim losing 783 BTC worth around $91.4 million.

The scam occurred on Aug. 19 and involved the attacker posing as a support agent for a hardware wallet before duping the victim into handing over wallet credentials.

The attack mirrors a string of social engineering attacks over the past year and contributes to an already woeful year in terms of hacks and scams, with crypto investors losing $3.1 billion in the first half of 2025.

Once the malicious transfer was made, the funds began their journey through a typical laundering process, with multiple deposits made into Wasabi Wallet, a privacy tool commonly used to obfuscate the trail.

The hack occurred exactly one year after the $243 million Genesis creditor theft, a landmark event that sent ripples across the industry and led to the arrest of 12 people in California in May.

Gemini, the crypto exchange backed by the billionaire Winklevoss twins, has secured a Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), strengthening its bid to expand across the European Union under the bloc’s new regulatory framework, the company said in a blog post Thursday.

The approval marks a significant step in Gemini’s EU strategy, enabling the firm to roll out its trading products and services to customers in more than 30 European jurisdictions, the company noted.

Europe's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which came into effect this year, is the EU’s first region-wide crypto rulebook, designed to harmonize digital asset oversight across member states and provide legal clarity for firms operating in the sector.

Gemini has been steadily building its regulatory base in the region. In May, the company secured a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) license to offer derivatives. That was followed by the launch of tokenized stocks in Europe a month later.

The crypto exchange said the MiCA license underscores its long-standing focus on compliance as it looks to introduce additional offerings, including derivatives, to both retail and institutional clients in Europe.

Gemini is also among several crypto companies that are looking to go public. Last week, the firm said it had hired Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and Cantor as lead bookrunners for its planned IPO.

Read more: Gemini Hires Goldmans, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Cantor as Lead Bookrunners for Its IPO

HBAR traded in a narrow but active 4% range from Aug. 20–21, climbing to $0.24 in the evening before correcting to $0.23 early the next day. By session’s end, the token had regained $0.24, reinforcing the $0.23–$0.24 band as a zone of support and accumulation.

The rebound comes as broader macro conditions favor digital assets. The Federal Reserve has kept rates below 2%, with markets increasingly pricing in cuts that could provide short-term momentum for crypto.

Institutional developments are also strengthening sentiment. Global payments network SWIFT launched live blockchain trials featuring Hedera, while asset manager Grayscale filed a Delaware trust for HBAR — a move viewed by some as laying groundwork for a future ETF.

Together, these factors highlight rising institutional interest in enterprise blockchain infrastructure. As central banks and financial institutions accelerate testing of tokenized settlement systems, Hedera’s positioning within global payments is gaining attention. HBAR’s latest recovery may signal more than intraday volatility — it reflects growing confidence in Hedera’s role in digital finance.

Technical Indicators

• Price demonstrated explosive volatility during 60-minute period from 21 August 13:22 to 14:21, surging from $0.24 to peak of $0.24 representing 1% breakthrough.
• Final 15 minutes demonstrated unprecedented bullish momentum as price rocketed from $0.24 to close at $0.24 amid critical volume spikes.
• Session showcased classic support formation around $0.24 level with multiple successful retests.
• Resistance at $0.24 was decisively tested in closing phase, suggesting strong institutional accumulation.
• Trading volumes exceeded 2.8 million during breakout periods indicating significant market interest.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.

Anchorage Digital has moved out from under its U.S. banking regulator's order that it institute a compliance program to protect against money-laundering abuses, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announcing the removal of the cease-and-desist order originally issued in 2022.

"The OCC believes that the safety and soundness of the bank and its compliance with laws and regulations does not require the continued existence of the order," it said in the termination announced on Thursday.

Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley, who has emerged as a high-profile representative of crypto interests in Washington, framed the enforcement action as regulatory "feedback" in celebrating its removal.

"We received — and have now resolved — feedback from regulators as we set the standard for federally chartered custody of digital assets," he said in a Thursday missive on the company's website, in which he called Anchorage Digital "the world’s most regulated digital asset bank."

The OCC and other U.S. banking regulators have, since the start of President Donald Trump's second administration, sought to relax constraints on crypto industry businesses. New OCC chief Jonathan Gould, who was sworn in last month, was an agency veteran who has also worked in the private sector as chief legal officer for Bitfury.

Anchorage Digital was the first crypto bank to win a full-fledged banking charter from the agency that regulates national banks, and after it did so, that window had closed for a time as the regulators during President Joe Biden's tenure viewed the industry with more suspicion.

More recently, digital assets issuers including Circle, Ripple and Paxos have again started applying to the OCC to start the bank-charter process.

Markets are quickly recalibrating previously lofty odds of an imminent rate cut as the jets touch down in Jackson Hole for the Kansas City Fed's Economic Symposium.

The current data does not make the case for a September ease, said Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, speaking with Yahoo News in Wyoming.

"We have inflation that’s too high and has been trending upwards over the past year," she said. "If the meeting was tomorrow, I would not see a case for reducing interest rates."

She further argued that inflation numbers are only beginning to show the impact of tariffs and that the full effect wouldn't be seen until next year.

Hammack's comments are notable, showing Fed Chair Jerome Powell continues to have plenty of support in his hawkish stance despite two dissident dovish votes at the last central bank policy meeting and President Trump's continuing campaign for lower rates.

Her remarks also come after a series of potential Powell replacements appeared on the airwaves in recent days to argue for sharply lower interest rates. The latest this morning was former St. Louis Fed boss Jim Bullard, who argued for policy rates 100 basis points below the current level.

Just one week ago, bitcoin touched a record high above $124,000 alongside a nearly 100% expectation that the Fed would trim rates next month. Seven days later, those odds have slipped back to 71%, according to CME FedWatch and bitcoin (BTC) has plunged nearly 10% to the current $112,800.

Markets will get to hear from Powell himself at his keynote address on Friday morning and at this point it's nearly certain he'll not turn dove. Instead, he's likely to emphasize that inflation continues to remain too hot and thus the need to take a wait and see approach towards adjusting monetary policy.

XRP rallied toward the $3 mark in the past session, with trading volume spiking more than 6% above its weekly baseline.

News Background

• XRP’s rally comes amid broader crypto stabilization, with altcoins tracking modest inflows after last week’s drawdown.
• On-chain data flagged institutional-sized flows, with nearly 155 million in XRP turnover during recovery periods, far above the 63 million daily average.
• Market chatter initially suggested XRP was hitting new highs, though the actual all-time peak remains $3.84 from January 2018 — underscoring that this is a recovery test, not price discovery.

Price Action Summary

• XRP swung 5.1% between $2.84 and $2.99 in the 23-hour window from Aug. 20 13:00 to Aug. 21 12:00.
• The strongest push came around 19:00 UTC on Aug. 20, when the token surged from $2.84 to $2.99 on 80.6 million volume.
• Subsequent sessions showed consolidation, with repeated bounces in the $2.89–$2.93 range, confirming it as interim support.
• A sharp whipsaw in the final hour (Aug. 21 11:03–12:02) saw an 8.6% swing: from $2.916 to $2.901 on 960,000 units, before stabilizing.

Technical Analysis

• Support: $2.89–$2.93 zone shows multiple strong bounces on above-average participation.
• Resistance: $2.99–$3.00 psychological ceiling caps momentum; repeated rejections visible.
• Volume: 80.65 million during the rally vs. a 24-hour baseline of ~63 million.
• Pattern: Sideways consolidation following bullish impulse; momentum tilting slightly downward.

What Traders Are Watching

• Whether $2.93 support holds in the short term or gives way to a retest of $2.82.
• Break above $3.00 as a potential trigger for trend continuation.
• Volume sustainability — if flows taper, bulls risk losing control.

Stablecoins, digital tokens tied to predominantly fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, will balloon to a $1.2 trillion market by 2028 and even have an impact on U.S. debt markets, Coinbase analysts projected in a Thursday report.

The forecast, published by the exchange’s research arm led by David Duong, is based on a stochastic model simulating thousands of growth paths for the stablecoin sector.

To swell almost five-fold from the current market size of $270 billion, the asset class "relies on incremental, policy-enabled adoption compounding over time," the report said.

Stablecoin issuers such as USDC (USDC) issuer Circle (CRCL) and Tether, the firm behind USDT (USDT), typically hold large portfolios of U.S. Treasury bills to back the tokens' value. The growth to $1.2 trillion would translate into roughly $5.3 billion in new T-bill purchases every week, the report projected.

Such inflows could shave 2-4 basis points off of the three-month Treasury yield over time, a small but noticeable effect in the $6 trillion money market where marginal moves can sway institutional funding costs, the analysts said.

Redemption surges, on the other hand, could have an adverse effect. A $3.5 billion outflow in five days could lead to a cascade of forced selling, tightening liquidity on the T-bill market, the report noted.

Coinbase analysts pointed to the recently passed stablecoin regulation, dubbed GENIUS Act, as critical to containing that risk. The law, which will come into effect in 2027 for issuers and tokens, mandates one-to-one reserves, audits and bankruptcy protections for holders.

While the law doesn’t grant stablecoin issuers direct access to Federal Reserve facilities, it could reduce the likelihood of a destabilizing run, the report said.

Read more: Stablecoins, Tokenization Put Pressure on Money Market Funds: Bank of America

XLM traded in a narrow band between $0.39 and $0.41 over a 24-hour stretch ending Aug. 21, reflecting a consolidation phase ahead of a potential move. Sellers repeatedly capped upside at $0.41, while buyers defended support at $0.40, keeping volatility subdued. A gradual dip in volume suggested traders were positioning for a breakout attempt.

That breakout came in the final hour of trading, when XLM rallied from $0.396 to $0.399. Strong buying momentum pushed through the $0.398 resistance level, accompanied by a sharp spike in volume exceeding 1.5 million tokens traded. The push set fresh intraday highs, reinforcing a short-term bullish setup.

Broader market currents also support rising demand for payment-focused tokens. Shifting trade dynamics, evolving stablecoin frameworks, and heightened inflation risks tied to supply chain pressures are reshaping the global payments landscape. Against this backdrop, XLM’s recent strength reflects growing interest in blockchain-based settlement alternatives.

Technical Indicators Signal Bullish Momentum

• Price action broke through key $0.398 resistance level with strong volume confirmation.
• Trading range of $0.01 or 3% indicates contained volatility before breakout.
• Volume spike exceeding 1.55 million during final hour suggests institutional interest.
• Support established around $0.40 level with multiple successful bounces.
• Declining volume trend reversed during breakout, indicating renewed conviction.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.

The corporate use of cryptocurrencies is evolving beyond payments, with a number of businesses adopting bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets as core treasury reserves. A report Thursday from rating company Morningstar DBRS cautions that this strategy could heighten credit risk profiles.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, roughly 3.68 million BTC (worth about $428 billion as of Aug. 19) are held across companies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), governments, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and custodians. This is about 18% of bitcoin’s circulating supply.

Funds dominate with 40% of holdings, followed by public companies at 27%. That exposure remains highly concentrated. One firm, Strategy (MSTR), controls over 629,000 BTC, accounting for 64% of all public-company treasury holdings, the report noted.

Morningstar DBRS highlighted a range of vulnerabilities in corporate crypto treasury strategies, including regulatory uncertainty, liquidity challenges during periods of volatility and exposure to exchange counterparties.

Heavy reliance on bitcoin reserves could strain liquidity management, while the asset’s sharp price swings add further risk.

The firm also noted that different tokens carry distinct technological and governance issues, and custody, whether handled in-house or through third parties, remains a critical security concern.

Corporate adoption of crypto treasury strategies is expected to grow, led by companies like Strategy and MARA Holdings (MARA). Morningstar DBRS warned that concentration, volatility, and regulatory complexity mean such strategies could materially reshape how credit markets assess corporate risk.

Read more: Bitcoin Treasury Firm Semler Scientific Still Has 3X Upside: Benchmark

A majority of investors who hold both cryptocurrencies and stocks say digital assets will outperform equities in the long term, according to a new survey from crypto exchange Kraken.

The survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, published Thursday, found that 65% of dual-asset investors expect crypto to deliver stronger growth than stocks over the next 10 years. Just 35% favored equities.

Nearly 70% said they plan to increase their crypto allocations in the coming year, with men showing stronger conviction than women (74% versus 59%).

Over the past 12 months, digital assets have also outperformed for many investors: 42% reported their crypto holdings beat their stock portfolios, compared with 31% who saw equities perform better.

Confidence levels are tilting toward crypto as well, with 61% of those surveyed saying they’ve grown more confident in digital assets, versus 53% for stocks.

Crypto also appears to be emerging as a “crisis trade.” When asked where they would allocate fresh capital during global uncertainty, 33% chose crypto, 20% said equities and 19% picked cash.

Mark Greenberg, Kraken’s global head of consumer, said the data reflects a shift in portfolio construction.

“Dual-asset investors are no longer treating crypto as a speculative outlier. They’re viewing it as a core growth driver,” he said in emailed comments

The findings come as crypto exchanges, including Kraken, move further into traditional finance by offering equities trading alongside digital assets, a sign of how the lines between the two markets are increasingly blurring.

Read more: Kraken Debuts Derivatives Trading in U.S., Plans Expansion to Commodity, Stock Futures

In today's Crypto for Advisors newsletter, Patrick Murphy from Eightcap, provides insights on the maturation of crypto as an asset and compares the evolution of Indices to the S&P’s early days.

Then, Leo Mindyuk from MLTech answers questions about indices in Ask an Expert.

Happy reading!

– Sarah Morton

What the S&P 500 Did for Equities, Indices Will Do for Crypto

Much like crypto today, equities in the early 20th century were an emerging and largely unregulated market, characterized by significant fragmentation and a lack of widespread public understanding. In 1957, when the S&P 500 was introduced, it revolutionized the financial landscape, providing a benchmark for investors. Not only did this legitimize equities as an asset class, but it also paved the way for mainstream adoption. Are we at similar crossroads with cryptocurrency? With indices poised to play a transformative role in its maturation, it appears to be so.

Cryptocurrency’s maturation and the evolving role of indices are making indices catalysts for wider crypto adoption. For example, the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) serves as a benchmark for the broader crypto market, helps provide market insights and acts as a building block for products to expand investor opportunities.

A fragmented and volatile market?

The crypto market is a fragmented landscape, a paradox of innovation and instability. While over 23,000 cryptocurrencies exist, the vast majority suffer from low trading volume and limited liquidity. This “long tail” includes a significant percentage of projects that never gained traction; estimates suggest over 50 percent of cryptocurrencies launched since 2021 have ceased to exist. A stark example: 1.8 million tokens became “dead coins” in the first quarter of 2025 alone.

Despite this sheer volume, trading activity remains heavily concentrated in a handful of top cryptocurrencies, highlighting the market's true fragmentation.

High volatility is a defining characteristic of crypto's fragmentation, vividly demonstrated by bitcoin's dramatic crashes and bull runs. Price “pumps” often appear out of the blue, and paradoxically, the market can remain stagnant even in the face of significant news. Prices frequently defy logical movement following major announcements, only to suddenly spike or drop without an obvious catalyst. This unpredictability underscores how structurally thin and concentrated trading remains across the market.

An example of this phenomenon is the SEC's approval of Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May 2024. Despite being a major regulatory milestone, ETH barely moved on the day of the announcement. A week later, however, it surged 15 percent with no discernible new information. These kinds of delayed and illogical reactions are surprisingly common, highlighting how thin liquidity, concentrated holdings, and sentiment-driven trading continue to dominate large segments of the crypto market.

Signs of maturation

Despite its current challenges, the crypto market is showing clear signs of maturation. Institutional interest is surging, with major financial players investing, partnering, and developing crypto-focused products. Regulatory clarity is also improving globally.

Key regulatory & institutional milestones

• ETF approvals: Beyond the initial spot bitcoin (BTC) and ETH ETF approvals, they now extend to Solana and other cryptocurrencies.
• MiCA regulation: The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework represents the first comprehensive crypto licensing in a tier-one market. OKX was the first global exchange to secure a MiCA license, enabling it to offer regulated services to over 400 million Europeans. Since then, Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, and Bybit have also obtained MiCA licenses, signalling industry growth and broader adoption.
• Stablecoin Genius Act: This new US Federal framework for stablecoin issuers aims to provide regulatory clarity, foster innovation, and protect consumers. Circle's recent listing on the NYSE, coupled with central bank digital currency (USDC) becoming the EU's preferred compliant stablecoin (adopted by exchanges like Coinbase, OKX, and Binance), marks a pivotal moment for stablecoins.

Growing stablecoin adoption

Eightcap's 2025 data shows stablecoin payments now account for 18 percent of monthly deposits, and the most popular of these deposits are in Tether (USDT), reflecting a broader trend. In 2024, stablecoins processed an estimated $27.6 trillion, surpassing Visa and Mastercard's combined transaction volume by 7.7 percent.

The role of indices

The current crypto market parallels the equities market before the S&P 500. The introduction of broad-based indices coming into the market marks a significant step forward.

A call to action

The time is critical for developing cryptocurrency indices that can bring order to the current chaos. CoinDesk 20, now available in over 20 investment vehicles globally through Eightcap, ML Tech, WisdomTree and others, exemplifies how indices can provide clarity, transparency and diversified exposure to digital assets. The industry must build on this foundation, creating even more robust tools for traders and investors. The full integration of digital assets into the global financial ecosystem is not just a possibility, but an inevitability.

- Patrick Murphy, chief commercial officer, Eightcap

Ask an Expert

Q: Why are crypto indices the logical next step for institutional adoption, similar to what the S&P 500 did for equities?

A: The S&P 500 simplified complexity, bringing structure, benchmarking, and ease of access. Instead of needing to underwrite every individual stock, investors could access a broad, rules-based proxy for U.S. stock market exposure. That unlocked trillions in capital inflows. Crypto today remains fragmented, noisy, and challenging to benchmark. It needs the same evolution. Institutional allocators and many retail investors aren’t asking “Which token should I own?” — they’re asking how to access diversified, well-balanced exposure to the asset class. Index products are how crypto becomes investable at scale. It’s not about picking particular coins but about delivering exposure through rules-based systems that meet compliance, liquidity, and transparency standards. The emergence of crypto-native indices and systematic strategy wrappers is the necessary evolution to move from speculation to scalable allocation.

Q: Why does the absence of crypto indices hinder adoption by institutional allocators and financial advisors?

A: Indices are essential tools for allocation, benchmarking, and communication. Without them, it’s nearly impossible for institutional investors or advisors to justify crypto exposure within traditional asset allocation frameworks. They lack a reference point for performance, volatility, and risk contribution. Advisors can’t model it; CIOs can’t underwrite it; committees can’t approve it. The result is friction across investment, compliance, and operational layers. Indices are what translate crypto from an abstract opportunity into a defined, investable exposure.

Q: How does indexification of crypto reshape the opportunity set for both allocators and systematic strategies?

A: Indices create the structure that both allocators and quant managers need. For institutions, they offer benchmarkable exposures that can be modelled, monitored, and approved within traditional investment frameworks. For systematic strategies, indices become usable components: inputs for factor models, hedging layers, or allocation signals. But to fully unlock this potential, the participants need an institutional wealth management infrastructure: real-time P&L and risk dashboards, customizable strategy access via API, and secure, non-custodial deployment across top-tier exchanges. With the help of the right wealth platform, indices transition from passive benchmarks to dynamic building blocks: ready to be allocated to, traded systematically, and embedded directly into institutional quant workflows.

- Leo Mindyuk, CEO, ML Tech

Keep Reading

• Wyoming becomes the first U.S. state to issue a stablecoin.
• SoFi announces it will use the Bitcoin Lightning Network for payment remittances.
• Google becomes the largest shareholder in bitcoin mining company TeraWulf.

Bank of America’s (BAC) rates strategy team said the U.S. Treasury market is increasingly shaped by two emerging forces: stablecoin demand for T-bills and the tokenization of government debt-related assets.

BofA views stablecoins as less of a game-changer for Treasuries than for money market mutual funds (MMFs), where their higher-yield potential represents a competitive challenge, the Wall Street bank said in a report Monday.

The bank's analysts expects stablecoin demand for Treasury bills to grow gradually, in the order of $25 billion to $75 billion over the next 12 months, but not enough to meaningfully shift bill market dynamics.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. They play a major role in cryptocurrency markets, providing among other things a payment infrastructure, and are also used to transfer money internationally.

According to BofA, some MMF clients are showing increased interest in tokenization, viewing it as a defensive move against stablecoins.

The report noted that in July, BNY (BK), alongside Goldman Sachs (GS), rolled out blockchain-based technology to maintain records of ownership in select MMF shares.

The effort, spurred in part by stablecoin growth and the GENIUS Act, marked the first rollover of tokenized MMF shares.

With stablecoins currently restricted from paying yield, money market funds see a narrow window to tokenize and offer competitive rates before regulatory changes or workarounds erode that advantage, the report added.

Read more: Stablecoin Supply to Grow as Much as $75B Following Passage of GENIUS Act, BofA Says

Data provider RedStone has released a new report on Hyperliquid, the decentralized perpetuals exchange that has quickly become the category leader.

In just a year, Hyperliquid has grown to capture more than 80% of the decentralized perps market, with daily trading volumes now topping $30 billion, rivaling some of the largest centralized exchanges, according to the report.

RedStone highlighted three structural advantages that underpin Hyperliquid’s surge.

The first is its fully on-chain order book that now delivers spreads and execution speeds on par with centralized platforms.

Second, HIP-3, Hyperliquid’s new permissionless market creation framework, has created one of the most active builder ecosystems in DeFi, with revenue-sharing economics that pay developers more than the protocol itself.

And third, its dual architecture of HyperCore and HyperEVM enables entirely new financial primitives, including tokenized perp positions, delta-neutral strategies, and novel liquidity engineering tools.

Hyperliquid’s rise is an indication of how a lean, self-funded team can outcompete venture-backed peers by focusing on technical execution and builder-first incentives. By coupling CEX-level performance with permissionless technology, Hyperliquid is positioning itself not just as a trading venue but as a potential backbone for the next phase of on-chain trading.

The Hyperliquid network, on which the Hyperliquid DEX is based, currently has around $2.2 billion in total value locked, with the DEX notching $330 billion in cumulative trading volume in the past 30 days, according to DefiLlama.

“Hyperliquid is setting a new standard,” the RedStone report notes, arguing that the platform’s dual-layer design and community-driven growth model are creating "unprecedented opportunities for builders and institutions alike.”

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 4005.12, down 1.4% (-55.83) since 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Seven of 20 assets are trading higher.

Leaders: AAVE (+1.2%) and BCH (-0.2%).

Laggards: SUI (-3.9%) and XLM (-2.5%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

Optimism is teaming up with Flashbots to revamp how transactions get processed across its OP Stack ecosystem, aiming to make some of Ethereum’s most popular layer-2 networks faster and more customizable.

The partnership centers on sequencing, the behind-the-scenes process that determines how quickly a transaction confirms, which trades are prioritized, and how much users ultimately pay. Optimism says Flashbots’ infrastructure, which is already responsible for building more than 90% of Ethereum’s blocks, will now bring near-instant confirmations and user-friendly transaction ordering to every chain in the so-called Superchain.

This matters because the OP Stack underpins more than 60% of all Ethereum layer 2 activity, the Optimism team claims, including some of the most well-known layer-2 chains like Base, Unichain, World Chain, Ink and Soneium. Until now, advanced sequencing features such as ultra-fast settlement, frontrunning protection and custom compliance rules were only available to the largest chains with resources to build them in-house. With Flashbots on board, those features will be available via tools for any project building on Optimism’s OP stack.

Flashbots is best known for its work on MEV, or maximal extractable value, where its MEV-Boost tool has reshaped how blocks are produced.

Some of Flashbots’ sequencing technology is already live on OP Stack chains: Base and Unichain use “Flashblocks” to deliver block times as low as 200 milliseconds, while Unichain and World Chain are experimenting with verifiable transaction ordering and priority blockspace, which proves transactions are ordered fairly and prevents frontrunning.

In the coming months, Optimism and Flashbots plan to roll out the flashblocks and advanced sequencing R&D to Optimism’s mainnet and other chains using the OP Stack.

“With Flashbots as a core technology partner, we’re accelerating the roadmap for fast, cheap, and customizable sequencing across the OP Stack,” said Sam McIngvale, head of product at OP Labs. “This is part of our broader mission: giving builders the freedom to design their chains their way, with infrastructure that’s open, flexible, and battle-tested in production.”

Read more: Optimism’s Jing Wang and the Widely Adopted OP Stack

Ether (ETH) has outperformed bitcoin (BTC) over the past month, buoyed by strong inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and growing corporate treasury allocations, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a report on Wednesday.

The move comes in the wake of U.S. stablecoin legislation (the GENIUS Act) and ahead of an anticipated vote on a broader crypto market structure bill by the end of September, the report said.

In July, spot ether ETFs saw record inflows of $5.4 billion, nearly matching bitcoin ETF inflows over the same period. While bitcoin ETFs have posted modest outflows in August, ether funds continue to attract capital, JPMorgan noted.

The bank's analysts pointed to four main factors behind ether’s recent strength.

Investors are betting the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will eventually permit staking for spot ether ETFs, which would turn them into yield-generating products while lowering technical barriers for participation.

Corporate demand is also rising, the analysts noted, with about 10 publicly traded firms now holding ether equal to a total of 2.3% of the circulating supply. Some of these companies may seek additional income through staking or decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies.

At the same time, the SEC has signaled that liquid-staking tokens may not qualify as securities, easing institutional concerns, and its approval of in-kind redemptions for spot crypto ETFs is expected to reduce costs, improve liquidity and limit forced selling during large withdrawals.

JPMorgan suggested ether holdings in both ETFs and corporate treasuries could rise further, pointing to bitcoin’s higher share of circulating supply locked up across both categories as a benchmark.

Read more: Ether Resurgence Gains Steam Backed by Spot ETF Demand and On-Chain Growth: Citi

MetaMask, the popular crypto wallet developed by Consensys, confirmed on Thursday it will debut its proprietary U.S. dollar token (mUSD) later this year, joining the booming stablecoin market.

"MetaMask USD is a critical step in bringing the world on-chain," said Gal Eldar, product lead at MetaMask, in a blog post.

Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrencies pegged to external assets like the U.S. dollar, have grown into a $250 billion market, often touted as a faster, cheaper option for international payments. Interest in the sector has accelerated since U.S. President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, setting new federal standards for stablecoin issuers.

MetaMask's stablecoin project was already known to be in the works due to a prematurely posted governance proposal earlier this month. In the official announcement, the firm said that the mUSD token will be launched first on Ethereum (ETH) and Consensys-developed layer-2 network Linea, and closely integrated within the app and services.

Users will be able to on-ramp fiat, swap between tokens, and move value across blockchains, with the stablecoin later becoming spendable through the MetaMask Card at Mastercard merchants worldwide. Further plans include extend utility across decentralized finance (DeFi) and payments.

The token is issued by U.S.-licensed issuer Bridge, now part of payments giant Stripe, and underpinned by stablecoin platform M0’s blockchain infrastructure.

"With MetaMask USD, users can bring their money onchain, put it to work, spend it almost anywhere, and use it like money should be used," Eldar said. "It will allow us to cut through some of the most stubborn barriers in web3 and reduce both friction and costs for people onboarding directly into a self-custodial wallet."

Custom stablecoin issuance

MetaMask's stablecoin is the first example of the partnership between M0 and Bridge to help businesses roll out custom digital dollars.

The two firms said on Thursday the partnership combines Bridge’s regulatory and reserve management expertise with M0’s blockchain infrastructure designed for application-specific stablecoins.

The idea of application-specific stablecoins has been gaining traction as the market for digital dollars is booming with improving regulatory clarity. Payment applications, crypto wallets or DeFi protocols can create their own branded dollar token while outsourcing compliance, reserves and infrastructure to providers.

For instance, Paxos issues PayPal's PYUSD token, while BitGo is behind the Trump-affiliated DeFi protocol World Liberty Financial's USD1. Earlier this month, U.S. fintech Slash launched its own stablecoin with Bridge.

Partnering with M0 and Bridge, MetaMask can offer a built-in digital dollar for its users without managing the complex work of issuance, compliance and tech plumbing.

Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of Bridge, said that they reduced the development time for custom stablecoin issuance from "more than a year of complex integrations" to "a matter of weeks. This means apps like Metamask "can realize benefits more rapidly and efficiently than ever before."

With the partnership, M0 and Bridge are now seeking to replicate the work on MetaMask's token for more issuers.

"Applications want to control their dollar infrastructure," M0 founder and CEO Luca Prosperi said in an interview with CoinDesk. "What is important is that they will not have to build it themselves."

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UPDATE (Aug. 21, 12:30 UTC): Adds MetaMask's official stablecoin announcement, updates headline and lede.