Happy Friday! Welcome to the 31th instalment of the Coinbyte Weekly Wrap.

The market traded in a slightly weaker range this week, with BTC rising to a weekly high above US$65,400 before pulling back and settling near US$63,502, posting a weekly decline of approximately 1.17%. Price action showed an early-week recovery followed by a steady retracement.

Major altcoins showed a mixed performance. Ether slipped 0.89%, while BNB gained 3.01% and Solana rose 4.66%. TRX and Dogecoin also advanced 2.23% and 1.42%, respectively, while Cardano underperformed among large-cap tokens with a 9.37% decline.

Institutional accumulation remained active. Bitmine added 7,391 ETH over the week, bringing its total Ethereum holdings to 5.81 million ETH. Meanwhile, Jack Dorsey’s Block increased its Bitcoin holdings to 9,117 BTC, including 234 BTC purchased in the first half of 2026 through June 30.

Trading activity remained steady across major cryptocurrencies: BTC average daily volume reached roughly US$19.0bn over the past seven days, USDT turnover stood at around US$41.0bn, and ETH and SOL recorded approximately US$7.0bn and US$1.4bn respectively.

Overall, this week’s market action reflected mild weakness in Bitcoin, while altcoin performance remained mixed and institutional crypto accumulation continued.

Beyond price action, macroeconomic developments and institutional participation remained key themes this week. U.S. inflation eased in July, with headline CPI slowing to 3.4% and core CPI to 2.5%, supporting expectations for a less restrictive rate outlook. Bitcoin held near $64,000 as Treasury yields declined. Meanwhile, institutional interest in Bitcoin continued to expand, with Strategy planning to resume Bitcoin accumulation and companies increasingly using Bitcoin as collateral to access financing without selling their holdings. BlackRock also noted improving Bitcoin sentiment as the asset increasingly decoupled from U.S. equities.

Institutional adoption extended beyond Bitcoin, with Goldman Sachs agreeing to acquire ETF manager NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion, adding Bitcoin and Ether income products to its asset management business. Fidelity is also seeking to add staking and quarterly cash distributions to its Ethereum fund, highlighting the continued development of institutional crypto investment products.

Tokenization remained another important area of industry development. Standard Chartered highlighted the potential growth of tokenized assets, projecting the market could expand from around $340 billion today to $4 trillion by the end of 2028, while identifying Chainlink as a potential infrastructure provider for tokenized finance.

Regulatory progress also continued across major markets. The SEC is considering tailored rules, including potential safe harbors and exemptions, for certain crypto asset investment contracts, while UK lawmakers are examining how banks treat crypto businesses ahead of the country's new FCA crypto regulatory regime.

Overall, this week's market reflected a combination of improving macro conditions, stronger institutional participation, and continued regulatory and infrastructure development. Growing demand for crypto investment products, broader use of Bitcoin in corporate finance, expanding tokenization, and clearer regulatory frameworks further reinforced the industry's ongoing integration with traditional financial markets.

Performance

Newsflow

Market | U.S. Inflation Eases, Bitcoin Holds $64K

U.S. inflation slowed to 3.4% in July from 3.5% in June, in line with economists' expectations, while core CPI eased to 2.5% from 2.6%. Monthly headline and core inflation rose 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. The data eased some expectations for a September rate hike, while bitcoin held near $64,000 and Treasury yields declined.  link

Tokenization | Standard Chartered Targets $200 LINK

Standard Chartered initiated coverage of Chainlink's LINK with a $200 price target for the end of 2030, citing the network’s potential role in supporting tokenized finance. The bank expects tokenized assets onchain to grow from around $340 billion today to $4 trillion by the end of 2028, while Chainlink's fee generation could increase about 25-fold by 2030 as its oracle, cross-chain and interoperability services expand.  link

More News

Institution | Strategy CEO Phong Le said the company plans to resume Bitcoin accumulation this year, after purchasing around 175,000 BTC and selling roughly 7,000 BTC since January. The company remains a net buyer by about 25 times this year, despite selling Bitcoin on four occasions since May to fund preferred stock dividends, share repurchases and its USD reserve. Strategy currently holds more than 840,000 BTC.  link

Institution | Public companies are increasingly using Bitcoin as collateral to secure financing without selling their holdings. MARA Holdings pledged 18,750 BTC, worth about $1.2 billion at closing, to secure $600 million in loans from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending. Two Prime’s loan carries a fixed 7.65% interest rate and matures in August 2028, highlighting the growing use of Bitcoin-backed financing for corporate capital needs.  link

Regulation | UK lawmakers are pressing major banks to explain their policies toward crypto businesses as the country prepares to introduce its new FCA crypto regulatory regime. The inquiry asks whether FCA authorization will change banks' approach to digital asset firms and seeks details on restrictions affecting crypto-related accounts and transactions. The broader parliamentary inquiry is collecting evidence through Aug. 31, with the new FCA regime expected to take effect in October 2027.  link

Market | BlackRock's head of digital assets Robbie Mitchnick said Bitcoin sentiment has improved over the past month as the cryptocurrency has increasingly decoupled from U.S. equities. He pointed to July, when Bitcoin outperformed as AI stocks faced a sharp pullback, saying the decoupling supports Bitcoin’s role as a potential portfolio diversifier and hedge against risks elsewhere in markets.  link

Regulation | The SEC will consider proposing tailored rules for certain crypto asset investment contracts at a public meeting on Friday, potentially including safe harbors and exemptions from securities registration. The proposal could provide crypto projects with a clearer framework for token offerings and fundraising, as the SEC moves forward with rulemaking while broader crypto legislation remains stalled in Congress.  link

Institution | Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire ETF manager NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion, adding its Bitcoin and Ether income ETFs to Goldman's asset management business. NEOS manages about $30 billion across 19 ETFs, including a roughly $1.1 billion Bitcoin covered-call ETF, giving Goldman a ready-made position in the growing crypto income ETF market. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027.  link

Institution | Fidelity is seeking to add staking and quarterly cash distributions to its nearly $900 million Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH). The fund could stake up to 100% of its Ether under normal conditions, with 85% of gross staking rewards retained by the fund and the remainder paid to the sponsor, custodians and node operators. Net rewards would first cover fund expenses before being distributed to shareholders quarterly.  link

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