FiCAS Selected Crypto Assets ETI

After a firm start, crypto markets showed fatigue in a seasonally weak month, with the final week eroding much of the month-to-date gains. Mid-September saw ETH, SOL, and large-cap memecoins outperform Bitcoin after macroeconomic data pointed to a strong chance of a cut, and the FOMC delivered a 25-basis-point cut, in line with expectations and the first cut since December 2024.
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A significant deleveraging on 20 September culminated on 22 September with total liquidations up 380% to $632 million in 24 hours; the 4-hour long-to-short liquidation ratio hit 96% to 4%, one of the most lopsided readings recently, and about $6.3 billion was liquidated over the week, leaving leverage materially lower. Seasonality added a headwind, with September typically challenging for both crypto and U.S. equities, while a gold breakout and renewed demand for inflation hedges lent support to Bitcoin.

Fundamentals were mixed but active. Stablecoins on Ethereum mainnet reached a record $149 billion in market cap; Bitcoin hashrate hit a new high; and ETH validator queues flipped, with entries exceeding exits amid rising staking demand. SOL remained a notable outperformer, aided by Forward Industries’ $1.65 billion private placement led by Galaxy, Jump, and Multicoin; WLD and AVAX launched DATs. On policy and market structure: the SEC proposed an “innovation exemption” to fast-track crypto products; nine European banks, including ING, formed a euro-stablecoin consortium; Tether announced USAT to comply with the GENIUS Act; FTX prepared $1.6 billion in repayments; the stablecoin market cap neared $300B as TradFi and DeFi converged; and the race among perp DEXs intensified. Meanwhile, soft U.S. labor data and weaker PMI/ISM prints kept macro uncertainty elevated, and U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs saw mixed flows with activity broadly in line with recent quarters.