Crypto markets ended the week under pressure, with Bitcoin near $62,600 after erasing the previous week’s gains. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 29 on August 14, remaining in “Fear” and unchanged from yesterday and last week, though above last month’s reading of 25. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $329.0 million in net outflows from Monday through Thursday, while Ether funds were nearly flat with a $3.0 million net outflow. Solana was the only coin in the Metal Pay chart to post a seven-day gain. Overall, the market remains defensive, although sentiment has improved slightly from last month’s “Extreme Fear.
Tether Completes First Full Audit
Tether said KPMG U.S. completed the first full independent audit of the stablecoin issuer’s financial statements, marking a major step beyond its previous reserve attestations. KPMG issued an unqualified opinion covering the year ended December 31, 2025, while Tether said its reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.8 billion. The review examined transactions, valuations, counterparties, ownership records and supporting evidence, including a physical count of Tether’s gold holdings. However, the audited statements were not released publicly. The milestone could help Tether address longstanding questions about the reserves supporting approximately $183 billion of USDT in circulation.
U.S. Crypto Rulemaking Faces Fresh Delays
U.S. crypto rulemaking made procedural progress this week but ended with two important decisions pushed back. On August 8, Senate Majority Leader John Thune initiated a process that could bring the CLARITY Act to a key vote when lawmakers return in September, although the Senate entered its recess without passing the bill. The legislation would define when tokens are securities or commodities and divide oversight between federal regulators. Separately, the SEC canceled an August 14 meeting on a proposed offering framework for crypto investment contracts, citing an unforeseen scheduling issue. No replacement date was announced."
Monday opened with $144.6 million in net outflows, led by $53.6 million from BlackRock’s IBIT, $52.0 million from Grayscale’s GBTC and $40.3 million from Fidelity’s FBTC, partly offset by $37.1 million into Grayscale’s BTC. Tuesday reversed to a modest $7.8 million inflow as IBIT added $50.2 million, outweighing withdrawals from Franklin Templeton, Ark/21Shares and VanEck. Wednesday returned to a $61.1 million outflow, driven by $46.8 million from FBTC and $14.3 million from IBIT. Thursday weakened further with $131.1 million leaving the funds as ARKB, FBTC and GBTC led redemptions, despite $38.9 million entering BTC. Overall, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $329.0 million in net outflows for the week.
Monday opened with $14.6 million in net outflows as $23.8 million left BlackRock’s ETHA, partly offset by $8.6 million into Grayscale’s ETH and $3.9 million into BlackRock’s ETHB. Tuesday remained slightly negative at $1.7 million, with a $2.3 million withdrawal from Fidelity’s FETH outweighing a $0.6 million ETHA inflow. Wednesday delivered the week’s strongest result with a $7.4 million net inflow, entirely through ETHA. Thursday added another $5.9 million as Grayscale’s ETH attracted $6.5 million, offset slightly by a $0.6 million ETHA outflow. Overall, spot Ethereum ETFs finished nearly flat with $3.0 million in net outflows.
Solana led the Metal Pay chart with a 2.0% weekly gain and was the only tracked asset to finish in positive territory. Stellar and Dogecoin held closest to flat, declining 0.8% and 0.9%, respectively, while Ethereum, XRP and Litecoin each limited their losses to 3.3%. The results show that a small group of larger-cap tokens held up better as Bitcoin fell 4.0% and broader market sentiment remained cautious.
