Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $124,002.49 on 14 August, propelled by growing investor confidence in impending Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, continued institutional demand, and favorable regulatory developments, including the GENIUS Act and crypto-friendly executive actions under the current administration. Ethereum followed suit, hitting $4,780.04, its highest level since 2021. Overall, the crypto market capitalization climbed above $4.18 trillion, underscoring the bullish sentiment prevailing across digital asset markets.

Fed Streamlines Oversight, Folding Crypto Monitoring into Broad Supervision

The Federal Reserve announced the termination of its specialized "novel activities" supervision program, originally created in 2023 to monitor banks' crypto and fintech engagement. The Fed stated it has matured in understanding the associated risks and will now integrate crypto-related oversight into its standard regulatory framework. This shift may ease compliance burdens for banks interacting with digital asset services while signaling stabilization in crypto oversight.

Top Firms Line Up for Stablecoin Launches Under New Law

Following the passage of the GENIUS Act, which formalized the first U.S. regulatory framework for stablecoins, several major banks and corporations, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Walmart, and Amazon are actively exploring or planning to launch their own dollar-backed digital tokens. While the legislation paves the way for faster, cheaper payments infrastructure, experts warn that challenges remain, such as choosing between public or private blockchains, ensuring compliance with AML/KYC rules, and navigating capital requirements when holding stablecoin reserves.

Bitcoin ETFs See Mixed Week with Late Surge

Bitcoin ETF flows were more volatile, finishing the week with over $560.0M in net inflows. While early-week gains were tempered by mid-week outflows, a strong Thursday push, including $523.7M into BlackRock’s IBIT- secured the positive close. This rebound comes as BTC continues to consolidate above key technical levels, though inflows were more concentrated than in prior weeks.

Ethereum ETFs Dominate Weekly Inflows

Ethereum ETFs saw a flood of institutional demand this week, booking a massive $2.91B in net inflows. Monday alone brought in over $1.02B, led by BlackRock’s ETHA with $639.8M. The strong momentum continued through mid-week, with multiple >$500M days pushing ETH to the top of the market’s gainers list. Analysts point to a mix of post-regulatory optimism and ETH’s growing role in tokenized finance as drivers of the surge. 

Top Gainers on Metal Pay

Ethereum (ETH) led the week’s performance on Metal Pay, climbing 11.6% on the back of blockbuster ETF demand. Solana (SOL) followed with a 5.7% gain amid rising developer activity, while LOAN Protocol (LOAN) added 2.9%, buoyed by ongoing rewards distribution on the XPR Network. Bitcoin (BTC) posted a modest 1.0% gain, and Dogecoin (DOGE) rounded out the list at 0.5%. 

All of these digital assets, and more - are available on Metal Pay.