Immy Dorse 
It’s been a pretty mixed bag in the crypto markets over the last day or so. While Bitcoin and Ethereum held relatively steady, a lot of the alternative coins took a hit. The exceptions? AVAX and NEAR actually managed to post some decent gains, bucking the wider trend. It’s hard to say exactly why those two are holding up better than the rest. Perhaps it’s just specific project news driving interest, or maybe traders are looking for specific niches. Either way, it’s a reminder that not everything moves in lockstep.
ETF Developments and Regulatory Moves
The new exchange-traded funds for XRP and DOGE made their debut. Combined, they saw about $50 million in volume on the first day. That’s not a massive number, to be honest, especially when you compare it to the huge flows we saw with the spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. It feels like the market might be getting a little fatigued with new ETF products, or maybe it’s just waiting to see how these perform.
In regulatory news, that bill in Michigan aiming to let state agencies accept Bitcoin for tax payments is moving forward again after a delay. It’s a small step, but these local efforts add up. Meanwhile, up in Canada, authorities seized around $40 million in cryptocurrency from the exchange TradeOgre. Details are still scarce, but it’s part of a wider crackdown.
And in a less positive legal development, the CEO of a Bitcoin trading firm pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme that allegedly scammed investors out of $200 million. A grim but recurring story.
Product Launches and Platform Updates
There’s always something new launching. MetaMask confirmed its long-rumored native token is coming “very soon.” That’s sparked a lot of chatter, as you’d expect. Brera Holdings is launching a $300 million decentralized annuity trust on the Solana blockchain. It’s a big number, we’ll see if the demand is there.
The Ethereum “Fusaka” upgrade is now scheduled for December. This is the next step after the Dencun upgrade, focused on further optimizing gas fees and transaction speeds. Over on the Plasma network, they’ve set their token generation event (TGE) for September 25th.
Stablecoin competition is heating up. A report from JP Morgan pointed out that Circle’s USDC is facing intense competition, not just from Tether but now from banking giants getting involved. Speaking of stablecoins, PayPal’s PYUSD is expanding beyond Ethereum to blockchains like Tron and Aave, aiming for wider usability.
On-Chain Trading and Wild Swings
The on-chain trading platform Avantis is adding top tech stocks, allowing for leveraged positions up to 25x. It’s a bold move that blends traditional equities with DeFi, for better or worse.
And then there’s ASTER. This token just keeps rising, hitting a fully diluted valuation of $3.8 billion. Its spot volume on launch was a staggering $310 million. That kind of activity is wild, the kind of thing that makes you cautious. It could be genuine excitement, or it could be something else. It’s probably wise to watch from a distance for a while.