Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_60c9fc7f1690b" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>Ether is up 600.1% since last year, according to Messari</li>
                <li>Invesco and ProShares plan to launch bitcoin futures ETFs</li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>Ether&#8217;s two-month high on Thursday morning had the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ethereums-hard-fork-is-bound-to-be-implemented-despite-opposition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">‘London hard fork’ </a>to thank, trading over $2,800.</p>



<p>Investors&#8217; eyes were on EIP-1559, which proposed a set of changes to the blockchain&#8217;s code<strong>. </strong>Following the launch, ether and bitcoin both advanced roughly 4%.</p>



<p>ETH has been capturing the lion&#8217;s share of attention for the last few months. </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>ETH:BTC soared to the highest it has been in over a month at 0.071 this morning.</li><li>Ether is up 600.1% since last year, according to Messari.</li><li>Bitcoin is up 301.46% in the same time frame. </li><li>ETH is up +17.79% while BTC is up 3.01% over the last seven days.</li></ul>



<p>Ethereum passed bitcoin on year-over-year growth, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-crypto-market-cap-up-86-ytd-ethereum-passes-bitcoin-on-yoy-growth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported.</a> The data, compiled by Coinbase, revealed that ETH appreciated 895% while BTC&#8217;s appreciation was up 280% in the 12 months period of growth.</p>



<p>In decentralized finance (DeFi), Swisscom announced today that it is joining oracle network Chainlink, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/data-for-defi-switzerlands-swisscom-joins-chainlink-as-node-operator/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> on Thursday. In the blockchain industry, oracles are third-party intermediaries that provide smart contracts and decentralized applications with real-world data that allows for contract execution.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DeFi</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Uniswap is trading at $25.10 with a total value locked of $4,711,894,171 up 0.1% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.&nbsp;</li><li>Chainlink is trading at $24.09, advancing 0.3% with trading volume at $1,149,630,985 in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>DeFi:ETH is 30.8% at 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list" id="block-1209f037-00c3-4876-ad37-a29ab610c717"><li>Bitcoin is trading around $40,879.42, up 3.04% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>Ether is trading around $2,797.015, advancing 3.27% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>ETH:BTC is slightly lower at 0.0685, down -0.15% at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>VIX declined -2.84% to 17.46 at 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Insight</h3>



<p>&#8220;BTC was stumped by resistance in the 42k region and has fallen decisively back into the 30-40k range. A stronger catalyst may be required for the decisive break above 40k or below 30k. There are some potential ones on the horizon,&#8221; QCP Capital Broadcast said in a note on Tuesday. &#8220;&#8230;ETH has clearly started to price [the EIP-1559 mainnet implementation] in, rallying 57% in the last 12 trading days and breaking out of the consolidation triangle formed over the last 3 months.&#8221;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1018" height="523" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-6211" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=1018 1018w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/821E9066-C7DF-442D-971D-13CE1C59290A.jpeg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 1018px) 100vw, 1018px" /><figcaption>                                                                                Ethereum / Bitcoin hit over a one-month high on Thursday morning. Source: TradingView</figcaption></figure>



<p>Wall Street gauges stayed ahead following news that <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/nasdaq-sp-500-set-records-jobless-claims-decline-2021-08-05/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">initial</a> jobless claims matched analysts expectations. Claims fell to 385,000 after reporting 399,000 the week prior. However, employers are still <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jobs-crypto-rises-equities-fall-on-disappointing-numbers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">struggling</a> to fill positions. Investors are waiting to assess the July employment report on Friday.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Corporate earnings continue to roll in on Thursday. Zillow Group, Inc. surpassed Wall Street estimates with $1.31 billion in Q2 revenue&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the Nasdaq composite, Amazon.com, Inc. announced that they would postpone returning to office until 2022. Originally, the tech giant anticipated staff to return September 7 of this year. Shares were trading 0.03% lower by 4:00 pm ET.</p>



<p>Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD) tanked on Thursday as the company revealed that some investors are set to sell over 99 million shares over time. Following the news, the popular retail trading platform dropped 19.42% intraday. It’s been a wild week for HOOD whose stocks surged 53% on Wednesday.</p>



<p>All major equities closed in the green.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Equities</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The Dow is up 0.64% to 35,014.</li><li>S&amp;P 500 advanced 0.49% to 4,424.</li><li>Nasdaq rose 0.71% to 14,887.</li></ul>



<p>The US 10-year treasury advanced four base points intraday following improved labor market data.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fixed Income</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>US 10-year treasury yields 1.222% as of 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Commodities</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list" id="block-d64d70c9-7052-4f1a-8167-3d370fe08354"><li>Brent crude rose to $71.27 per barrel, advancing 1.29%.</li><li>Gold fell -0.45% to $1,806.30.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Currencies</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The US dollar strengthened 0.01%, according to the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">In other news&#8230;</h3>



<p>Invesco and ProShares have <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/invesco-proshares-plan-to-launch-bitcoin-futures-based-etfs/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">filed</a> for actively managed crypto ETFs that would invest in bitcoin futures contracts just days after SEC Chairman Gary <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/sec-chair-gensler-prioritizes-crypto-platform-crackdown/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Gensler</a> hinted that products of this type could be granted favorable regulatory treatment.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">We&#8217;re watching out for&#8230;</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Investors wait to assess the July employment report on Friday morning at 8:30 am ET. </li></ul>



<p>That&#8217;s it for today&#8217;s markets wrap. I&#8217;ll see you back here tomorrow.</p>



<p><strong><em>Want more investor-focused content on digital assets?&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.</em></strong></p>


Ether’s Record Trading, Equities Make Steady Gains: Markets Wrap

<div id="highlights-block_60c9fc7f1690b" class="highlights">
        <ul>
                <li>Ethereum surged more than 9% on Wednesday as the crypto sector awaits the Ethereum hard fork</li>
                <li>Private-sector hires were sharply lower last month, falling from 680,000 in June to 330,000 new workers in July. </li>
            </ul>
    
</div>



<p>Following less-than-prime jobs data and Fed Vice Chairman’s market-moving remarks at a virtual appearance, Wall Street indices slumped on Wednesday. Widespread concerns over the Delta variant may have also added on to the markets losses, but cryptos inched higher.</p>



<p>The Fed&#8217;s Richard Clarida said that interest-rate hikes could start as early as the end of next year, adding that the rapid spread of the variant may stunt the country’s economic growth.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Private-sector hires in US firms were sharply lower last month, falling from 680,000 in June to 330,000 new workers in July, according to an <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jobs-crypto-rises-equities-fall-on-disappointing-numbers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ADP employment report</a>.</p>



<p>Following the onslaught of news, the S&amp;P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both fell 1% and 0.5%, respectively. </p>



<p>Small wins were made by the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite. Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD) touched $85, hiking around 53% on Wednesday. The popular retail trading platform has jumped 140% since its IPO price of $38 last week. Paycom (PAYC) was up 11% as well, following better-than-expected earnings. The software company&#8217;s revenue for Q2 hiked up 33.3% to $242.15 million. Only the Nasdaq was ahead by market close.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Equities</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The Dow was down -0.92% to 34,792.</li><li>S&amp;P 500 declined -0.46% to 4,402.</li><li>Nasdaq had an uptick of 0.13% to 14,770.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Insight</h3>



<p>Founding Principal of BKCoin Capital, Kevin Kang, weighed in on Wednesday&#8217;s markets activity.</p>



<p>“I think the market is translating the big miss on jobs reports and the Fed staying its course with accommodative policies. We can see the divergence between the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq as low interest rates are good for growth stocks. Also crypto seems to be running on the back of SEC chair Gary Gensler making positive comments regarding crypto regulations as he said the lack of crypto regulation isn&#8217;t a good thing for the advancement of the technology and he was pro-innovation,&#8221; Kang, CFA, told Blockworks. &#8220;The sentiment in the market seems to have flipped completely these past two weeks as the market brushed off the news yesterday that the SEC will regulate cryptocurrency markets to the maximum extent possible.&#8221;</p>



<p>Tesla shares hit an intraday high of $724.90 following the news, while ether and bitcoin continued to hike up 8% and 5%, respectively.</p>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-6138" width="842" height="441" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=1014 1014w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/72A4EBDD-714F-481F-92DB-89E0A7ED07A2.jpeg?w=80 80w" sizes="(max-width: 842px) 100vw, 842px" /><figcaption>                                                              As the S&amp;P 500 fell Wednesday morning, Tesla shares and Bitcoin traded higher. Source: TradingView</figcaption></figure></div>



<p>In decentralized finance (DeFi), Genesis reported continued demand for DeFi tokens and ethereum lending in their Q2 Markets Observation <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210804005657/en/Genesis-Q2-Report-Shows-Decreasing-Bitcoin-Dominance-and-Hedge-Funds-Diving-Into-DeFi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> on Wednesday. While bitcoin trading previously accounted for 80% of overall spot trading, the largest cryptocurrency has fallen to 47% in Q2. However, ether has risen to 25% of overall trading volumes on the desk.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">DeFi</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Uniswap is trading at $23.29 with a total value locked of $4,497,369,839 up 1.1% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.&nbsp;</li><li>Chainlink is trading at $24.26, advancing 0.8% with trading volume at $1,228,574,228 in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>DeFi:ETH is 31.1% at 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list" id="block-1209f037-00c3-4876-ad37-a29ab610c717"><li>Bitcoin is trading around $39,731.30, up 3.64% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>Ether is trading around $2,711.06, advancing 8.87% in 24 hours at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>ETH:BTC is at 0.0682, up 3.87% at 4:00 pm ET.</li><li>VIX is down -0.39% to 17.97 at 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Insight</h3>



<p>“Trends both in Genesis’s activity and the broader market confirm the changing role of bitcoin as the industry’s gateway asset, and highlight the emerging protagonism of Ethereum and decentralized finance,” said Matt Ballensweig, Head of Institutional Lending at Genesis. “Bitcoin’s dominance in terms of market cap declined from over 70% at the end of 2020 to under 45% at the end of Q2, as Ether and most of the main decentralized finance tokens more than doubled in price from the beginning of the year.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Fixed Income</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>US 10-year treasury yields 1.184% as of 4:00 pm ET.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Commodities</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list" id="block-d64d70c9-7052-4f1a-8167-3d370fe08354"><li>Brent crude is down to $70.21 per barrel, declining -3.04%.</li><li>Gold fell -0.01% to $1,814.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Currencies</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The US dollar strengethened 0.22%, according to the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index.</li></ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">In other news&#8230;</h3>



<p>Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559, a form of &#8216;rent control&#8217; on gas fees that comes at the expense of miners, is set to be implemented through Ethereum blockchain’s London hard fork, Blockworks <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ethereums-hard-fork-is-bound-to-be-implemented-despite-opposition/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> on Wednesday.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">We&#8217;re watching out for&#8230;</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Bank of England’s interest rate decision will be announced on Thursday</li></ul>



<p>That&#8217;s it for today&#8217;s markets wrap. I&#8217;ll see you back here tomorrow.</p>



<p><strong><em>Want more investor-focused content on digital assets?&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join us</a>&nbsp;September 13th and 14th for the Digital Asset Summit (DAS) in NYC. Use code ARTICLE for $75 off your ticket.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://cms.blockworks.co/events/digital-asset-summit-2021-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener">Buy it now</a>.</em></strong></p>
