🩸 $ETH Whales Drown in Red

Some of the biggest altcoin “treasury” moves you’re cheering for… are actually billion-dollar exit strategies in disguise? Public companies are printing stock, buying locked tokens, and giving whales the perfect off-ramp, while retail chases the narrative.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• ⭐ 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

• 😶 US Chaos Hits Bitcoin: Trump Moves Nukes, Marke …

• 💼 “Hang onto Altcoins, Sell the Stock”: A Billion …

• 🤡 Meme Of The Day

⭐ 5 Things You Shouldn’t Miss

🚀 ZetaChain dropped their first-ever NFT collection, Plugman with 5,000 exclusive editions. Owning a Plugman NFT gives you access to a multi-chain universe: connect with DeFi, GameFi, SocialFi, and Web3 dApps across the entire ZetaChain ecosystem. And yes, there’s a limited free mint available too, first come, first served!

🧠 Just a reminder, ChatGPT-5 is expected to launch in early August -> sparking fresh hype around AI coin narratives. $S.X ( ▲ 5.89% ) (Sonic): About to hold its first major governance vote on scaling the organization. $SOL.X ( ▲ 0.51% ) : Solana’s new Web3 smartphone, Seeker, starts shipping August 4. And more…

👮 Satoshi Nakamoto statue - Bitcoin’s anonymous founder - was stolen and thrown into a lake. 0.1 BTC reward (~$11,400) was initially offered for its recover. But since police found it, the reward won’t be distributed. Notably, Tether’s CEO shared the petition to show his support for decentralized, anonymous art in crypto culture.

📈 Strategy reported a Q2 FY2025 profit of $10.02B, with revenue reaching $14.03B. EPS came in at $32.60. By the end of July 2025, Strategy held 628,791 BTC. The company also announced plans to raise an additional $4.2B by issuing $STRC ( ▼ 0.72% ) perpetual preferred shares, to buy even more $BTC.X ( ▲ 0.46% ) . One of the largest holders globally now.

🐋 $ETH.X ( ▲ 0.88% ) dropped to multi-week lows near $3,300. But: Whale #1: tracked by Arkham Intelligence bought $300M worth of ETH in just 3 days. Whale #2: SharpLink spent $108.57M to buy 30,755 ETH. If Ethereum keeps its lead as Wall Street’s smart contract platform, it could reach $60,000 in the long run.

😶 US Chaos Hits Bitcoin: Trump Moves Nukes, Markets Bleed

The crypto market kicked off August with turbulence. Last week, Bitcoin dropped nearly 4%, breaking below the 117,000–120,000 USD range that had held since July 11.

Some altcoins even plunged over 15%.

🧊 First came Powell, then came NFP

Bitcoin’s slide happened in two waves:

First, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Wednesday (post-FOMC meeting)
→ Markets had hoped for a rate cut in September after a July pause.
→ But Powell crushed those hopes, saying rate cuts are not guaranteed.

He acknowledged signs of possible economic slowdown, but argued that it was still too early to cut rates, especially since tariff-driven inflation hasn’t shown up clearly yet.

He also claimed the labor market remains strong and balanced, shifting the Fed's focus from jobs to inflation risks.

However, not everyone at the Fed agrees.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller countered, pointing out that private-sector job growth is slowing, and once revised, the data shows deeper weakness
→ he supports cutting rates sooner.

But for now, Powell’s view still reflects the majority at the Fed, forcing markets to reset expectations around September cuts.

→ Bitcoin dropped to $115,800 following the statement.

Then came the NFP bombshell on August 1st. Wall Street expected around 110,000 jobs for July. Reality? Just 73,000.

But it gets worse:

• June NFP was revised from 147,000 → 14,000

• May NFP was slashed to 19,000
  → Combined, that’s a 258,000-job revision down, exposing serious cracks in the labor market.

These were the lowest monthly job totals in 5 years. Unemployment data:

• U-3 rate (official): 4.2% (as expected)

• U-6 rate (broader measure): 7.9% — highest since COVID crash

Long-term unemployment (27+ weeks) also rose → adding to signs of deepening economic stress. Result? U.S. stock markets dropped sharply. Bitcoin? It slipped again, reaching $112,000 that same day.

📉 Macroeconomic slowdown hits crypto ETFs and ETH-buying firms hard

After July 30, the ETF flows that had fueled the surge in Bitcoin and Ethereum began to reverse. On August 1, spot ETFs saw their largest single-day outflows since February.

Early in the week, the tone was bullish:

• Sharplink Gaming announced a $296M ETH purchase and planned to stake it.

• Bitmine reaffirmed their belief that ETH’s intrinsic value is $60,000.

Standard Chartered forecasted that institutional ETH holders could soon own 10% of total supply, with strategic ETH accumulation surpassing $10B - a 50x increase in just four months.

But optimism didn’t last. By the weekend:

• ETH dropped 7.2%

• Sharplink Gaming stock fell 30.80%

• Bitmine shares dropped 23.16%

Crypto OG Arthur Hayes chimed in with a bearish take:

• $BTC.X ( ▲ 0.46% ) → $100K

• $ETH.X ( ▲ 0.88% ) → $3K

He blamed: The upcoming U.S. tariff law changes. And sluggish global credit growth, which is dragging down nominal GDP

A key ETH metric flashed red: The ETH accumulation ratio dropped to 27.57%, a 2-month low → Meaning fewer investors are actively stacking ETH right now.

🚨 Trump deploys 2 nuclear submarines after harsh words from Russia

Late night, Trump posted on Truth Social:

He ordered two nuclear submarines to be deployed to strategic regions & warned that provocative statements could lead to unforeseen consequences.

The trigger? A fiery message from Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president and current deputy chair of the Security Council:

These exchanges are pushing global geopolitical tensions to the edge. But while Russia and the U.S. trade threats, the ones truly shaken right now are investors → watching markets closely as risk escalates.

📊 U.S. Jobless Claims: A Signal Crypto Traders Are Watching Closely

Every Thursday, the U.S. releases data on Initial Jobless Claims - the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time.

It’s one of the clearest real-time signals about the strength (or weakness) of the job market → and in 2024–2025, labor data is a key macro trigger for Bitcoin.

Here’s what’s happening now:

• For the week ending July 26, there were 218,000 new claims.

• Economists surveyed by MarketWatch predict a slight increase to 221,000 for the following week.

If jobless claims continue rising - or worse, beat forecasts - it could be bullish for Bitcoin in the long run. Why? Because Fed easing + USD uncertainty = crypto interest goes up.

🗣️ Fed Watch: Raphael Bostic’s speech could shake the markets this Thursday

While traders are digesting U.S. economic data, they're also watching Fed policymakers — and this week, all eyes are on Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic.

He’s scheduled to speak on Thursday, and markets will be looking for any clues about:

• Rate cuts

• Inflation outlook

• Fed's overall tone going forward

Bostic is known for his hawkish stance. He’s repeatedly signaled a very cautious approach to cutting rates, saying:

As a voting Fed official, Bostic’s comments on inflation, interest rates, or the balance sheet can shift market expectations fast.

📉 Bitcoin must break above $117,000 or risk another bull trap

Right now, Bitcoin is holding just above the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement level at $113,600, drawn from the June low of $98,000 to the all-time high of $123,000.

On the chart:

• Below $113,600, there’s key support at $111,900 and $110,000

• If bulls lose those levels, next stop is $107,000 — which would invalidate the bullish setup

• But the real battle is at $117,000.

This level has the highest candle density on the chart (according to volume profile). It’s acting as a strong resistance zone right now. A clean breakout above $117K could signal the next BTC rally.

If Bitcoin fails to reclaim it, we’re likely stuck in another failed move within a sideways range → a classic bull trap risk.

💼 “Hang onto Altcoins, Sell the Stock”: A Billion-Dollar Strategy Behind Companies

Public U.S. firms are buying up altcoins, turning their stocks into crypto proxies. But insiders say this could be a stealth exit by giants like GSR, Consensys, and Tron — using bullish narratives to drive up share prices while quietly offloading tokens.

Retail buys the hype. Institutions take the exit.

1️⃣ The Rise of Altcoin Treasuries. How Public Companies Are Going Full Crypto

A new financial playbook is emerging: altcoin treasuries. Companies are now issuing stock to buy altcoins, holding them as long-term reserves on their balance sheets → similar to how they used to hold cash or bonds.

This isn’t new. Strategy pioneered it in 2020 by buying Bitcoin aggressively.

The result? $MSTR ( ▼ 0.74% ) stock soared over 3,000% in 5 years, proving that betting on crypto reserves could work.

But it started with Bitcoin only, seen as "digital gold". By 2024, the focus shifted, now firms are targeting Ethereum and other altcoins as long-term bets.

The tipping point came mid-2025. Companies, even small ones, began announcing capital raises to accumulate altcoins.

A standout case: BitMine Immersion ($BMNR ( ▼ 5.09% ) ) went from a small BTC miner to planning a $250M ETH purchase. They brought in Thomas Lee (Fundstrat co-founder) as chairman with a bold goal: become a top Ethereum holder.

Result? $BMNR ( ▼ 5.09% ) stock exploded 3,000% in one week, jumping from $4 to $135.

Now it’s not just ETH. Firms are stacking Solana, Tron, and trending altcoins — fueling a wave of so-called “crypto stocks”: public shares tightly correlated with the altcoin market.

The movement got another push when the U.S. passed its first stablecoin law in early 2025 → helping legitimize crypto as a balance sheet asset.

🤡 Meme Of The Day

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The Crypto Fire

This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Traders should conduct thorough research, understand the risks, and carefully evaluate their decisions before investing in cryptocurrency.