

Over 90,000 leveraged crypto positions were liquidated totaling $369.67 million on Sept. 2, CoinGlass data shows, as oil and Treasury yield surges fueled Fed rate hike expectations. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled last week the central bank is uncomfortable with the current pace of inflation, remarks traders read as pointing to a rate hike this month. Brent crude climbed more than 5 percent to about $95 a barrel after fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, while the 10-year Treasury yield rose to roughly 4.8 percent, its highest level since January 2025. XRP, Ethereum, and Solana came under the heaviest selling pressure. Ethereum dropped under $2,400, while Bitcoin briefly fell below $77,000 before recovering toward $78,000. Watcher.Guru reported roughly $100 million was liquidated within 60 minutes during the sharpest leg of the decline. The S&P 500 fell 0.71 percent and the Nasdaq dropped about 1 percent as the risk-off move extended across asset classes. The cascade shows how macro repricing now dominates crypto price action. Higher yields raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as Bitcoin, while a stronger inflation backdrop reduces expectations for easier monetary policy. The same forces that pressured the Nasdaq and other growth assets Tuesday are now flowing directly into crypto derivatives markets, where leveraged longs are the first to be flushed out when liquidity tightens. Spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted roughly $217 million on Aug. 31, reversing the prior session's outflow. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $205.9 million of the total, following a nine-session buying streak that brought about $3 billion into Bitcoin funds during August. That institutional demand helped BTC gain roughly 24 percent last month, briefly pushing it above $81,000 before momentum cooled near $78,500. The divergence between ETF inflows and spot price weakness highlights a structural tension. While long-dated institutional buyers continue accumulating through funds, the derivatives market is repricing rapidly as macro conditions deteriorate. Higher energy costs feed directly into inflation expectations, and if the Fed responds with a hike, the opportunity cost of holding crypto rises further, potentially extending the deleveraging cycle. Traders now watch whether the Fed follows through on a rate increase at its September meeting. If Brent stays near $95 and Treasury yields remain elevated, ETF demand may not be enough to absorb further macro shocks, leaving leveraged positions across XRP, Ethereum, and Solana vulnerable to additional forced selling. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

A tokenized-asset protocol is pressing Washington to greenlight a product class that has so far lived offshore. Ondo Finance on Sept. 2 formally asked the SEC and CFTC to allow perpetual futures tied to individual US stocks to trade onshore, contending that the existing securities framework already covers these instruments. The company argues that perpetual futures on individual equities fall within the current scope of US securities law, according to its public statement to both agencies. The request arrives as US authorities have signaled a broader intent to pull derivatives trading back from offshore venues that have captured significant volume in the crypto derivatives market. The proposal targets perpetual futures — contracts with no expiry date that track the price of an underlying asset — a product class that has grown primarily on offshore crypto exchanges. Ondo's push would create a regulated onshore venue for these instruments, potentially bridging traditional equities with tokenized infrastructure. If the SEC and CFTC accommodate the proposal, it could open a new regulated market for stock perpetuals and expand Ondo's product footprint beyond its current tokenized-asset offerings. The outcome will hinge on whether regulators determine that existing securities law — rather than new legislation — can govern these hybrid products that sit at the intersection of equities and crypto derivatives. Ondo's advocacy reflects the growth of the real-world asset tokenization sector, where protocols have expanded from tokenizing bonds and funds into more complex financial instruments. The company's move into derivatives marks a significant step for a sector that has largely focused on tokenizing traditional assets rather than creating new derivative products. The regulatory question at the heart of the proposal is jurisdictional. Perpetual futures on individual stocks touch both the SEC's authority over securities and the CFTC's oversight of derivatives, raising questions about which agency would take the lead on approving and supervising such products. The two agencies have historically divided oversight of crypto products, with the SEC asserting authority over tokens deemed securities and the CFTC overseeing derivatives markets. For Ondo, the stakes are structural. The company has positioned itself as a bridge between traditional finance and on-chain infrastructure, and a favorable regulatory outcome would validate its expansion thesis while attracting institutional capital seeking compliant derivatives exposure to US equities. A rejection or prolonged review, by contrast, would leave the product class to continue trading offshore, outside the reach of US securities law. The SEC and CFTC have not yet publicly responded to Ondo's request as of press time. Industry observers will be watching whether the agencies treat the proposal as a test case for how tokenized derivatives products can be accommodated within the existing US regulatory framework. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Wyoming is handing Chainlink a second job on its state-issued stablecoin, moving the Frontier Stable Token beyond cross-chain transfers and into the verification of the assets that back it. The Wyoming Stable Token Commission said it has adopted Chainlink Proof of Reserve to publish near-real-time, onchain confirmation that FRNT's reserves match its token supply, a step that follows the token's August migration from LayerZero to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol. "We are using Chainlink Proof of Reserve as our exclusive onchain asset verification infrastructure to confirm that FRNT is fully backed by high-quality reserve assets," Anthony Apollo, executive director of the Wyoming Stable Token Commission, said in a statement. Under the setup, The Network Firm audits FRNT's reserves and token supply under AICPA standards, while Chainlink Proof of Reserve publishes the verified data onchain in near real time. Wyoming said the arrangement narrows the information gap between reporting periods and complements transparency standards under the GENIUS Act by pairing independent examinations with automated onchain checks. The commission is also adopting Chainlink Proof of Reserve Secure Mint, which would block new token creation unless verified reserves meet or exceed FRNT's total supply, a control aimed at reducing the risk of infinite-mint attacks. FRNT, which launched in January as the first stable token issued by a US state, is backed by US dollars and short-term Treasuries, with reserve income flowing into Wyoming's School Foundation Program. Its market capitalization sits below $1 million, and the token remains live across eight blockchains: Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, Hedera, Optimism, Polygon and Solana. ## A precedent beyond the token's size The expansion deepens Chainlink's footprint in public-sector digital assets after Wyoming became the first US government entity to swap blockchain infrastructure on security grounds. The commission said its August decision followed a security review that flagged concerns about LayerZero's operational security and disclosure practices, and it named Chainlink CCIP the sole system meeting its requirements. Chainlink's security model routes each transfer through multiple independent operators, with at least 16 node operators validating transactions under a SOC 2 Type 2-certified protocol. The state's move is part of a wider shift toward Chainlink's interoperability tools. The commission said more than $7.2 billion in onchain value has migrated from LayerZero to CCIP, a figure Crypto Briefing put closer to $15 billion across announced infrastructure changes. Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov framed Wyoming's selection as evidence that governments need infrastructure built for scale, noting the underlying oracle network has facilitated more than $33 trillion in transaction value. For LINK, the token that powers Chainlink's network, the state contract extends its utility from cross-chain messaging into reserve attestation — a use case other state and institutional issuers may copy as they weigh transparent backing. Wyoming's choice also pressures LayerZero, which lost a government reference client on stated security grounds even though FRNT's volume is negligible. The commission has not published the full security review or a deprecation schedule for legacy LayerZero contracts, and future notices are expected to clarify how those routes will be retired. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.