ETHEthereum Price

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has progressed from drafting principles to preparing a formal rule proposal for launching spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs on the local market. A public consultation on the draft rules is open until September 20. The proposal outlines that ETFs, to be listed exclusively on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), would initially track only Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH). Each ETF must maintain at least an 80% average net exposure to its underlying asset. Initially, domestic digital asset custodians will be the primary service providers. However, the SEC may permit qualified foreign custodians if deemed necessary. These foreign entities must be under regulatory supervision and meet investor protection standards deemed adequate by the Thai SEC. Additionally, the SEC has revised its framework for foreign custodians serving mutual and private funds investing in digital assets. The move is part of Thailand's strategy to become a global digital asset hub for institutional investors.

In just three days after Bitcoin's price recovery, new Bitcoin whales have realized over $1.2 billion in profit, marking the largest profit-taking event for this cohort on record according to CryptoQuant. The peak occurred on August 20 with roughly $614 million, setting a daily record. Analysts note this selling pressure began after Bitcoin rose above the realized price of short-term whales, which was around $68,900. With Bitcoin trading near $77,700 on August 23, these whales were sitting on an average profit of about 12.8%. The market recovery allowed investors who were previously at breakeven or at a loss to lock in gains. CryptoQuant described the situation as a key test for Bitcoin demand; sustained prices above whale cost-basis with normalized profit-taking could signal strong new demand, while continued selling pressure could turn the rally into a mere break-even exit. Simultaneously, large Ethereum holders have also returned to an unrealized profit zone following its rally, as noted by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost. Current profit levels, however, remain relatively low and are not seen as creating significant selling pressure. The Unrealized Profit/Loss Ratio for different whale cohorts stands at 0.075 (for 1k-10k ETH holders), 0.16 (10k-100k ETH), and 0.38 (over 100k ETH). This marks a significant improvement from June, when these whales were in substantial unrealized loss, with Ethereum having risen over 65% since then. The increased profitability is viewed as a positive sentiment signal for the Ethereum market.

Arthur Hayes, a closely followed figure in the cryptocurrency market, has issued a bullish signal, stating that a new bull market has begun. He predicts Bitcoin is poised for a parabolic surge, potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars soon, and advises owning it now. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, Hayes revealed his fund, Maelstrom, is taking maximum risk on two specific altcoins: Ethena ($ENA) and Ether.Fi ($ETHFI). He highlighted that the revival of basis trading (profiting from spot-futures price differences) is a positive market signal, particularly beneficial for Ethereum and $ENA, which he believes still has significant growth potential. Hayes also discussed his new project, Flop Network (FLOP), emphasizing there is no presale and the token cannot be bought. Participation in its airdrop will require beneficial actions on the testnet, positioning it as a project for the new market cycle. (Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.)

A report from vaults.fyi on August 24 indicates that managed DeFi vaults hold $11.29 billion, with over two-thirds controlled by just five curator firms. Despite differing total figures from DefiLlama due to methodology, both agree on high market concentration. The vaults.fyi study, covering 856 vaults, 131 curators, and 18 protocols as of August 20, shows 69.3% of the market is managed by the top five curators. Managed assets now represent 12.51% of total DeFi TVL, up from 5.24% a year ago. Morpho leads the sector, managing nearly half (46.2%) of all curated capital across Ethereum and Solana, thanks to its Morpho Blue and MetaMorpho systems that separate lending from risk management. Its dominance attracts traditional finance players like Bitwise Asset Management, which predicts on-chain vault assets ("ETF 2.0") will double by 2026. Rankings have shifted significantly in the past year. New entrants Concrete and Sentora now rank in the top five, while Usual fell from 4th to 34th place, partly due to stress events weeding out weaker managers. A separate DefiLlama report from July, using Sentora data, confirms the trend, with the top three curators controlling 75.9% of its measured $7.18 billion TVL. Major traditional firms are entering the space: Apollo with Securitize, Midas with Fasanara, and JPMorgan Chase launching tokenized money market fund vaults. Trading firm Wintermute also launched its Armitage curation platform. This growth occurs despite a sharp increase in DeFi exploits, with TRM Labs reporting 207 incidents in H1 2026, more than double the 83 in the same period of 2025.

Bitcoin held around $79,000, down nearly 1%, as traders took profits after a 23% weekly surge. Other major cryptocurrencies declined, with XRP falling over 4% but still leading weekly gains at nearly 45%. Zcash dropped nearly 6%, keeping a 55% weekly increase. Ethereum and Solana fell over 1% and 3%, respectively, but retained strong weekly advances of 29% and nearly 16%. CryptoQuant's Bull Score jumped from 30 to 80, its highest since October 2025, with 8 of 10 indicators now signaling a bull trend. Visible spot demand is growing at the fastest monthly pace since late December, with spot and futures demand rising simultaneously for the first time since early October 2025. In contrast, equities moved higher. The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 1%, supported by Samsung and SK Hynix, while Nvidia snapped a 7-day losing streak ahead of earnings. Market focus shifts to Q2 GDP data, July PCE inflation figures, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's keynote at Jackson Hole. Markets price about a 60% chance the Fed holds rates steady in September.