Suehyeon Lee

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved general listing standards for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and the launches of major altcoin ETFs such as Solana (SOL) and XRP are expected to accelerate. On the 18th (local time), Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said on X, "With the SEC's approval of the general listing standards, coins that have futures listed on Coinbase can be launched as spot ETFs under the '33 Act (1933 Securities Act) without individual review procedures. Currently, the assets that meet this condition number about 12–15." he said. These include XRP and Solana, Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), Chainlink (LINK), Cardano (ADA), Hedera (HBAR) and other assets currently awaiting SEC ETF approval.

A statue cementing Donald Trump as the 'Bitcoin (BTC) President' was erected in front of the United States Capitol. On the 18th (local time), WatcherGuru reported on X, "A golden statue of President Trump holding Bitcoin was installed in front of the United States Capitol." The company that worked on the statue explained, "This was installed to honor Trump, who is called the 'Bitcoin President'."

The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed, the Fed) cut the benchmark interest rate by 25bp after nine months, and analysis suggests this will be beneficial to Bitcoin. On the 18th (local time), CryptoQuant author XWIN Research Japan said, "The U.S. Fed lowered the interest rate range to 4.00~4.25%. On-chain data shows this decision is creating a favorable environment for Bitcoin (BTC)." According to the author, ahead of the U.S. interest rate decision, Bitcoin holdings on centralized exchanges fell to the lowest level in years, easing selling pressure. This means investors are holding coins directly and holding them for the long term. Also, ERC-20-based stablecoin issuance reached a record high of 144 billion dollars, greatly increasing liquidity that can be immediately converted into buying funds. Bitcoin futures open interest also exceeded 41 billion dollars, suggesting traders are using leverage to bet on a rise. The author said, "Ultimately, the rate cut reduces the holding burden of interest-free assets like Bitcoin. Together with reduced exchange holdings, expanded stablecoin supply, and active positioning in the futures market, a foundation is being built to support Bitcoin demand," and analyzed, "On-chain indicators show that a dovish policy shift could act as a benefit to Bitcoin in terms of both liquidity and investor sentiment."

Interview with Dust Kinsa, Sonic SVM Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) 'Sonic', Solana's first Layer 2 rollup Rewarding attention... Rebranding centered on 'ACM' "Korea, a powerhouse in games and content... will be a key market" "Sonic SVM aims to create a new foundation for the Web3 economy through the 'Attention Capital Market (ACM)' model, which turns users' attention and participation themselves into capital" Dust Kinsa, Sonic SVM Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), said this in an interview with BloomingBit on the 16th. Sonic SVM is the Solana (SOL) ecosystem's first Layer 2 rollup, developed to support large-scale on-chain games. Through its core technology 'HyperGrid', it processes millions of transactions per second and has onboarded millions of gamers. HyperGrid is a blockchain engine that enables multiple transactions to be executed simultaneously. Recently, it has been preparing a major rebranding centered on the ACM model. ACM is a structure that quantifies people's attention and participation into a tradable asset. In simple terms, it converts users' attention-indicative behavior data—such as social media 'likes', video views, and on-chain transaction records—into an 'Attention Score' and provides rewards based on that score. Kinsa CMO said, "We launched the TikTok-based game 'Sonic X' at the end of last year and immediately gathered more than 2 million people," adding, "From this we confirmed that the real value is not mere traffic numbers but participation and attention. We designed ACM to standardize users' participation and attention into scores, record them on-chain, and link them to a reward structure." Because ACM quantifies user attention, it is sometimes compared to Kaito. On this, Kinsa CMO emphasized, "Unlike Kaito, which operates primarily on X data, Sonic SVM's ACM integrates data across on- and off-chain. It calculates scores by reflecting off-chain activities on platforms such as X, TikTok, and YouTube, as well as on-chain data like wallet connections and transactions." He added, "Sonic SVM creates a virtuous cycle that not only measures attention but connects attention as rewards to each party." For example, developers receive greater rewards if their apps receive high attention scores, and users can receive incentives based on their level of participation from the rewards the developers received. After the ACM launch, Sonic SVM plans to distribute a developer toolkit 'SDK' so that all dApps can easily incorporate ACM functionality. It also plans to expand customized SVM environments based on HyperGrid for AI, media, finance, and other sectors. It also identified Korea as a core market. Given its strengths in games, digital culture, and fandom, it is considered an ideal country to apply ACM. Kinsa CMO stated, "Sonic SVM is creating a 'Web3 attention economy' that scores attention and provides rewards," and added, "As Korea has led the global games and content markets, it will play an important role in the introduction of the Web3 attention economy."

According to Kaito's Token Mindshare (an AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito's metric that quantifies the influence of specific tokens within the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market) top gainer, as of the 13th the top five crypto-related keywords people are most interested in are Solana (SOL), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Polymarket, and Polygon (POL). Solana has attracted attention by overtaking Binance Coin (BNB) on CoinMarketCap to rank fifth in virtual asset market capitalization amid its recent steady uptrend. Solana's market cap is about 132.1 billion dollars, and Binance Coin's is about 128.9 billion dollars. Meanwhile, Solana is trading on CoinMarketCap at 243.64 dollars, up 2.88% from the previous day. Ethereum drew attention as large amounts of funds flowed into U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs the previous day. A net inflow of 402,270,000 dollars (about 560.7 billion won) flowed into U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs the previous day. This is the fourth consecutive trading day of net inflows. The product that attracted the most funds that day was Fidelity FETH, which saw an inflow of 168,230,000 dollars. BlackRock ETHA also recorded a net inflow of 162,270,000 dollars. Meanwhile, Ethereum is currently trading on CoinMarketCap at 4754.97 dollars, up 5.17% from the previous day. Tether drew investor attention today after Paolo Ardoino, the CEO, announced the launch of the U.S.-based stablecoin USAT. Bo Hines, a former White House staffer, is expected to serve as USAT's CEO, and through this they plan to officially enter the U.S. market. Polymarket is reportedly considering re-entering the U.S., drawing attention. According to Business Insider, Polymarket is seeking a return to the U.S. alongside new fundraising. The funding size is reported to be more than three times the $1 billion valuation assessed in June. Meanwhile, Business Insider also reported that Polymarket's corporate value is expected to reach up to $10 billion. Polygon is believed to have seen an increase in mentions after Coinbase announced it will convert all MATIC, including staking assets, into the Polygon ecosystem token POL from October 14 to 17. Polygon is currently trading on CoinMarketCap at 0.2774 dollars, up 2.35% from the previous day. Investors also appear to be interested in OWNAI, Binance Coin, Pudgy Penguins (PENGU), Groyper (GROYPER), and Pepe (PEPE).

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, emphasized to investors to approach Bitcoin (BTC) from a long-term perspective. On the 13th (local time), according to Cointelegraph, Hayes said in an interview with Kyle Chase the previous day, "If you think you can buy Bitcoin today and trade it for a Lamborghini tomorrow, you would already have been margin-called. That way of thinking itself is wrong." He added, "People who bought six months ago may be regretful, but those who have held for 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years are watching the current trend," urging a shift to a long-term perspective. Meanwhile, this week gold hit a record high of 3,674 dollars and the S&P 500 hit 6,587 dollars, but Bitcoin remains below the 124,100 dollars recorded on August 14. Regarding this, Hayes said, "Asking why Bitcoin hasn't surpassed its previous all-time high misses the point entirely," emphasizing that "Given the currency debasement situation, Bitcoin is still the best store of value."

Sixteen firms that have adopted Solana (SOL) as a treasury asset were found to hold Solana equivalent to 1.79% of the total supply. On the 13th (local time), according to SSR data cited by Wu Blockchain, 16 Solana treasury firms were found to hold a total of 10,289,000 SOL (about $2.5 billion). This corresponds to about 1.79% of Solana's total supply. Among them, Sharps Technology, DeFi Development, and Upexy each hold more than 2,000,000 SOL, accounting for the largest holdings.

Galaxy Digital has bought a large amount of Solana (SOL) over the past three days. On the 13th (local time), LookonChain reported that Galaxy Digital purchased about 5 million SOL (about $1.16 billion) over the past three days. Of these, 4,719,937 SOL (about $1.11 billion) were transferred to Coinbase Prime Custody. The wallet is understood to still hold 219,830 SOL (about $53.5 million).

TRON (TRX)'s recent fee cut has reportedly dealt a heavy blow to block producers' profitability. According to a CryptoQuant report cited by Cointelegraph on the 13th (local time), TRON block producers' daily network fee revenue was $5 million, marking the lowest in a year. This is a 64% plunge in just 10 days from the $13.9 million revenue the day before the fee cut.

U.S. spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded net inflows of $402.27 million (about KRW 560.7 billion) the previous day. According to TraderT on the 13th (local time), U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw net inflows of $402.27 million (about KRW 560.7 billion) the previous day. This marks four consecutive trading days of net inflows. The largest inflow that day went to Fidelity FETH, which received $168.23 million. BlackRock ETHA followed with net inflows of $162.27 million. In addition, Bitwise ETHW saw $16.62 million, Grayscale ETHE $23.84 million, and Grayscale Mini ETH $17.57 million in net inflows. VanEck ETHV recorded inflows of $6.79 million, and 21Shares TETH saw $6.95 million in inflows. The remaining products had no net inflows or outflows.

U.S. Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw net inflows of more than $600 million the previous day. On the 13th (local time), according to TraderT, U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded net inflows of $642,220,000 the previous day. This marks five consecutive days of net inflows. Leading the inflows that day was Fidelity FBTC, which attracted $315,180,000. BlackRock IBIT also recorded net inflows of $264,580,000, following behind. In addition, Bitwise BITB saw net inflows of $29,160,000, Ark Invest ARKB $19,370,000, VanEck HODL $8,240,000, and Grayscale Mini BTC $5,690,000. The remaining products saw no net inflows or outflows.

With Ethereum (ETH) surpassing 4,700 dollars, a whale appears to have taken a 20x leveraged short position on Ethereum. On the 13th (local time), according to LookonChain, a whale wallet address (0x0911) deposited USDC worth 5.1 million dollars on Hyperliquid to take a 20x leveraged short position. The position size totals 10,796 ETH (about 51 million dollars), and the liquidation price was 5,086.9 dollars. Meanwhile, Ethereum is currently trading on CoinMarketCap at 4,720.82 dollars, up 4.66% from the previous day.

U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded the largest net inflows in two months this week. On the 13th (local time), according to SoSoValue data cited by Cointelegraph, according to SoSoValue data, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.7 billion (about 2 trillion won) in net inflows this week. This is the largest inflow in about two months. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is trading at $116,154.36 on CoinMarketCap, up 0.17% from the previous day.

PumpDotFun (PUMP) rose 56% in August alone. On the 13th (local time), Messari analyst Matthew Nei said on X, "PumpDotFun rose 56% over the month of August. This is an effect of executing revenue buybacks averaging 98.7% over the same period," he assessed. He added, "Since July 15, the PumpDotFun team has secured a total of 386,883 SOL in revenue, and about US$88.5 million of that was used to buy PumpDotFun tokens," and "this offset 6.3% of the circulating supply and led to upward price pressure," he analyzed.

<Lee Su-hyun's Coin Radar> is a column that reviews the flow of the cryptocurrency market over the week and provides an in-depth explanation of its background. Beyond a simple listing of prices, it analyzes global economic issues and investor movements in a multidimensional way, offering insights that can gauge the market's direction. Major Coins 1. Bitcoin (BTC) This week Bitcoin has rebounded by about more than 4% compared with the previous week, showing an overall stable trend. As of the 12th, it was trading around $115,000 on CoinMarketCap. There were two main reasons for the rebound. First, the U.S. August producer price index (PPI), released on the 10th, came out at -0.1% month-on-month, and core PPI was 2.8% year-on-year, raising expectations of easing inflationary pressure. This result boosted expectations for rate cuts and investor sentiment reacted immediately. Right after the announcement, about $500 million worth of Bitcoin was traded in Binance's futures market within one minute. In addition, the U.S. August consumer price index (CPI) released on the 11th rose 2.9% year-on-year, in line with market forecasts, which added momentum to the rebound. Whale and institutional accumulation also influenced the price movement. According to Glassnode, whales holding 100–1,000 BTC bought about 65,000 BTC over the past week, and their total holdings reached an all-time high of 3.65 million BTC. In addition, MetaPlanet and Rectitude Holdings announced plans to raise large sums to purchase Bitcoin, and Sweden's H100 also added 21 BTC to its holdings. The market seems to be betting on a year-end rebound rather than immediate large volatility. Many view that September rate cuts have already been largely priced in at the current price. Grix.Live said, "Ahead of a September rate cut, implied volatility in the Bitcoin options market has rather fallen slightly and continues to show a stable trend. The market has already priced in the rate cut, and future price volatility is being priced lower," and added, "There will likely be more positive price movement toward the end of the year than at the end of this month." In a similar vein, Tom Lee, managing partner at Fundstrat, also forecasted, "If rates are cut, Bitcoin could surpass $200,000 by year-end." 2. Ethereum (ETH) Ethereum's rise became notable from the 9th, and on the 12th it rose more than 3% to recover the $4,500 level on CoinMarketCap. The rebound was backed by steady buying from large holders. Bitmain, also known as "Ethereum's strategy," added 200,000 ETH last week and on the 11th added another 46,255 ETH, bringing its total holdings to over 2.12 million ETH. On the same day, Sharplink Gaming also signaled preparations for additional purchases by moving $379 million worth of Tether (USDT) and USDC via OTC. Bitcoin dominance fell from 62% to 55%, increasing expectations for rotation into altcoins, which also had an effect. In fact, the altseason index recorded 66 points on the 11th, marking an intrayear high on CoinMarketCap. It has risen 12 points this month and remains at 65 points as of this writing. The total market cap of altcoins excluding Bitcoin and stablecoins reached $1.63 trillion (about KRW 2,270 trillion). Cointelegraph reported that this is "close to this year's high" and that "the previous high was $1.64 trillion recorded in November last year." Ethereum traded in a $4,200–$4,500 range over the past two weeks. At that time, crypto media such as Cointelegraph and NewsBTC viewed whether the $4,450 support level would be broken as important for further gains. Having broken that support, a short-term upside scenario up to $4,650–$4,800 is now expected. The downside support is seen at $4,280, so maintaining that support will be important in case of a decline. 3. XRP (XRP) XRP rose more than 8% week-on-week and regained the $3 support level. As of the 12th, it was trading at $3.04 on CoinMarketCap. The catalyst for the rebound was Ripple's expansion of its European custody service. Ripple will provide digital asset custody technology to Spain's major bank BBVA to enable secure custody of not only cryptocurrencies but tokenized assets as well. This was interpreted as a signal of institutional trust because European financial institutions adopted Ripple's technology, positively affecting investor sentiment. Another factor behind the rally was growing expectations for a spot XRP ETF approval. CoinDesk reported, "Expectations for the approval of spot XRP ETFs in the U.S. are rising," and said, "The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could approve multiple XRP ETFs simultaneously toward the end of October." Although the SEC has delayed several review decisions recently, Bloomberg still views approval around the end of October as likely. The key going forward is whether XRP can stably hold the $3 level and whether it can break through $3.38. CasiTrades' crypto analyst said, "On-chain indicators currently show XRP is bullish," and added, "If XRP decisively breaks the $3 resistance, upward momentum will strengthen." Christopher Ink, founder of Texas West Capital, forecasted, "If it settles at $3.38 on a daily close basis, a bullish reversal will be confirmed and it could rise up to $4.42." Issue Coins 1. Solana (SOL) Solana rose about 14% over the past week on CoinMarketCap, breaking through $230. As of the 12th, it was trading at $233.15. The main background was increased institutional demand. Forward Industry raised $1.65 billion to announce strategic investments in Solana, and Bit Mining also added about 17,000 SOL to its holdings. In addition, ecosystem expansion expectations grew as ERC-20-based ApeCoin (APE) is pushing to expand to Solana. Bitwise CIO Matt Hogan analyzed, "Several asset managers have applied for a Solana spot ETF, corporate treasuries are accumulating, and conditions are in place for a year-end rally." Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, also said, "The crypto market has entered 'Solana season'," and forecasted further rallies. Technically, $232–$235 is considered a major resistance zone. If broken, it could climb to $250. 2. Worldcoin (WLD) Worldcoin was among the top gainers over the week, surging more than 85% on CoinMarketCap. It briefly surpassed $2, but as of the 12th it pulled back slightly to trade at $1.6. The positive factor appears to be Nasdaq-listed Eightco Holdings' announcement on the 8th that it had raised $250 million to be used for strategic investments. In addition, the listing on Upbit on the 9th sparked the rally. Typically, when a coin is listed on a major exchange, its price surges. Indeed, on Worldcoin's Upbit listing day it opened at 1842 won and closed at 2691 won, jumping 46% in one day. Although the listing effect concentrated short-term liquidity, some say that long-term sustainability requires network stability, a favorable regulatory environment, and expanded real-world use. In particular, the spread of digital identity authentication services is expected to have a major impact on Worldcoin's future value.

Pump.fun (PUMP) has purchased more than $85 million worth of Pump.fun tokens since it began token buybacks in July. On the 11th (local time), fee.pump.fun data showed that Pump.fun has bought approximately $85 million worth of PUMP tokens since it started token buybacks on July 15. In the process, the circulating supply decreased by 6.158%, effectively producing a burn effect. Meanwhile, Pump.fun is trading on CoinMarketCap at $0.005863, up 14.1% from the previous day.

Implied volatility in the Bitcoin (BTC) options market appears to be showing a stable trend. On the 11th (local time), Greeksdotlive said, "Despite the upcoming decision on the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) benchmark interest rate next week, implied volatility in the Bitcoin options market has slightly decreased and is maintaining a stable trend." It went on to analyze, "The market has already priced in a 25bp rate cut, and future volatility expectations are also being set low. Overall volatility expectations remain suppressed, so despite short-term uncertainty, investor sentiment is relatively stable." Greeksdotlive also added, "Market participants are more positive about the Q4 outlook than about the latter part of this month," noting, "This will act favorably on Bitcoin investment sentiment toward the end of the year."

According to Kaito's Token Mindshare, an AI-based Web3 search platform (Token Mindshare, an indicator that quantifies the influence of a specific token within the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market) top gainer, as of the 11th the top five crypto-related keywords that people are most interested in are Linea (LINEA), Pumpdotfun (PUMP), Solana (SOL), Falcon Finance (Falcon), and Xion (XION). Linea was recently listed on major domestic and international exchanges such as Bithumb, Upbit, Bybit, and OKX, attracting attention. Binance also listed Linea perpetual futures. Meanwhile, Linea is currently trading at 0.02439 dollars on CoinMarketCap, down 23.83% from the previous day. Pumpdotfun drew attention recently for a PUMP token buyback worth approximately 12.19 million dollars. As trader interest in Pumpdotfun increased, it is currently trading at 0.005891 dollars on CoinMarketCap, up 15.33% from the previous day. Solana recently made headlines as its DeFi (decentralized finance) locked value (TVL) hit an all-time high. The previous day, Solana's DeFi TVL reached 12.2 billion dollars, marking a record high. Solana is currently trading at 223.53 dollars on CoinMarketCap, up 2.46% from the previous day. Falcon Finance announced it will conduct a presale of its own token FF through the access platform Buidlpad, putting it on investors' radar. The sale size is a total of 4 million dollars, and it can be purchased for USD1 on ERC-20 or BEP-20. Xion recently released a roadmap, which is presumed to have increased online mentions. Xion is currently trading at 0.9492 dollars on CoinMarketCap, up 1.43% from the previous day. In addition, investors are also showing interest in MetaWin (METAWIN), Binance Coin (BNB), Avalanche (AVAX), Bybit (Bybit), and Novastro Chain (XNL).

The Avalanche (AVAX) Foundation is reportedly in talks with investors to establish two Avalanche reserve companies in the United States. On the 11th (local time), the Financial Times (FT) cited sources saying, "The Avalanche Foundation is in talks with investors to set up two Avalanche reserve companies in the United States and plans to raise a total of US$1 billion (about 1.3 trillion won)." The funds are planned to be used to purchase millions of Avalanche (AVAX) tokens at discounted prices. According to the outlet, the foundation is considering establishing a new digital asset-holding company and converting an existing Nasdaq-listed company into a digital asset-holding company.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), led by U.S. President Donald Trump's family, unveiled a new project in collaboration with the Solana (SOL) ecosystem. According to Cointelegraph on the 11th (local time), World Liberty Financial introduced 'Project Wings' (Project Wings) in cooperation with Bonk.fun (Bonk.fun) and Raydium (RAY). Project Wings is a program that provides rewards centered on World Liberty Financial's stablecoin USD1 trading pairs, aiming to stimulate trading and expand activity across the Solana ecosystem. In particular, Bonk.fun plans to offer promotional rewards for USD1 trading pairs to encourage trader participation.

Institutional investors' Ethereum (ETH) buying pressure continues. On the 11th (local time), LookonChain said on X, "Institutional investors' Ethereum purchases continue. A total of 78,229 ETH (about $342 million) was withdrawn from Kraken into four newly created wallets in the past 10 hours." Meanwhile, SharpLink also received about $379 million worth of Tether (USDT) and USDC and then transferred it to Galaxy Digital's OTC wallet. Therefore, SharpLink is expected to make a large additional purchase of Ethereum soon.

SharpLink Gaming appears to be preparing to make an additional large purchase of Ethereum (ETH). On the 11th (local time), Amber CN reported on X, "In the past 45 minutes, SharpLink received Tether (USDT) and USDC totaling $379,000,000 and then transferred them to Galaxy Digital's OTC wallet. SharpLink appears likely to soon buy additional Ethereum." It added, "SharpLink has typically disclosed the results of Ethereum purchases every Monday, but there was no related announcement last week. Therefore, it is highly likely that no purchase was made last week."