Speaker 1: Saturday, August fifteenth. Here's the truth. The crypto market feels
Speaker 1: a bit like a ghost town right now. The big
Speaker 1: institutions that usually drive the action are stepping back, and
Speaker 1: regulators seem to be stuck in neutral. But if you
Speaker 1: look closely at the quiet corners like privacy tech, there
Speaker 1: is actually some life. Chain link is moving for a reason,
Speaker 1: and it is not just luck. By the end of
Speaker 1: this you will understand why the backbone of crypto is
Speaker 1: holding up better than the rest, and what to watch
Speaker 1: for when the next big move finally hits. But first,
Speaker 1: a quick word from our sponsor. Okay, so here's what's happening.
Speaker 1: The big story today is an institutional retreat. The Dartmouth
Speaker 1: University Endowment just pulled two million dollars out of crypto.
Speaker 1: Looking at the numbers, Bitcoin is holding near sixty three
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, while Ethereum is sitting around eighteen hundred. Solana
Speaker 1: has dipped to seventy five. The total market cap is
Speaker 1: steady at two and a quarter trillion dollars, and Bitcoin
Speaker 1: still makes up about fifty six percent of that. For
Speaker 1: decentralized finance, the total value locked is stuck at seventy
Speaker 1: five billion. We are seeing stable coin supply grow by
Speaker 1: less than half a percent, which means there is not
Speaker 1: much new cash coming in to push prices higher. The
Speaker 1: Fear and Greed index is at thirty four. People are
Speaker 1: still pretty anxious out there. Privacy infrastructure is the strongest
Speaker 1: narrative today, up only a little over seven days. Chain
Speaker 1: Link is the top coin in that sector, up about
Speaker 1: twelve percent over seven days. It is a mixed selective picture.
Speaker 1: Oil led the major markets this week, jumping about six percent.
Speaker 1: This is a warning sign for crypto because oil is
Speaker 1: a huge driver of inflation. If energy costs stay high,
Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve might keep interest rates elevated for longer,
Speaker 1: which usually makes risky assets like crypto less attractive. The
Speaker 1: takeaway is that macro forces are still in the driver's sea.
Speaker 1: This is the tip of the iceberg. The full macro
Speaker 1: regime read is in the monthly playbook fourteen days free
Speaker 1: at tokenmetrics dot com. The SEC just put a speed
Speaker 1: bump in front of Wall Street's plans to bring stocks
Speaker 1: onto the blockchain by delaying their vote on tokenization. They
Speaker 1: have essentially paused the innovation exemption. This means big players
Speaker 1: like Coinbase and Circle are stuck in a waiting game,
Speaker 1: and we likely won't see a safeway to trade tokenized
Speaker 1: equities anytime soon. On the regulatory front, a project backed
Speaker 1: by Donald Trump called World Liberty just got a conditional
Speaker 1: bank charter the OCC is allowing them to issue a
Speaker 1: stable coin called USD one under federal oversight. This is
Speaker 1: a big deal because it blurs the line between traditional
Speaker 1: banking and crypto. If they get final approval by September,
Speaker 1: we could see a lot more of these coins entering
Speaker 1: the market. Meanwhile, the odds of the claar Y Act
Speaker 1: passing the Senate have plummeted to just ten percent according
Speaker 1: to Galaxy. This means the clear rules builders have been
Speaker 1: asking for are probably not coming this year. We are
Speaker 1: also seeing a rise in security concerns. Thefts from cold
Speaker 1: card wallets have topped one hundred and twelve million dollars.
Speaker 1: A data leak in France has made it easier for
Speaker 1: criminals to target crypto holders physically. The lesson here is
Speaker 1: that even if you use a hardware wallet, you have
Speaker 1: to stay vigilant about your personal data. Finally, Ethereum advocate
Speaker 1: Ramen is warning that banks building their own private blockchains
Speaker 1: is a race to the bottom. He argues that if
Speaker 1: these systems can't talk to each other, they lose the
Speaker 1: network effect that makes crypto valuable in the first place.
Speaker 1: All right, before we get into the risks, quick word
Speaker 1: from our sponsor. Okay, we're back. Let's talk about what
Speaker 1: to watch for. Our risk map shows four main areas
Speaker 1: to watch. First, the institutional retreat endowments are selling. Second,
Speaker 1: regulatory gridlock. The SEC and the Senate are moving slowly. Third,
Speaker 1: custody exploits. Hackers are finding new ways to reach even
Speaker 1: cold storage. And finally, the synthesis buyers are staying on
Speaker 1: the sidelines because they are waiting for a clear signal
Speaker 1: from regulators. That only changes if the SEC sets a
Speaker 1: firm date for a vote, or if we see stable
Speaker 1: coin supply grow for three days straight. Looking ahead to
Speaker 1: the next seven days, keep an eye on the White
Speaker 1: House meeting with crypto CEOs next week. Trump is expected
Speaker 1: to be there, and his presence could shift the tone
Speaker 1: for how the government views the industry. Also, watch the SEC.
Speaker 1: If they don't schedule a new vote by Friday, the
Speaker 1: market could stay in this limbo state for a while
Speaker 1: longer If you're not subscribed to the podcast yet, hit
Speaker 1: that subscribe button. It takes two seconds. This is educational content,
Speaker 1: not investment advice. Always do your own research. I'm Alex,
Speaker 1: See you next time.