ETH market share reaches new high this year; Coinbase DEX opens to select US users

Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Golden Finance, covering key news, mining information, project updates, technological developments, and other industry dynamics. This article is part of the weekly newsletter, providing an overview of the week's major blockchain industry events.

Headlines

▌ETH Market Share Reaches 12.8%, a New High So Far

Market information shows that ETH's market share has reached 12.8%, a new high so far this year.

▌Coinbase: DEX trading is now open to some US users

Coinbase announced that DEX trading is now open to some US users (except New York State). To ensure transaction reliability, Coinbase will add support for new DEX assets in batches and will gradually expand the service scope in the coming weeks to eventually support all Base ecosystem assets.

▌Trump: The situation in Ukraine may be resolved soon

Trump: The situation in Ukraine may be resolved soon. Arthur Hayes Spent 10.5 Million USDC to Buy Back ETH According to Lookonchain monitoring, Arthur Hayes sold 2,373 ETH at $3,507 a week ago, worth $8.32 million. Four hours ago, he spent 10.5 million USDC to buy ETH. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes earlier posted on X, "I had to buy it all back. Do you forgive me?" Tom Lee (Chairman of Bitmine, the largest ETH treasury). "I swear I'll never take profits again." Wang Feng (@wangfeng_0128), founder of Linekong Interactive, stated that market sentiment for Bitcoin and Ethereum cannot be viewed in isolation. Bitcoin is currently trading sideways around $120,000, with minimal volatility and no major selling. This leaves ample room for Ethereum to continue its upward trajectory after breaking through $4,000, with predictions of reaching at least $5,000. Similarly, Ethereum cannot be separated from the broader crypto market. The cryptocurrency autumn is expected to begin, with DeFi, Reliable Authenticator (RWA), and celebrity memes entering their takeoff phase. South Korea May Launch Regulated Crypto Investment Products by Late 2025 South Korea is making a significant shift from its past cryptocurrency policies, introducing spot ETFs and stablecoins into the core of its financial system. As the government develops detailed plans, the country could see regulated crypto investment products listed as early as late 2025. This week, South Korea's top financial regulator, the Financial Services Commission (FSC), submitted a new proposal outlining its plans to introduce spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. The roadmap, submitted to the Presidential Policy Planning Committee, includes a framework for legal, regulated crypto ETFs, a significant departure from the country's previous cautious approach. According to the roadmap, the FSC will prepare the necessary legal and technical foundations for these funds. This means establishing infrastructure, including custody, pricing, operations, and fund management, as well as establishing clear investor protection standards. CleanSpark faces $185 million in tariffs due to imported Bitcoin mining machines. US crypto mining company CleanSpark has disclosed that some of its Bitcoin mining machines imported between April and June 2024 were identified by US Customs as originating in China, potentially facing punitive tariffs of up to $185 million. CleanSpark denies the allegations, stating that its procurement contracts and supplier documents indicate the mining machines are not made in China, and that it will resolutely defend against the allegations. Reports indicate that mining company IREN previously faced a similar dispute involving $100 million. New EU Rules Give Banks a Regulatory Advantage for Tokenized Assets, Poised to Accelerate Tokenization in Europe Legislation passed by the European Union last year creates significant regulatory advantages for banks tokenizing traditional assets, allowing for a more relaxed approach than in most other global jurisdictions. This week, the European Banking Authority (EBA) released final technical standards that broadly follow the guidance of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and primarily apply to cryptocurrencies. However, the EU legislation overturns this conservative approach to tokenized traditional assets, explicitly treating them the same as traditional assets, without any additional conditions. EU banks can handle tokenized securities on any type of blockchain without additional capital requirements, whereas banks elsewhere that follow the Basel Committee's guidance are subject to risk weights of up to 1250% when holding similar assets on permissionless networks. This regulatory divergence also extends to the stablecoin sector, giving Europe a unique advantage in institutional tokenization and the digitization of traditional financial instruments. 401(k) Lawyer: The average person's goal is a secure retirement plan, but cryptocurrencies are fraught with dangers. On August 8, US President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday allowing alternative assets like private equity, cryptocurrencies, and real estate to be included in workplace retirement plans. However, some investor advocates warn that while these new investments may offer attractive returns, they also pose significant risks for long-term retirement savers. Jerry Schlichter, founding partner of Schlichter Bogard, a law firm specializing in high-fee 401(k) litigation, said: "The average person's goal is a secure retirement plan, and new areas like cryptocurrencies and private equity are fraught with dangers for investors." Investment experts generally recommend allocating a core, long-term portfolio to diversified assets that can provide stable returns over the long term (at least for decades). Jerry Schlichter noted that given the long-term upward trend in the stock market, broad-based equity index funds are suitable 401(k) investments. The problem with cryptocurrencies is obvious. While some cryptocurrencies have delivered impressive returns, the asset class is too short-lived to prove its security. "Cryptocurrencies have no long-term performance history, and their short- to medium-term performance is extremely volatile," Schlichter said. "If you don't understand the investment, you shouldn't rely on it for your retirement." David Sacks: Over 90 Million American Workers Will Have Access to Alternative Assets, Including Cryptocurrencies, Following Trump's Executive Order Ant Digit: Jovay, Ant's self-developed public blockchain, is expected to launch its mainnet at the end of September and will not issue a token. Ant Group Vice President and President of Ant Digit's blockchain business, Bian Zhuoqun, revealed today that Ant Digit's self-developed public blockchain, Jovay, is scheduled to launch at the end of September 2025 and will be capable of processing real transactions. On April 30th of this year, Ant Digit unveiled its Layer 2 blockchain, Jovay, and explicitly stated that it is a compliant, institutional-grade blockchain and will not issue a token. Bian Zhuoqun stated that Ant Digit is committed to becoming a gateway connecting Web2 and Web3, providing more trusted assets for Web3 and attracting more compliant capital to Web2. She cited data predicting that the global tokenization market is expected to reach $16 trillion by 2030. Ant Digit is currently expanding its RWA asset portfolio in new energy, computing power, finance, and other fields.

▌Hong Kong's first RWA industry white paper released: "Everything can be RWA is a false proposition"

The "RWA Industry Development Research Report·Industry Edition 2025" was released in Hong Kong today, systematically proposing standards and a framework for RWA asset screening. Previously, with the rapid development of the tokenization trend of real-world assets (RWA), the market has been full of arguments that "everything can be RWA." The report points out that not all assets are suitable for RWA tokenization, and "everything can be RWA" is a false proposition. Assets that are successfully implemented on a large scale must meet three major thresholds: value stability, clear legal rights confirmation, and off-chain data verifiability. (36Kr) MetaMask adds support for Sei Crypto wallet MetaMask has added support for the layer 1 blockchain Sei, bringing the total number of supported blockchains to more than 10. The latest integration enables MetaMask users to access Sei-based applications, tokens, NFTs, and other assets directly from their wallets. Users can now exchange, bridge, and purchase Sei tokens using built-in fiat channels such as credit cards and Apple Pay. Vitalik: Ethereum will eventually enable instant cross-L2 native asset transfers via L1. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin wrote, "It's amazing to see so many major Layer 2 projects reach the Stage 1 "limited training rounds" stage. The next goal is to enable fast withdrawals through a zero-knowledge proof system. He believes this is even more important than achieving Stage 2 "no training rounds." Fast withdrawal times are crucial and will reduce the cost of capital for liquidity providers. If native withdrawal times can be reduced to under an hour in the short term and to 12 seconds in the medium term, it will further solidify Ethereum Layer 1's position as the default platform for issuing assets and the economic center of the Ethereum ecosystem. To achieve this, we need to abandon the optimistic proof system, which inherently requires days to withdraw. Historically, zero-knowledge proof technology has been immature and costly, making optimistic proofs a wise and secure choice. However, this situation is rapidly changing. The 2-of-3 ZK + OP + TEE proof system strategy strikes a balance between security, speed, and maturity. In the long run, we will ultimately achieve near-instantaneous transfers of native assets from L1 to L2. Cao Cao Travel Explores RWA Tokenization and Stablecoin Payments Reporters learned that Cao Cao Travel signed a strategic memorandum of understanding for virtual asset cooperation today with Victory Securities, a licensed financial institution in Hong Kong. The two parties will collaborate in depth on three key areas: tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoin payment applications, and compliant digital currency issuance. This collaboration marks the first systematic exploration in the domestic travel industry of integrating RWAs with cutting-edge digital financial instruments such as stablecoins. Cao Cao Travel's Executive Director and CEO, Gong Xin, stated that blockchain technology and innovative Web 3.0 models will accelerate the asset tokenization process in the Robotaxi industry. Ethereum co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke deposited 9,840.36 ETH into Kraken, approximately $41.33 million. According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi, three months later, Ethereum co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke deposited another 9,840.36 ETH into Kraken, approximately $41.33 million. In May of this year, he deposited 105,737 ETH into Kraken and distributed it to eight new addresses. In the past hour, one of these addresses began transferring the ETH back to an exchange, possibly intending to sell at a high price. In May of this year, 105,737 ETH were worth $262 million. Three months later, this token had grown to $442 million. DeFiance Capital founder: ETH's rise differs from BTC's isolated performance, and top DeFi projects are poised for significant progress. DeFiance Capital founder and CIO @Arthur_0x posted on social media that Ethereum's rise is like a rising tide, driving many projects in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, while Bitcoin's rise is more isolated. He anticipates a series of significant developments for top DeFi projects in the near future. According to the latest data from Coingecko, as the price of ETH briefly broke through $4,200, pushing its market value back above $500 billion (currently reaching $502,571,832,019), the total market value of cryptocurrencies also exceeded $4 trillion again, currently reaching $4,006,443,176,701, up 1.7% in the past 24 hours.

▌The ETF Store President: ETFs and treasury companies have purchased $19 billion worth of ETH so far this year

Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, posted on the X platform that ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and treasury companies have purchased $19 billion worth of Ethereum so far this year. ETFs purchased $7 billion, and companies purchased $12 billion. “Bitcoin’s dominance has begun to decline significantly as banks, fintech companies and businesses begin to accept stablecoins, many of which will be settled on open-source blockchains like Ethereum.”

▌World Liberty Financial, backed by the Trump family, plans to set up a $1.5 billion crypto asset company

World Liberty Financial is planning to set up a public company to hold its WLFI tokens. People familiar with the matter revealed that the project aims to raise approximately $1.5 billion and is currently in talks with institutional investors in the technology and cryptocurrency industries. The company will join the camp of digital asset treasury companies.

Important Economic Developments

▌Federal Reserve Governor Bowman: Supports Three Rate Cuts This Year; It's Appropriate to Ignore Temporarily High Inflation

Regarding inflation, Federal Reserve Governor Bowman stated that core personal consumption expenditure inflation appears to be moving much closer to the 2% target than the data suggests. He believes it's appropriate to ignore temporarily high inflation. Upward risks to inflation have decreased, and there's greater confidence that tariffs will not lead to persistent inflation. Bowman believes the sharp slowdown in job growth may be due to a significant weakening in labor demand. Bowman said that deregulation, lower taxes, and a business-friendly environment could offset the impact of tariffs on economic activity and prices. Furthermore, he supports three rate cuts this year. (ZhiTong Finance) The Federal Reserve's monetary policy may become more dovish, with gold hitting a record high in early Asian trading. Spot gold prices consolidated in Asian trading. US President Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Milan to fill a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on an interim basis. ANZ analysts said in a report: "Milan is the architect of Trump's tariff policy, and the market interprets this appointment as a sign of a more dovish monetary policy." Expectations of more Fed rate cuts could boost gold's appeal. Furthermore, news that the US has imposed import tariffs on one-kilogram gold bars, the most commonly traded size on the Comex, the world's largest gold futures market, suggests this move will make it difficult to meet US gold demand. Spot gold prices are currently trading essentially flat. New York gold futures hit a record high of $3,534.10 per ounce in early Asian trading and are currently trading around $3,500 per ounce. (Jinshi) TD Securities: Markets are skeptical of U.S. tariff threats and are focused on economic data TD Securities strategists said in a report that the market is no longer paying attention to tariff announcements due to concerns about some of the U.S. tariff threats. The U.S. has announced 50% tariffs on India, 39% tariffs on Switzerland, and 35% tariffs on some imports from Canada, as well as tariffs on other trading partners. The market is focusing on the impact of tariffs on economic data and the Federal Reserve's expected interest rate cuts. Markets have been generally orderly, in part because they are skeptical of some of Trump's more extreme threats. Fed's Kashkari: The economy is slowing, and the Fed needs to respond to that slowdown. It may still be appropriate to begin adjusting the policy rate in the short term. It will take some time to know the answer to the inflation question, but in the meantime, the data on the economic slowdown are clear. Two rate cuts this year still seem appropriate, but if inflation rises due to tariffs, the Fed may pause or even raise interest rates. Adjusting interest rate policy may be a better option than waiting. The unemployment data is very important, but the Fed knows that it is subject to revisions. The dollar fell to a nine-day low against a basket of currencies after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari suggested the Fed could soon resume cutting rates. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly also hinted on Monday that a rate cut could be imminent. Weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data released last Friday boosted expectations of a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. U.S. money markets currently see a 91% chance of a September rate cut, according to LSEG.