One year after the Trump family’s first foray into crypto, we analyze the trends shaping their digital-asset empire. From humble beginnings to booming volumes, and even bigger busts, we explore what drives returns and losses in the first family’s much-touted crypto venture.

A sharp, geopolitics-triggered shock on Friday cascaded into one of crypto’s largest deleveraging events, with more than $500bn wiped from market cap as forced liquidations surged, order book depth vanished, and venue-specific pricing frictions amplified stress, especially around Binance and USDe, leaving open interest suppressed despite a partial weekend rebound.

BTC crossed $125k for the first time over the weekend as markets rose across the board last week. Following BTC’s latest record run, we’re exploring BTC’s price drivers and price discovery mechanisms. In particular, we look at the role of spot exchange-traded funds on prices, questioning a common assumption that they are the main driver of BTC’s price.

Today we’re looking at how risk is measured in crypto, by comparing both traditional and native markets. With the advent of multiple spot crypto exchange-traded funds there’s also a plethora of new derivative offerings. How traders price risk in these markets doesn’t always align. We’ll explore this today by looking at options on Deribit and Cboe.

As we approach the end of the third quarter, we’re casting an eye over the broader market and which individual assets are driving returns. Despite BTC languishing over the summer, as ETH and XRP outperformed it, BTC has still dominated the narrative. However, we found that it’s not just the original cryptocurrency that’s driving returns in the market right now.

This week we’re diving into all things crypto derivatives, with a particular focus on options markets. Crypto derivatives markets have been dominated by native players over the past decade, but now competition is growing. We explore this growing competition and how options on traditional venues might offer broader growth opportunities for altcoins.

Digital asset treasury companies are powering crypto’s rally this year as firms like Strategy, BitMine, and Metaplanet steadily accumulate Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins. Their persistent buying is supporting spot prices, attracting new investors, and fueling the rapid growth of listed crypto-treasury firms, especially across APAC.

Today, 20% of Trump’s WLFI (World Liberty Financial) token supply was unlocked, coinciding with the debut of spot markets on several major exchanges, including Binance. Yet much of the market reaction had already been set in motion days earlier with derivative markets experienced significant activity in the days leading up to the spot debut.

ETH broke its 2021 all-time high over the weekend, reaching as high as $4,996 on some cryptocurrency exchanges and outperforming BTC in both price and volume. It later eased to around $4.6k on Monday, but volumes remain strong, indicating the rally still has momentum.

Better on-ramps and embedded swaps are bringing more people on-chain. But DeFi lending and leverage still sit with a small group of large, sophisticated users. In this special edition we map Aave’s user base by deposit size, activity, collateral choices, and risk posture to understand who powers the protocol and what that implies for liquidity, stability, and growth.

Bitcoin pushed back toward its all-time high near $123k early Monday after rebounding from early August lows around $112k. The move tracked a broader risk rally as markets priced a September Fed cut. Stephen Miran’s nomination to the Fed Board last week reinforced that view after weak July jobs data. A softer dollar added a tailwind, lifting USD‑quoted flows and amplifying BTC’s gains.

The bulk of public earnings took place last week, with plenty of crypto-related news to digest. In today’s Data Debrief, we’re focusing on Coinbase’s quarterly results and market positioning, looking at volume share versus competitors, COIN share performance, and the top asset performers on the exchange, along with their quarterly trends and the company’s strategy in becoming the “Everything Exchange.”

It’s a big week ahead for macro news, with multiple central bank meetings, including the Fed, and a plethora of economic data to sift through. Moreover, crypto markets just absorbed a enormous $9bn BTC sale without much fuss. We explore all these topics and more in this week’s debrief.

This week we’re examining the shift in the crypto market towards altcoins. Last week’s rally was one of the largest moves over the past three years, hinting at a potential set up for an altcoin season. In contrast, Bitcoin’s stranglehold on the market has slipped somewhat, as investors favour smaller assets at present.

Bitcoin topped $123k for the first time on Monday as last week’s rally extended into a second week. Today we’re going to explore the latest all-time highs in the context of portfolio risk, focusing on how BTC has consistently set highs during low volatility periods in recent months.