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Goerli Testnet Successful, Tornado Cash Developer Arrested, Netflix on Decentraland and More!
It has been announced last Thursday that the last stop before the Merge on September 19, the Goerli testnet, was implemented successfully, creating a rally across interrelated parts of the ecosystem such as Solana, Polygon and Lido, as depicted in the figure below.
Figure 1: Price and TVL Developments of Major Crypto Sectors
Source: 21Shares, DeFi Llama, Coingecko
Key takeaways
• Europe gets a 6th AML authority to oversee crypto
• Bitcoin’s NUPL increases, enters Hope/Fear phase
• The impact of Tornado Cash ban is rippling through the DeFi sector
• Netflix builds a metaverse to promote a movie
• Successful ETH Goerli testnet merge, next landmark is the mainnet merge on Sep 15/16
Macro, Regulations; Spot, and Derivatives Markets
The US dollar dipped by from Wednesday to Friday against the euro and other major currencies after the Consumer Price Index appeared to have risen only 8.5% in July, less than expected thanks to energy prices declining by 4.6% and gasoline 7.7%. On the other hand, China is cutting interest rates amid economic slowdown and unemployment on the rise.
In its earnings report, Coinbase reported a net loss of $1.1B in Q2, including impairment charges. The company also missed the $874M revenue estimate, reporting $803M. On the flip side, Coinbase expressed eagerness to continue with their targetted M&As to make the best out of the bear market.
Less than a week after the US Treasury banned Tornado Cash, the Dutch authorities arrested one of its developers who was later revealed to be Alexey Pertsev as a result of investigations that started in June. This news spread a wave of agony among the crypto community, unable to comprehend why authorities would go after developers who merely write code rather than the actual users who have committed illicit activities on the crypto mixer.
While Tornado Cash spurs controversy around the globe, NFTs have been doing rounds in Europe, as a regulator expressed concerns at a conference in South Korea that NFT collections are to be treated like crypto under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law. As technical negotiations for the MiCA framework are still taking place until the end of September, parties are negotiating the mechanisms determining when NFTs are both fungible and not unique and thus would fall under MiCA obligations.
In other news, the EU is set to create a sixth anti-money laundering authority, AMLD6, to have direct oversight over the crypto industry. In a bid to reduce jurisdictional arbitrage between different member states, the European Commission first announced its plans in July 2021 and then the European Council published an update towards the end of June 2022, revealing January 2023 to be the date AMLD6 is to be established. The European Parliament aims to discuss it further with its members after the continent’s August vacation.
In the US, the CFTC and SEC have proposed a new law obliging hedge funds with over $500M of net assets to disclose their crypto exposure along with information related to concentrations and borrowing in a confidential filing. This new law aims to enhance the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s ability to monitor systemic risk and bolster wider regulatory oversight.
In a bid to combat illegal gold mining, which accounts for half of Brazil’s gold mining industry, a new bill in the South American country is proposing to tokenize mined gold via blockchain technology.
On-chain Indicators
Figure 2: Net Unrealized Profit/Loss Ratio of Bitcoin (YTD)
Source: Glassnode
The Net Unrealized Profit/Loss ratio, like the name suggests, aims to describe the state of profit and loss of a certain network. Figure 2 shows that Bitcoin has entered the Hope/Fear phase after a month of capitulation. In fact, the ratio has increased from 0.08 to 0.12 over the past week, indicating higher profitability.
Read the full report here
Media Coverage
Our very own Director of Research Eliezer Ndinga were featured in a report MarketWatch covering the Merge and how it will resonate with price developments of ETH. You can read more about it here.
News
UN Development Arm Advises Developing World to Ban Banks from Holding Crypto
What happened?
The UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD, released a warning to emerging economies that the rising use of crypto for domestic payments challenges states’ authority in monetary matters, and may cause leakage of development funds.
Why does it matter?
Whether it’s in Afghanistan, Lebanon, or Venezuela, we’ve seen unarmed communities benefiting from blockchain technology for remittance. In some cases, getting paid in crypto has become a necessity when countries are sanctioned or have their banking systems failed.
Our thesis at 21Shares has always been that imposing a holistic ban on crypto would essentially cause more harm than prevent evil. On numerous occasions, data banks and think tanks have reported that illicit activity in the crypto industry is in decline. Chainalysis reports that illicit activities represent 0.15% of all crypto transactions in 2021.
Research Newsletter
Each week the 21Shares Research team will publish our data-driven insights into the crypto asset world through this newsletter. Please direct any comments, questions, and words of feedback to research@21shares.com
Disclaimer
The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.
- Michael Saylor’s bold Bitcoin bet and Strategy’s risk analysis
- Bitcoin price technical analysis: Where are the liquidation levels?
- What are real-world assets and why do we need tokenization?
Michael Saylor’s bold Bitcoin bet and Strategy’s risk analysis
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has amassed a staggering $43 billion in Bitcoin, positioning itself at the forefront of the corporate “reserve race.” Under the leadership of Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, the company now boasts an $84 billion market cap. But with such an aggressive strategy, how sustainable is its approach—and what risks lie ahead? We break it down in today’s analysis.
Bitcoin price technical analysis: Where are the liquidation levels?
A drop below $72,000 could flush longs, while a breakout above $90,000 may squeeze shorts. One key positive indicator is that Bitcoin continues to print higher lows since March 10, which preserves a bullish market structure in our view. Dive into our technical analysis.
What are real-world assets and why do we need tokenization?
Imagine owning a slice of a skyscraper or a piece of fine art with just a few clicks. Tokenization, the act of converting ownership rights to real-world assets (RWAs) into tradable tokens, has surpassed $10 billion in on-chain value, unlocking global 24/7 access to once-exclusive markets with liquidity, efficiency, and yield. Find out how it works.
Research Newsletter
Each week the 21Shares Research team will publish our data-driven insights into the crypto asset world through this newsletter. Please direct any comments, questions, and words of feedback to research@21shares.com
Disclaimer
The information provided does not constitute a prospectus or other offering material and does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy securities in any jurisdiction. Some of the information published herein may contain forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. The information contained herein may not be considered as economic, legal, tax or other advice and users are cautioned to base investment decisions or other decisions solely on the content hereof.
Since President Trump appointed Mark Uyeda as acting SEC chair two months ago, many investigations into crypto businesses have been dropped, as the SEC moves away from regulation by enforcement and works to create a framework for digital assets. As regulations become clearer and news flow turns more positive, crypto prices—which dropped sharply this week—should begin to better reflect the new regulatory landscape in the US.
We believe this regulatory shift could ultimately help trigger the next leg of the current bull run, as investors better understand the significance of regulatory clarity and seek to acquire bitcoin and altcoins at what we believe are currently very favorable levels.
Market Highlights
SEC Dismisses Crypto Enforcement Actions
The SEC dropped its enforcement actions against crypto-related companies Kraken, Consensys, and Cumberland DRW.
This indicates a shift in SEC’s regulatory approach, favoring clearer guidelines over enforcement actions. Such a pivot could foster a more predictable environment, encouraging innovation within the sector.
Banks to Engage in Crypto Activities
The FDIC has rescinded previous guidelines which prevented financial institutions from engaging with crypto activities without prior sign-off.
By removing bureaucratic hurdles, banks may more readily offer crypto-related services, potentially leading to broader adoption and integration of digital assets.
Bitcoin ETFs Inflow Streak Surpassed $1 Billion
US spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded a 10-day inflow streak exceeding $1 billion marking the longest such streak in 2025.
This underscores growing institutional and retail investor confidence in Bitcoin as an asset class that helps increase market stability and possibly paving the way for the approval of other crypto-based financial products.
Market Metrics
All NCITM constituents had negative performance last week, with XRP (-10.8%) and UNI (-10.7%) seeing the steepest declines. ETH also experienced a sharp drop (-9.1%), contributing to NCITM’s underperformance relative to BTC (-2.9%). The NCITM -4.2% decline reflects a broader risk-off sentiment in the crypto market, as investors reassess their positions amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties.
NCITM (-4.2%) extended its underperformance last week, deepening year-to-date losses. Traditional indices like the S&P 500 (-1.5%) and Nasdaq 100 (-2.4%) saw smaller declines. The gap between crypto and other risk assets continues to widen, while gold has emerged as the top performer in 2025, gaining nearly 20% amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties. This trend highlights a growing risk-off sentiment, with investors shifting toward defensive assets and away from high-volatility investments.
Michael Saylor’s bold Bitcoin bet and Strategy’s risk analysis
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