Ethereum (ETH) surged to a fresh all-time high yesterday, smashing past the $4,800 mark and triggering one of the most dramatic liquidation events in recent memory. While the new price milestone made headlines, it was the fallout in leveraged trades—$364 million in total liquidations—that revealed the real impact on traders.

Who Got Hurt...

According to data from Coinglass, approximately $284 million was lost in short positions, while $80 million was wiped out from longs—the heaviest round of liquidations in six months.

Shorts Caught in a Squeeze: In Early, Wrong Prediction...

The largest losses came from traders betting against ETH, and were doing so before before the rally even began, convinced that a pullback was imminent. Others tried to call the top after a brief dip in price, expecting a correction. Both groups were caught flat-footed as Ethereum kept climbing, with their positions forcibly closed as the market moved against them.

Longs Buying the Top: Late To The Party...

Another wave of pain came from traders who joined the rally too late. Seeing ETH surge to new highs, they piled into long positions hoping the momentum would continue. Instead, the climb stalled, prices dipped, and their leveraged longs quickly unraveled—adding $80 million more to the liquidation tally.

The Day Ended Up Setting a Six-Month Record for Liquidations...

While the profits greatly outweighed the losses, it goes to show that anytime there's big movement there's a lot of money goin in either direction.  Many would assume a popular coin gaining a lot of value probably wouldn't trigger the highest liquidation day in 6 months - but it did. There's just so many people in the market now, each with their own thoughts and formulas to predict what's next - so no matter which way a coin goes, there's still going to be a lot of people who were wrong.   

Friday’s chart now shows the biggest single-day sell-off bar for ETH in six months. The spike in liquidations underscores how fast leverage can turn against traders when volatility accelerates.

The ETF Effect and What Comes Next...

Ethereum’s rally is playing out against a very different backdrop than past cycles: spot ETH ETFs are already live in the United States. These funds, launched in July 2024 by major players including Grayscale, Fidelity, iShares, and VanEck, collectively saw more than $1 billion in trading volume on their first day.

With ETFs in the mix, ETH’s price action is no longer just a story of crypto-native speculation. Traditional investors now have a regulated, accessible entry point, and their inflows and outflows are beginning to shape market dynamics.

Looking ahead, several factors will determine whether Ethereum continues its upward trajectory:

ETF Flows – Continued demand through ETFs could provide strong buying pressure, while outflows would apply the opposite effect.

Institutional Adoption – Funds, pensions, and asset managers are now able to allocate to ETH more easily, potentially creating sustained demand.

Network Upgrades – Improvements in Ethereum’s scalability and fee structure could strengthen the long-term bull case.

Macro Trends – As always, ETH remains tied to Bitcoin’s momentum and broader risk sentiment across global markets.

The Takeaway...

I have to be honest - I have no idea why anyone would have been betting big against ETH yesterday, I don't see any indicators telling me that would have been a good idea. So I can't answer why they did it, just how they lost it.

Ethereum’s breakout above $4,800 wasn’t just a milestone—it was a stress test for traders. Shorts betting against the rally lost $284 million, while late longs who bought the top lost another $80 million, bringing the day’s total to $364 million in liquidations.

At the same time, with spot ETFs already in play, Ethereum’s market is entering a new era where traditional financial flows matter just as much as crypto-native trading. If the past week proved anything, it’s that momentum in ETH can turn fast—and when it does, leverage cuts deep.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London Newsroom
GlobalCryptoPress | Breaking Crypto News

In a surge of activity that may mark a pivotal moment for Bitcoin and the broader crypto market, a diverse set of publicly traded companies and financial institutions are now aggressively building digital asset reserves—led by Bitcoin, but increasingly extending into newer, execution-focused blockchains.

Those jumping in are finding the attention a company gains when announcing a large crypto investment is almost instantly boosting interest in their stock, with many seeing gains of 20% or more immediately following the announcement. 

From biotech firms to Wall Street giants, the message is clear: digital assets are no longer fringe experiments, but strategic assets with growing roles in treasury management, investment diversification, and future-facing innovation.

Medical Meets Bitcoin: Prenetics Buys $20 Million in BTC..

In a headline that once would’ve sounded like satire, a life sciences company has made one of the largest crypto purchases in its industry to date. Prenetics Global Limited, a genomics and diagnostics leader based in Hong Kong, acquired 187.42 Bitcoin—roughly $20 million—at an average price of $106,712 per BTC.

While unrelated to its core operations in DNA testing and personalized medicine, the company sees Bitcoin as a long-term complement to its mission. CEO Danny Yeung believes “genomics, personalized medicine, and digital assets will intersect,” envisioning a future where blockchain and healthcare co-evolve to redefine how we view longevity, privacy, and generational wealth.

Lion Group Bets Big on DeFi with $600M Credit Line

Meanwhile, Lion Group Holding, a Nasdaq-listed firm, has secured a massive $600 million credit facility to accumulate Solana (SOL), Sui (SUI), and a relatively new but rapidly emerging token: Hyperliquid (HYPE). Through this initiative, dubbed “HYPE Treasury,” the company aims to position these assets—especially HYPE—as foundational pillars for an on-chain derivatives and treasury strategy.

“HYPE, with decentralized sequencing, fits into our vision of scalable DeFi systems,” said CEO Wilson Wang. The firm is even considering dual listings on the Tokyo and Singapore stock exchanges, signaling ambitions to globalize what could be the first HYPE-based treasury structure in Asia.

This move further reflects the growing trend of companies not just investing in crypto, but aligning their business models with decentralized finance itself.

Semler Shifts Focus: Aiming for 105,000 BTC and a New Director of Bitcoin Strategy

Joining the institutional frenzy, Semler Scientific, a medical diagnostics firm, is prioritizing Bitcoin accumulation over its core operations. The company has revealed plans to purchase up to 105,000 BTC—roughly 0.5% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21 million coin supply.

To guide this strategic shift, Semler hired renowned Bitcoin researcher Joe Burnett as its Director of Bitcoin Strategy. Burnett’s background includes roles at Unchained and Blockware Solutions, indicating a deliberate pivot toward deep crypto expertise.

Semler’s bold play adds fuel to a new narrative: that public companies may soon see Bitcoin not just as a hedge—but as a primary reserve asset.

BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF Nears $70 Billion AUM...

And then there’s BlackRock—the world’s largest asset manager—whose Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has amassed nearly $70 billion in assets under management. This accounts for over 3.25% of the total BTC supply and more than half of the market share among all U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The sheer size and speed of IBIT’s growth underscore what analysts have hinted at for months: institutional adoption is accelerating, and it’s no longer speculative. According to Brickken analyst Emmanuel Cardozo, “institutional players are here for the long run.”

What This Means: Short-Term and Long-Term Outlook...

In the short term, these moves could spark increased price stability and renewed upside momentum for Bitcoin and select altcoins. Institutional buying reduces circulating supply and raises confidence in BTC as a safe-haven asset—especially in volatile macroeconomic conditions.

At the same time, the entry of companies outside traditional finance—such as medical and biotech firms—suggests Bitcoin is transcending its role as just "digital gold" to become a strategic reserve for a variety of industries.

In the long term, this convergence of crypto with sectors like genomics, diagnostics, and asset management may birth entirely new hybrid financial models. We could see decentralized protocols serving as backbone infrastructure for corporate treasury management, health data systems, or even personalized asset portfolios for individuals.

As companies like Semler, Prenetics, and Lion Group pivot their balance sheets and strategic direction toward blockchain, and with giants like BlackRock normalizing BTC on Wall Street, the message to competitors is simple: adapt or risk irrelevance in the age of decentralized capital.

In Conclusion...

The era of speculative crypto hype may be ending, but what’s taking its place is far more profound: a reshaping of corporate finance where digital assets are no longer optional. Whether Bitcoin becomes the new gold standard of the corporate world or just one of several strategic assets remains to be seen—but the race is undeniably on.

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Author: Ross Davis
Silicon Valley Newsroom
GCP | Breaking Crypto News

Late yesterday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially approved Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to begin trading today! Following in Bitcoin's footsteps, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency will now be accessible to investors through traditional markets.

Here's the list of the newly approved Ethereum ETFs and where you can find them:

• Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH) - New York Stock Exchange
• Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET) - CBOE Exchange
• VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV) - CBOE Exchange
• Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW) - New York Stock Exchange
• 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH) - CBOE Exchange
• Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) - CBOE Exchange
• iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) - Nasdaq
• Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF (QETH) - CBOE Exchange

In addition to these, the SEC has also given the green light for Grayscale to convert its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to a spot ETF, which is a big deal for those tracking crypto investments.

For those of you who are new to ETFs, or exchange-traded fund, is an investment fund that owns the underlying asset it represents—in this case, Ethereum. When you buy shares of an Ethereum ETF, you are essentially buying a portion of the Ethereum owned by the ETF, which is managed by a financial company. This way, you can invest in Ethereum without needing to buy, store, or manage the cryptocurrency yourself.

Major BULL RUN Coming?!

What caught my eye is when looking back to May when the SEC approved Ethereum ETFs (said they will allow them, but did not yet have a launch date) Ethereum made some gains but, but there were multiple positive news stories that month, mainly US traders receiving conformation ETH 2.0 will not be viewed as a Security, and Ethereum's gains in May were mostly credited to news that US exchanges wouldn't have to de-list it.

When Bitcoin ETF's received the same approval investors responded in such large numbers it was actually credited with brining back the bull market. So by the time Bitcoin ETF's launched, most investors reacting to the news did so days/weeks earlier. This also likely had investors assuming 

I don't make price predictions, but I will make a suggestion that you take a look - when the market doesn't react to the announcement, it often means it will react to the launch. 

Those offering the ETH ETF are mostly the same companies that already offer the Bitcoin ETF, and they've done quite well, bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars.  They will now promote the ETH ETF to those same investors - and selling a token via an ETF requires the company to actually buy and own the asset. 

So, just something to consider.  

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Ethereum just lost one if it's biggest bragging points, and its transition from a deflationary to an inflationary asset marks a potentially pivotal moment in its trajectory. While the platform continues to be a dominant player in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, these economic and market shifts warrant close observation by investors and stakeholders. 

What Happened?

Ethereum's shares the most common cause of currency inflation with governments around the world, specifically when they print too much money. There have been 68,000 new ETH issued, compared to its burning 38,000 ETH over the last 30 days - add this excess together with a bearish month, and the additional supply enters the ecosystem as inflation.

Ethereum has a system where a portion of the transaction fees (or "gas") is burned, reducing the overall supply of ETH, while another portion compensates validator nodes.

Typically this causes ETH to be deflationary - that is, when network activity is stronger, the amount of ETH burned can surpass the amount issued.

Some Perspective...

It's crucial to note that Ethereum's annual inflation rate remains relatively subdued at 0.3%, especially when compared to Bitcoin's 1.6% and certain fiat currencies, which hover around 3.7%.

Bitcoin has been categorized as inflationary due to its capped supply of 21 million coins and the halving of its block rewards approximately every four years, which restricts its issuance and, by extension, its inflationary potential. In contrast, fiat currencies, like the US dollar, can be issued without an upper limit, leading to inflation when the supply outpaces demand.

So, while 0.3% is an insignificant amount and there's no need for investors to modify their outlooks, yet, this is something worth keeping an eye on.  Unless hit with large downturn (which I haven't seen anyone predicting) Ethereum can re-take it's 'deflationary' title fairly easily. 

Plus, For the First Time in YEARS - Ethereum Users Didn't Pay the Most in Total Transaction Fees...

Another interesting thing stood out when reviewing Ethereum's previous month - a significant drop in total transaction fees. After 3+ years embarrassingly high, sometimes absurd fees - this is a good thing.

In the last 30 days, the Tron network generated $87.4 million in fees and $65.8 million in token incentives, resulting in net profits of $21.6 million. Ethereum, on the other hand, generated $82.2 million in fees but offered token incentives of $82.9 million, leading to losses of $20.6 million. "There's a lot of projects taking direct aim at Ethereum, with their main goal being to transfer some of ETH's market share to themselves' said one blockchain consultant on Reddit.

Other platforms including Lido Finance ($46.9 million), friend-tech ($30 million), Bitcoin ($27 million), Uniswap ($23 million), Aave ($8.8 million), and BNB Chain ($ 8 million), surpassed Ethereum in generating fees.

Story Published Sept 10

Update Added Sept 16: Jump to update

In a shocking turn of events, Vitalik Buterin's official Twitter account was compromised by hackers on Saturday, September 9, 2023. The breach led to a loss of nearly $700,000 in cryptocurrencies, highlighting the vulnerabilities even high-profile figures face in the digital realm.

The Deceptive Tweet

The hackers, with just a single tweet, managed to deceive a significant number of Buterin's followers. The tweet announced a purported free NFT giveaway from Consensys, a renowned blockchain technology company.

Many followers, seeing the tweet from the official account of Ethereum's creator, were lured into a trap. The link provided in the tweet redirected users to a malicious website designed to exploit their trust.

This type of scam, known as a 'drainer' tricks users into connecting their cryptocurrency wallets to a seemingly legitimate website. Once connected, the hacker can then transfer all assets from the victim's wallet to their own.

High-Value NFTs Stolen

In addition to the stolen cryptocurrencies, the hackers made away with two high-value 'Crypto Punks' NFTs. These digital collectibles have gained immense popularity and value in recent years.

The stolen NFTs were priced at a staggering 153.62 ETH (approximately USD 250,000) and 58.18 ETH (USD 95,000) respectively.

Update: 

We finally have a response from Vitalik, apparent a sim swap was the method used.

While the hacker is blame,, at least a little of the blame  must go to T-Mobile whos employees should be properly trained to spot a scam that is several years old.

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These concerns revolve about the level of centralization that Ethereum could reach now that the merge to Proof of Stake is complete.

Di Iorio's concern revolves around the possibility of major exchanges becoming an overwhelming number of the total validators on the network. 

At the root of the issue is the requirement to hold 32 ETH to launch a node -so exchanges holding thousands of ETH have an obvious advantage...

That's a little over $42,000 worth of Ethereum at the time of publishing - and it is reasonable to say this prices out the average person, who previously could have started mining for under $1000 if they were interested in contributing to the network. 

So\when the rule is "More ETH = more nodes" you immediately see the potential power major exchanges have by holding thousands of users Ethereum. Even many mid-size exchanges hold enough to launch hundreds of nodes.

However, users need to agree to use any ETH that they actually own, exchanges cannot decide how to allocate your holdings without permission.

So they're getting user permission by offering to share the profits - this factor is the reason many people see these nodes as decentralize.

Can these really be considered exchange-owned nodes if their users have the power to shut them down by collectively pulling out?

Still, ETH 2.0 is off to a more centralized start than many expected.  Last week nodes launched by just 2 addresses were validating 46% of total transactions.  One is a known pool, the other an 'unknown entity'... which nobody likes to hear. 

The move away from GPU mining is a double-edged sword when it comes to decentralization...

It may not be as simple as looking at who now has an easier entry to becoming a validator, but for a large number of people, Ethereum's update represents a door opening.

On that note, Di Iorio also acknowledged that the Proof of Stake model allows people from countries that have banned GPU mining to participate again (such as Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesi and more) many of them pointing to the large amount of electricity consumed by miners as their reasoning, an issue the new Ethereum now solves.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle Newsdesk  / Breaking Crypto News

Be glad you didn't bet against ETH. If you did, my condolences.

ETH's price surge began at a time a lot of people thought it would continue going down, now these leveraged positions are being liquidated at a rapid pace.

Total liquidations in the past 24 hours have reached close to $200 million...

Most occurred on Ethereum short positions, with more than than $110 million worth of liquidated assets. Notably, the largest in the overall market was a $2 million BTCUSD position that occurred on Bybit.

Other exchanges experiencing large liquidations include OKEx, Binance, ByBit, FTX, CoinEX, Huobi, and Bitmex, among others. OKEX reported up to 75% of short positions being liquidated for a total of $4.28 million, followed by Binance with $3.36 million in total liquidations.

The Ethereum community will likely prefer the upcoming update to a proof-of-stake system. Even as the Merge approaches, the price of the coin continues to fluctuate. Today's view is more optimistic, but the preceding days were not particularly inspiring.

From August 30 to September 5, the ETH price ranged between $1533 and $1577. It saw a slight increase above that threshold on September 6, however, that was the day when Bellatrix was upgraded. After the surge, the price fell to $1560 the following day, September 7, but ended at $1629.

It is not unexpected, given these price fluctuations, that liquidations are currently pushing the limits of the markets. A large portion of traders cannot maintain their positions, and exchanges are going to close them.

Things are abnormally unpredictable right now, play it smart...

While many would argue the smartest play is simply not using any leverage, the reality is that advice will be ignored by many people regardless.  So, at least meet in the middle, and perhaps use a bit less leverage than you normally would, and set stop losses so you always sell before you liquidate your positions. 

Even while many experts believe that the best move is to avoid using any kind of leverage at all, the fact of the matter is, many people are going to disregard that advice regardless.

At the very least, come to a compromise and consider using less leverage than you typically would. If you're not using stop losses so you always sell before you liquidate your positions, start using them now (you already should have been, in any market condition).

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Author: Adam Lee 
Asia News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

THE COMPUTER SCIENTIST EXPLAINED THE "TWO REASONS" WHY HE IS WORRIED ABOUT BITCOIN'S FUTURE...

For that year, miners' earnings are expected to depend only on commissions. Thankfully, there's more than a century left before that.

His second issue revolves around the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism used to verify transactions, he insists that it is less than what Proof-of-stake(PoS) can offer if measured per dollar spent in transaction fees. 

However, he clarified that he's aware there's no sign this will ever happen: "the migration of Bitcoin out of Proof of Work appears to be politically unfeasible," referring to those in the Bitcoin developer community who raised the possibility of Bitcoin one day changing from PoW to PoS were met with overwhelming resistance.

One of the main reasons the Bitcoin community is against changing to PoS, is that they believe PoS based tokens give too much power to large stakeholders...

Buterin addresses this, saying; "They are based on the misconception that PoW and PoS are governance mechanisms, when in fact they are consensus mechanisms. All they do is help the network agree on the correct chain. A block that violates the protocol rules (if it tries to print more coins than the protocol rules allow, for example) will not be accepted by the network, no matter how many miners or participants support it."

Ironically, he's sharing these opinions while Ethereum itself is on the verge of switching from PoW to PoS...

Perhaps this is a subtle way to address concerns some may have about Ethereum's upcoming change -  he's addressing them, but as a hypothetical Bitcoin migration to PoS. 

"The funny thing is that bitcoiners (who tend to be the most pro-PoW) should understand this well, as the Bitcoin civil wars in 2017 very well demonstrated that miners are quite powerless in the governance process," he suggested. "In PoS, it's exactly the same: the participants don't choose the rules, they just execute them and help order the transactions." 

However, Ethereum Developers faced virtually no resistance from the community when proposing the change to PoS, with the exception of miners whos concerns were based on their personal profits, not the overall wellbeing of the network. 

Ethereum makes the move from PoW to PoS later this month, maybe.  There's been too many delays to count, and I've learned Ethereum 2.0 is a "I'll believe it when I see it' thing now.

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk
Breaking Crypto News

We would prefer that you buy some more #bitcoin.

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) August 17, 2022

Musk says he hasn't sold any of his privately owned crypto...