Crypto Weekly Report (2026/8/31): U.S. Strikes Iran, Fed Hawkish, Crypto Market Under Pressure

Summary: The crypto market remained volatile last week, pressured by geopolitical tensions and hawkish Fed expectations. BTC and ETH pulled back, while gold, silver, and other risk assets also weakened. Despite the market correction, spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs continued to see strong net inflows.

Meanwhile, Robinhood Chain, tokenized stocks, and crypto regulation remained key market themes. This week, investors will focus on U.S. jobs data, Fed policy signals, corporate earnings, and oil prices.

Crypto Market Overview

1. Market Trends and Price Action

From August 24 to 30, the crypto market broadly followed a “surge, pullback, and consolidation” pattern. Bitcoin briefly broke above $81,000 before retreating as expectations for a more hawkish Federal Reserve policy weighed on sentiment. Over the weekend, the U.S. military confirmed strikes on two Iranian rocket launchers near the Strait of Hormuz on Larak Island. Following the news, the crypto market weakened further, with geopolitical risks becoming an important factor influencing short-term market trends.

BTC remained strong in the first half of the week, breaking above $80,000 twice and briefly reaching $81,000, before pulling back as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated and global risk assets came under pressure. As of August 31, BTC had fallen to around $77,000.

ETH was also affected by declining risk appetite. After briefly climbing back above $2,500, ETH fell below $2,400 as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated, briefly reaching around $2,398 in early trading on August 31, with a 2.76% decline over the previous hour.

Hot Tokens

Robinhood ecosystem tokens rally across the board. Last week, Robinhood ecosystem-related tokens posted strong gains, with PONS, CLAN, PROLOGUE, and YOLO all rising more than 100%, making them some of the market’s most closely watched assets. Meanwhile, Hyperliquid (HYPE) maintained its strong momentum, with the price briefly climbing to around $85. However, as risk appetite weakened over the weekend and the broader market pulled back, these hot tokens also experienced varying degrees of correction.

Over the past 24 hours, according to BTCC data, the perpetual futures market has remained broadly weak, with 90 tokens gaining and 254 tokens declining, showing a clear dominance of decliners. Among the top gainers, SKR stood out with a 24-hour gain of 106.86%, followed by ZORA, which rose 63.95%. Meanwhile, FLOCK and HEMI gained 34.92% and 32.15%, respectively. Overall, while some hot tokens continued to post strong gains, most tokens remained under pressure, indicating that short-term risk appetite has weakened significantly.

2. Capital Flows & Market Sentiment

Gold and Silver: Precious Metals Retreat After Rally

GOLD/USDT

Last week, gold prices followed a “rise first, then pull back from elevated levels” pattern. Gold climbed to around $4,697 per ounce on August 25, marking a more than three-month high, supported mainly by a weaker U.S. dollar, concerns over U.S. fiscal risks, and expectations for Treasury buybacks. However, as Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh delivered a hawkish signal at the Jackson Hole meeting, expectations for a September rate hike increased. Gold subsequently fell by around 3.3% on August 28, closing at approximately $4,455 per ounce.

SILVER/USDT

Last week, silver prices followed a “choppy rise followed by a pullback from elevated levels” pattern. Silver held above $68 per ounce around August 25, then continued to strengthen, briefly breaking above $70 per ounce on August 28 and reaching an intraday high of approximately $70.69 per ounce. However, prices subsequently pulled back sharply. On a weekly basis, silver ultimately fell by around 4.5%, closing at approximately $66.377 per ounce.

Dollar: DXY Rebounds from Low Levels

source: investing.com

Last week, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) broadly followed a “consolidation–rebound” pattern. DXY traded in a narrow range around 98 during the first half of the week, but as hawkish signals emerged, expectations for a September rate hike increased. DXY rose to 99.7 on August 28, reaching a two-week high. Overall, the Dollar Index gained approximately 0.54% for the week. A stronger U.S. dollar also put some pressure on dollar-denominated assets such as gold, silver, and cryptocurrencies.

＼ 🚀 Ready for the Next Market Rally?／

Crypto ETFs: BTC and ETH ETFs Attract Strong Inflows

Last week, crypto ETFs saw little overall change, with total assets under management (AUM) remaining relatively stable. In terms of AUM, there was a noticeable increase on August 27, but it subsequently declined on August 28, largely giving back the previous day’s gains.

Last week, spot Bitcoin ETFs maintained relatively strong capital inflows, with cumulative net inflows of approximately $924 million from August 24 to 28. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows for four consecutive trading days from August 24 to 27, but turned to a net outflow of approximately $202 million on August 28, indicating that institutional demand cooled somewhat in the short term as BTC pulled back.

Last week, spot Ethereum ETFs performed strongly, recording net inflows for five consecutive trading days from August 24 to 28, with cumulative net inflows of approximately $824 million. Net inflows reached $235 million on August 27, the highest level of the week. Even as the market pulled back on August 28, Ethereum ETFs still recorded a net inflow of approximately $102 million.

U.S. Stocks: AI Cools, While Cloud and Software Stocks Rally

Last week, hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve triggered profit-taking in AI infrastructure stocks. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell more than 3%. Nvidia, AMD, and ARM fell approximately 4.57%, 2.3%, and 6%, respectively.

In contrast, cloud services and software stocks performed strongly. Amazon gained nearly 4%. Microsoft and Alphabet Class A both rose nearly 2%, while Meta gained more than 1%. Among software stocks, Elastic surged more than 19%, Workday rose nearly 6%, and ServiceNow gained more than 4%.

Market attention is also shifting from pure AI computing demand toward AI commercialization and profitability. Cloud providers could continue to benefit from growing demand for AI inference computing.

Hot Market Events

1. CLARITY Act Set for a Key Vote

Event: The U.S. Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on the CLARITY Act on September 15. The vote requires 60 votes to pass. If approved, the Senate can move forward with formal consideration of the bill, although final passage would still be some way off.

Impact: The bill has remained a major focus for the U.S. crypto market. If the procedural vote passes, expectations for a clearer U.S. crypto regulatory framework could strengthen further.

2. Robinhood Chain Hits Record Trading Activity as Tokenized Stocks Gain Momentum

Event: On August 29, Robinhood Chain’s daily DEX trading volume reached $945 million, setting a new all-time high. Its DEX volume has steadily recovered from around $300 million in mid-August. Meanwhile, Token Terminal data shows that the seven most-traded tokenized stocks over the past 30 days were all on BNB Chain or Robinhood Chain, generating a combined DEX trading volume of approximately $4.3 billion.

Impact: On-chain activity on Robinhood Chain has picked up significantly, with tokenized stocks becoming an important contributor to trading volume. As more traditional stocks move on-chain, RWA and tokenized stocks could become new growth areas for the crypto market.

3. U.S. Government Transfers Bitcoin Seized from Alameda Research

Event: The U.S. government transferred a small amount of Bitcoin seized from accounts linked to Alameda Research this week. The purpose of the transfer has not been disclosed, and no plans have been announced for the remaining assets.

Impact: Transfers involving large government-held crypto assets can raise concerns about potential selling pressure. In the short term, activity from these wallets could add to market uncertainty and BTC volatility.

4. Nvidia Reports Record Revenue

Event: Nvidia reported fiscal Q2 2027 revenue of $96.221 billion, more than double year over year and above both its previous guidance of around $91 billion and market expectations. Operating income reached $63.734 billion, also more than doubling from a year earlier.

Impact: The strong results provided further evidence of robust demand for AI infrastructure. However, with AI stocks trading at elevated valuations, investors are paying closer attention to AI capital spending, profitability, and future guidance, rather than revenue growth alone.

5. X May Expand Its Crypto Trading Features

Event: Former X product head Nikita Bier said that X plans to introduce a trading button and allow users to view Solana and Ethereum charts directly. Users may also be able to enter contract addresses to view newly issued tokens.

Impact: If these features are launched, X could expand beyond social media into a crypto trading and on-chain asset gateway, potentially bringing more users and new trading activity to the crypto market.

6. Upbit Operator Dunamu Confirms Contact with SEC and CFTC

Event: Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, confirmed that it has been in contact with the U.S. SEC and CFTC amid reports of a potential U.S. listing. The company plans to establish an IPO committee, but has not yet decided whether to pursue a U.S. listing.

Impact: Dunamu’s discussions with U.S. regulators show that South Korean crypto companies are actively exploring opportunities in the U.S. capital market. If an IPO eventually moves forward, it could bring greater attention from traditional investors to crypto exchanges.

7. Hyperliquid Seeks Regulatory Clarity for Equity Perpetuals

Event: Hyperliquid’s policy center has applied to the U.S. SEC and CFTC for confirmation that equity perpetual contracts can be listed as security futures.

Impact: If regulators approve the proposed structure, it could provide a new path for perpetual products to enter the regulated U.S. market and bring crypto derivatives and traditional securities markets closer together.

＼ 🚀 Ready for the Next Market Rally?／

Key Highlights to Watch This Week

1. Token Unlock Overview

According to Token Unlocks data, ENA, SUI, EIGEN, and GPS are scheduled for one-time token unlocks this week, with the total value of the releases estimated at more than $14 million based on current prices. Among them, EIGEN has the highest unlock ratio, accounting for 5.48% of its circulating supply. Large token unlocks can increase the short-term supply of tokens in the market and may put some pressure on the prices of the affected assets.

Note: Unlock values are estimated based on current market prices and may change as token prices fluctuate.

2. Key Events Ahead

This week, markets will remain focused on U.S. monetary policy and labor-market data. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book and Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s remarks on September 3 will offer further clues on the policy outlook. The key event will be the August U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on September 4, which could have a major impact on expectations for the Fed’s September decision, as well as the dollar, Treasury yields, gold, and risk assets.

The AI and technology sectors will also be in focus, with earnings from Dell, Credo, MongoDB, Palo Alto Networks, Broadcom, HPE, and Snowflake scheduled throughout the week. Investors will be watching for signs of continued AI infrastructure demand, enterprise software spending, and data-center investment. Meanwhile, the Tesla Cybercab event and the World Power Battery Conference could bring fresh catalysts for the autonomous driving, EV, and battery sectors.

Outside the U.S., global markets will also be watching central-bank decisions, Japanese bond auctions, and energy markets. The Bank of Canada and Reserve Bank of New Zealand will announce their policy decisions on September 2, while Japan’s 10-year and 30-year government bond auctions could provide clues on global bond-market demand. With geopolitical tensions still elevated, the September 6 OPEC+ meeting will also be important for oil prices and broader inflation expectations.

Key events are summarized below：