Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Update
Bitcoin (BTC) was valued at US$115,191, experiencing a decline of 1.9 percent over the past 24 hours, marking its lowest point of the day after reaching a high of US$116,450 earlier. The cryptocurrency’s performance on September 19, 2025, has been outlined in recent charts. This week, the overall crypto market displayed considerable strength, buoyed by heightened investor confidence following the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate reduction on September 17 and NVIDIA’s significant US$5 billion investment in Intel. Additionally, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced new generic listing standards for spot crypto exchange-traded products, which could accelerate the approval process for various digital asset products. Notably, the REX-Osprey XRP ETF and REX-Osprey DOGE ETF were among the first to launch under these new guidelines on September 18, attracting trading volumes of US$37.7 million and US$17 million, respectively. Ether (ETH) was trading at US$4,445.54, down 3.2 percent, reaching its lowest point on Friday after hitting a high of US$4,541.88.
ETF Data & Derivatives Trends
This week witnessed a remarkable influx into spot Bitcoin ETFs, with approximately 20,685 BTC added, pushing total US spot Bitcoin ETF holdings to around 1.32 million BTC, with a market value of US$150 billion. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF led the charge with US$1 billion in net purchases, while Fidelity’s Advantage Bitcoin ETF and ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF added US$843 million and US$182 million, respectively. Conversely, US Ethereum ETFs saw outflows amounting to US$62 million during the same timeframe. The altcoin ETF landscape is evolving, particularly after the SEC’s approval of the first US ETFs for XRP and Dogecoin, which saw a 20 percent price surge upon its launch. The support from major firms like Grayscale and Franklin Templeton is reshaping market dynamics and lending credibility to more speculative digital assets. On the derivatives front, leverage has reached near-record levels, with Bitcoin futures’ open interest exceeding US$220 billion in September. CryptoQuant has noted clusters of orders positioned just above and below the spot price, indicating that any sharp price movement could lead to significant liquidations. Over the past four hours, Bitcoin liquidations reached about US$13.71 million, primarily from long positions, reflecting ongoing selling pressure. Similarly, Ethereum liquidations during this period totaled around US$10.85 million, with the majority from long positions, highlighting persistent bearish sentiment. The perpetual funding rates for BTC and ETH stood at 0.0064 percent and 0.001 percent, respectively, signaling a balanced market without a strong leaning towards bullish or bearish sentiment. As of 8:00 p.m. UTC, market indicators showed an RSI level of 41.03, suggesting neutral market conditions.
Next Week’s Crypto News to Watch
Bitcoin has been trading in a rising wedge pattern over the past month, with on-chain analysts indicating a bearish divergence. Technically, it appears that Bitcoin is undergoing mild consolidation following last week’s price surge. Analyst Axel Adler from CryptoQuant noted that Bitcoin is trading just above the realized price for short-term holders. In the equity markets, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite reached all-time highs as cryptocurrencies experienced a slight pullback on Friday, indicating a temporary disconnection. Key upcoming events to monitor next week include announcements from Korea’s Blockchain Week, scheduled from September 22 to 28, and the major token unlock of approximately 25.7 million ZRO tokens from LayerZero on September 20, which represents about 8.5 percent of its circulating supply, valued at around US$52.5 million. Additional significant unlocks are also anticipated, such as Optimism’s release of 116 million OP tokens on September 21 and AltLayer’s 3.7 million ALT token unlock on September 25.
Today’s Crypto News to Know
Funding for stablecoin-related ventures has reached historic heights this year, with 14 companies collectively raising US$537 million thus far, according to data from DefiLlama. This figure marks a significant increase from the US$84 million raised throughout 2024, highlighting a surge in investor confidence in fiat-pegged digital currencies. The largest deal of the year occurred in July, when Hong Kong’s OSL Group secured US$300 million. Analysts attribute this momentum to favorable regulatory developments, particularly the GENIUS Act signed by US President Donald Trump in July, which clarified the legal landscape for stablecoin issuers. The rapid ascent of the sector is also reflected in secondary markets; for instance, Circle’s stock has risen to four times its initial value since its IPO in June.
A watchdog organization has raised concerns regarding World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project associated with former US President Donald Trump, for allegedly allowing its tokens to be acquired by users linked to sanctioned entities. According to Accountable.us, WLFI tokens have reportedly ended up in wallets associated with North Korea’s Lazarus Group, Iran’s Nobitex exchange, and Russian traders, despite existing US restrictions. The report cites an incident from January 20, 2025, when WLFI sold 600,000 tokens worth approximately US$10,000 on Trump’s inauguration day to a wallet later connected to Lazarus transactions. Even after decentralized finance platforms flagged the wallet, it continued to operate until late August, receiving WLFI’s branded USD1 stablecoin in an airdrop. Other sales were traced back to Iran’s Nobitex in October 2024, a platform previously identified by Chainalysis as a center for sanctions evasion. These allegations pose significant questions regarding WLFI’s compliance and may lead to increased regulatory scrutiny. Trump’s team has yet to provide a public response to these allegations.
The Ethereum Foundation has announced that the Fusaka hard fork is set to launch on the mainnet on December 3, 2025. This upgrade will incorporate 11 to 12 proposals aimed at improving scalability and network efficiency, notably by doubling blob capacity to enhance layer-2 transaction throughput. Testing is expected to take place on public testnets throughout October and November, alongside a US$2 million audit competition to ensure code security prior to deployment. This upgrade follows May’s Pectra hard fork and lays the groundwork for future enhancements planned for 2026.
PayPal’s US dollar stablecoin, PYUSD, is expanding its reach to nine additional blockchains through a partnership with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. This expansion allows the token to move beyond its initial issuance on Ethereum, Solana, Arbitrum, and Stellar, making it available on networks such as Avalanche, Aptos, and Tron. As part of this rollout, LayerZero has created a wrapped version called PYUSD0, which is fully interchangeable with the original token and operates within its Hydra Stargate system. The initiative aims to enhance adoption and solidify PYUSD’s position as a dollar-backed asset in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Since its launch in 2023 through issuer Paxos, PYUSD’s supply has risen from US$520 million at the beginning of the year to US$1.3 billion.
In another development, Kraken has teamed up with Trust Wallet to broaden access to xStocks, a tokenized equities product developed by Backed. Announced on Friday, this partnership will enable over 200 million Trust Wallet users to trade 60 tokenized US equities across multiple blockchains using a variety of local fiat currencies. “For xStocks to achieve true mass adoption, seamless integration with the world’s most popular self-custody wallets is vital,” remarked Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi. The collaboration aims to introduce xStocks to more high-performance blockchains and leading consumer applications in the coming weeks.
Canadian regulators are being urged to take action on cryptocurrency. During a speech on Thursday, Ron Morrow, the Bank of Canada’s executive director of payments, stated that Canada is lagging behind other nations in establishing regulations for stablecoins and should consider implementing rules for digital assets due to the increasing domestic interest and the US’s efforts to foster widespread adoption. “Governments are moving to regulate stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies so consumers can reap their benefits and be protected from credit and liquidity risks,” Morrow noted during his keynote address at the ONE Conference in Ottawa. He called for federal and provincial regulators to collaborate swiftly to evolve regulatory frameworks.
