Bitcoin $109K, More Tariffs, & Opendoor Surge

So the Fed cut rates last week and markets … tanked? Makes sense.

This Week in Crypto

This week reminded everyone why leverage is crypto’s version of playing with fire. 

• The market got absolutely wrecked with over $226M wiped out in just one hour on September 25th, with more than $218M coming from long positions.

• Ethereum traders took the biggest beating with over $107M in ETH positions closed, while Bitcoin followed with $55M liquidated.

• Bitcoin slipped below $111K, falling 3.3% in 24 hours and over 6% on the week.

• Meanwhile, Ethereum saw a 6.5% daily drop and 15% weekly decline to around $3,900. 

• Solana faced one of the steepest declines among major altcoins, down more than 21% on the week to $196. 

Bitcoin ETFs were all over the place:

• After bleeding $439M on September 22nd and $103.6M on September 23rd, Bitcoin ETFs came roaring back with $241M in net inflows on September 24th.

• BlackRock's IBIT led the comeback with $128.9M, bringing its cumulative inflows to $60.78B.

• Meanwhile, Ethereum ETFs couldn't catch a break, continuing their outflow streak with $79.4M in redemptions on September 24th, led by Fidelity's FETH.

Bitwise filed an S-1 with the SEC for a spot Hyperliquid ETF that would directly hold HYPE tokens.

• This would be the first ETF tied to a perpetual DEX token, which is either revolutionary or completely insane depending on your risk tolerance. 

• HYPE is currently trading around $42, down from its mid-September highs of $58 - but analysts point to a potential rebound toward $55. 

This Week in TradFi

U.S. stocks ended moderately lower yesterday, with most S&P 500 sectors down as economic data increased uncertainty over future rate cuts.

• Data showed initial jobless claims dropped 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 218,000.

• Meanwhile, other data showed the U.S. economy actually grew faster than previously estimated in Q2, fueled by strong consumer spending and business investment. 

• Later today we’ll see the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation measure.

• Most S&P 500 sectors ended lower, with the exception of energy (+0.9%) and technology (+0.03%).

On the international front: 

• The Bank of Mexico cut its benchmark interest rate to its lowest level since May 2022 yesterday, also indicating it would potentially continue further easing - with ongoing concerns about global trade tensions and sluggish economic growth.

• European shares bounced back from three-week lows today, with a boost from financial and industrial stocks. 

  • The STOXX 600 was up 0.3% as of this morning.

• London stocks were down yesterday, as investors remained cautious over inflation risks and the Bank of England’s interest rate outlook. 

  • The FTSE 100 was down 0.4%, its biggest percentage slide in a week.

• Asia stocks were down today, with pharmaceutical companies hit hard by Trump’s new tariffs.

  • Trump announced the U.S. would impose 100% tariffs on imported branded drugs, 25% tariffs on heavy-duty trucks, and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets. 

• Oil prices increased slightly today, on track to rise more than 4% for the week, with Russia curbing fuel exports. 

  • Brent futures were up 0.3%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.5%.

This Week in Tech

OpenAI is launching a new feature inside of ChatGPT called Pulse, which generates personalized reports for users as they sleep.

• Pulse gives users 5-10 briefs that can get them up to speed on their day, aimed at encouraging users to check ChatGPT first thing in the morning. 

• Starting yesterday, OpenAI rolled out Pulse for subscribers to its $200/month Pro plan. 

Big changes are happening at Opendoor Technologies, and the market is responding in kind.

• The company’s stock has been on a massive run, surging over 460% YTD. 

• The momentum is a reaction to a September 10 announcement that Kaz Nejatian, the former COO of Shopify, would take over as CEO, alongside the return of cofounders Keith Rabois and Eric Wu to the board. 

• Nejatian has basically been live-tweeting his first couple weeks as CEO, and clearly something’s working, because stock is soaring.

Amazon has agreed to pay a $2.5B settlement to the Federal Trade Commission over allegations that it duped users into paying for Prime subscriptions and making it hard to cancel memberships. 

• The company will be required to pay a $1B civil penalty and provide $1.5B in refunds to an estimated 35M consumers harmed by the company’s “deceptive Prime enrollment practices,” the FTC says.

• As part of the settlement, Amazon now has to include a clear button for customers to decline signing up for Prime.

• Amazon must also clearly show the subscription cost during the enrollment process, along with the billing date and frequency, whether the subscription auto-renews, and the procedure for cancellation.

As usual, below are some fundraising announcements, M&A, and tech personnel changes that caught our eye:

• LLM-powered search startup Juicebox has raised a $30M Series A, led by Sequoia. 

• App creation startup Emergent has raised a $23M Series A, led by Lightspeed. 

• Electric truck company Telo has raised a $20M Series A.

• Rocket.new, an Indian startup building an AI-powered app development platform, has raised a $15M seed round, led by Salesforce Ventures.  

Arch is building a next-gen wealth management platform for individuals holding Alternative Assets. Our flagship product is the crypto-backed loan, which allows you to securely and affordably borrow against your crypto.

Disclaimer: None of the above is financial advice, seriously.