Bitcoin Wobbles, Coinbase Fumbles, and Stablecoin Rules Tighten | Aug 2025 Crypto Weekly Breakdown

Crypto's wild week served up a triple-shot of drama—BTC couldn't hold its ground, Coinbase faceplanted earnings, and regulators sharpened their knives for stablecoins. Here's the carnage.

Bitcoin's Rollercoaster Ride

The OG crypto shed 8% in 48 hours as miners dumped reserves—just when ETF inflows hinted at stability. Classic crypto whiplash.

Coinbase's $1.2B Revenue Miss

Wall Street expected champagne and caviar; they got warm beer. Retail trading volumes cratered 30% amid the BTC slump.

Stablecoins: Regulation Tsunami Incoming

The SEC's new "digital dollar" proposal would force USDT and friends to carry banking-level reserves. Cue the lobbyist feeding frenzy.

Bottom line: Another week where crypto proved it can out-crazy your weirdest uncle's investment advice. At least the SEC's paperwork keeps lawyers employed.

Trump throws tantrum over jobs report

• Bitcoin (BTC) dominance is on a downtrend, and it continued to fall as President Trump’s tariffs raised concerns about an economic slowdown and triggered risk-off sentiment.
• Weak U.S. jobs data—just 73,000 jobs added in July—fueled further market anxiety; Trump responded by firing the BLS commissioner.
• Also, the Coinbase Premium Index has turned negative for the first time in two months, signaling weaker demand from U.S. investors compared to international buyers.

Coinbase Q2 revenue hits $1.5b

• Coinbase Q2 revenue rose 3.3% year-over-year to $1.5B but dropped 26% from Q1, missing expectations amid weak retail trading.
• Stablecoin revenue jumped 12% to $332M, helping drive 9% growth in subscriptions and services, despite EPS missing estimates at $0.12 vs. $1.19 forecast.

Mill City acquires 76.3M SUI 

• Mill City Ventures launched a $450M crypto treasury strategy with 76.3M SUI tokens, becoming the first public firm to partner with the Sui Foundation.
• Backed by hedge fund Karatage and the Sui Foundation, Mill City now holds $277M in SUI, offering daily liquidity to retail and institutional investors.

Hong Kong’s stablecoin bill

• Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Ordinance took effect on Aug. 1, creating the region’s first licensing framework for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers; applications are open until Sept. 30.
• The HKMA expects to grant only a few licenses in the initial batch, with firms like JD.com and Standard Chartered expressing early interest.

Solana ETFs

• At least seven asset managers have filed amended registration statements for their proposed spot Solana ETFs with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as potential approval draws closer.
• Bitwise, Canary Capital, Fidelity, CoinShares, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck have submitted updates to their S-1 registration statements.

UK policy U-turn

• The Financial Conduct Authority announced that retail investors in the United Kingdom will gain access to crypto exchange-traded notes beginning October 8, but only those listed on approved exchanges.
• The move quietly overturns part of the regulator’s 2021 crackdown on crypto derivatives for retail traders, while leaving the broader ban firmly in place. According to the FCA’s Friday press release, firms offering ETNs must comply with strict financial promotion rules, ensuring investors receive clear risk warnings without aggressive marketing tactics.

Crypto Blockchain Industries expands

• Paris-listed Crypto Blockchain Industries and its shareholder Ker Ventures announced an all-equity deal to buy 2,000 BTC from the Turkish crypto exchange SAFEbit.
• The deal gives Ker Ventures and CBI the option to exchange CBI shares for the Bitcoin, in a transaction potentially worth more than €200 million. The swap price will be based on the two-day volume-weighted average price of CBI shares and the prevailing market rate for Bitcoin.

SEC’s bullish pivot

• On July 31, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Chairman Paul Atkins gave a 30-minute speech in which he outlined the SEC’s plans to improve the regulatory climate surrounding the cryptocurrency industry significantly.
• The crypto community declared Atkins’s speech “the most bullish news for crypto in a decade.”