<h2 id="market-overview">Market Overview 📉</h2><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/a5c752ca2c244147a64edbb079805144.png">*Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on August 21, 2026.<a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bitcoin (BTC)</a> surged upwards this week, pushing 19.61% higher, while <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethereum/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ethereum (ETH)</a> outperformed by a huge margin, rising 26.18% in the same period. Total crypto market cap followed suit, jumping more than 17% to $2.54T, from $2.17T the week before.Weekly <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/liquidations/" rel="noopener noreferrer">liquidations</a> spiked as Bitcoin and the crypto market rallied, crushing more than $3.5B in short positions over three days. <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/funding-rates/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Funding rates</a> climbed across cryptocurrency majors, but the majority of funding rates continue to sit at healthy levels.📌 Michael Saylor’s Strategy raises its USD Reserve by $150M and repurchases $132M in STRC shares, bringing their total USD Reserve to $4.8B. - <a href="https://x.com/saylor/status/2089322293822468601" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 The SEC issues their crypto-asset regulatory proposal, covering the use of token issuance for fundraising. - <a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/proposed/2026/33-11434.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 US spot Bitcoin ETFs see a record $517M in net inflows on August 19th, led by BlackRock’s IBIT, with spot Ether ETFs seeing $189M in net inflows. - <a href="https://www.wublockchain.xyz/news/news-20471" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>Why does it matter?Crypto markets surged higher against broader equity market weakness in a rare decoupling across asset classes, rising alongside commodities like precious metals and oil, driven by Bessent’s Treasury buyback announcements. The S&amp;P 500 is down 2.12% over the past week, while the Nasdaq fared worse, down 3.15% in the same period.Notable altcoin outperformers this week included the <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/book-of-meme/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Book of Meme (BOME)</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/ethena/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ethena (ENA)</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/geodnet/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Geodnet (GEOD)</a>, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/spx6900/" rel="noopener noreferrer">SPX 6900 (SPX)</a>, and <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/meteora/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meteora (MET)</a>.View <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/gainers-losers/" rel="noopener noreferrer">CMC Gainers &amp; Losers board</a><h2 id="narrative-of-the-week">Narrative of the Week 📰</h2>Hyperliquid takes center stage as the regulatory environment appears to clear up for perpetual DEXes, following a direct mention by Donald Trump himself.📌 Donald Trump mentions that the SEC is working to “bring Hyperliquid to the US in a fully compliant and legal fashion”. - <a href="https://x.com/HyperliquidPC/status/2090158897310867457" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 The Hyperliquid Policy Center and Trade[XYZ] file a joint letter to the SEC to introduce Pre-IPO Perpetuals. - <a href="https://x.com/hyperliquidpc/status/2089684060989727182" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 CME CEO, Terrence Duffy directly addresses Trade[XYZ] and Hyperliquid as “having an impact on our markets”. - <a href="https://x.com/Outcomexyz/status/2090531207029375281" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>Why does it matter?Regulatory risk has always been the biggest hurdle for Hyperliquid to cross, but with Trump’s endorsement, the risk appears to be drastically minimized, paving the way for Hyperliquid and similar perpetual DEXes.<h2 id="major-project-updates">Major Project Updates 🗓️</h2>📌 Tether completes their inaugural audit with KPMG U.S., receiving an unqualified opinion on Tether’s 2025 financial statements. - <a href="https://tether.io/news/tether-completes-the-largest-inaugural-financial-audit-in-history/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Hardware wallet firm, Safepal, discloses a privacy breach after customer order data for orders made between 2 March 2025 and 11 April 2026. - <a href="https://www.safepal.com/zh-cn/blog/security-update" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Harmony announces plans to roll back the chain following their exploit last week. The chain will be rolled back to block 92,730,034. - <a href="https://x.com/harmonyprotocol/status/2089280253701324989" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 SocialFi protocol, Kaito, announces Kaito Pulse, a browser extension allowing users to view off-platform activity on their X timeline, such as public positions on Hyperliquid or Polymarket. - <a href="https://x.com/KaitoAI/status/2089721729895841925" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Arthur Hayes introduces Flop Network, a proof-of-useful-inference protocol, allowing agents to spend FLOP on AI inference and store data in a decentralized manner. - <a href="https://x.com/CryptoHayes/status/2089711566392578231" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>Why does it matter?Tether’s first full financial audit eliminates the years of skepticism around Tether’s reserves backing USDT, possibly opening the doors to increased institutional adoption for the stablecoin.<h2 id="defi-brief">DeFi Brief 🏦</h2><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/bc1ed6e1d9cf4bde94e4fe66ebec0e9d.png">*Data as of 6:45 AM UTC on August 21, 2026.Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/chain-ranking/" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://coinmarketcap.com/chain-ranking/</a>📌 RWA protocol, Centrifuge, explores the conversion of the CFG token to equity to generate long-term value for shareholders. - <a href="https://x.com/itsbhaji/status/2089489018878939479" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 CT influencer, Ansem, launches the z500 on-chain index, as well as his own token launchpad, allowing new token launches to easily airdrop tokens to ANSEM token holders. - <a href="https://x.com/blknoiz06/status/2089381520821674132" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Lending protocol, Compound, announces a new leadership team as well as a $52M DAO-approved development program to continue the protocol’s push towards institutional credit. - <a href="https://x.com/Compound_xyz/status/2089386082441871388" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Maya Protocol has been exploited for $1.4M in BTC and $300K in other assets. The damage has since been contained. - <a href="https://x.com/AaluxxMyth/status/2089792721086996703" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>Why does it matter?Centrifuge’s exploration into token-to-equity conversion is huge for the DeFi space as it seeks to address one of the main criticisms of tokens: the lack of value accrual.<h2 id="fundraises">Fundraises 💰</h2>📌 AI agent infrastructure, NeoSoul, raises $11M in a Pre-A funding round with investors including MH Ventures, Amber Group, ArkStream Capital, 0G Foundation, and more. - <a href="https://x.com/NeoSoulAI/status/2090338023607345465" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Full stack data infrastructure layer, Botanika, raises $1.5M in a seed round, with investors including Daedalus Angels, CRIT Ventures, Baboon Ventures, MarbleX, and notable angels. - <a href="https://x.com/botanika_sol/status/2087541277055402225" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a>📌 Leveraged lending protocol, Twyne, raises $2.5M in a funding round led by cyber Fund and Ethereal Ventures, with participation from Euler and Daedalus Angels, and notable angel investors. - <a href="https://x.com/twynexyz/status/2089352241475920044" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Link</a><h2 id="tweet-of-the-week">Tweet of the Week 📝</h2><img src="https://academy-public.coinmarketcap.com/optimized-uploads/cc0aa05b2796480e9dc54926fe751a1c.png">Source: @Architect9000Crypto HODLers undefeated.

CMC Market Pulse: Begin the New Bull Run

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