Smells Like ETF Spirit
Welcome back to The Epicenter, your front-row seat to the financial singularity.
Obviously, we can’t talk about anything else until we cover BTC hitting nearly $119K, marking one of the biggest short liquidations of the year and lighting a fire under the entire crypto market. Spot Bitcoin ETFs clocked two straight days of billion-dollar inflows, bringing total net assets to a record $158 billion—the sharpest surge since they launched. Meanwhile, Bitwise’s CIO is out here confidently calling for $200K Bitcoin by year’s end, and BlackRock’s IBIT just became the fastest ETF in U.S. history to cross $80B in AUM.
And while crypto is mooning, TradFi’s getting culty: Goldman Sachs is now making junior bankers pledge quarterly loyalty oaths. Bending the knee just got a whole lot more mid-curve.
Let’s get into it 👇
⛓️ The On-Chain Pulse: What’s Happening on the Front Lines of Finance
This week’s biggest news in crypto and all things digital assets
Bitcoin hit a new all-time high, liquidating over $1B in shorts, while ETH reclaimed $3K for the first time in months—proving once again that nothing rallies like crypto euphoria
Tokenized stocks are still securities, according to the SEC’s crypto task force lead; commissioner Hester Peirce made it clear this week that slapping a blockchain wrapper on equities doesn’t exempt them from federal law
Spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold over $158B in assets after two consecutive $1B+ inflow days—the biggest surge since launch
Grayscale warned it may sue the SEC for blocking its ETF that includes XRP and Solana, claiming the delay is actively harming investors
Pump.fun sold out its $500M public sale in record time, locking in a $4B FDV as 125B tokens were snapped up at $0.004 each
Bitwise’s CIO predicts Bitcoin to cross $200K by the end of 2025—and BlackRock’s IBIT just became the fastest ETF ever to hit $80B AUM
Binance reportedly supported Trump-linked crypto firm World Liberty Financial before CZ sought a presidential pardon, raising new questions about political ties in crypto
Trump is on track to score his first major crypto policy win next week as House Republicans gear up for a decisive vote
According to Reuters, crypto investors are driving Bitcoin to new highs in anticipation of long-awaited policy wins expected next week that could unlock fresh investment
XRP surged over 13% after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse appeared at a high-profile event in Washington, fueling fresh investor optimism
🗣️ Word on the Street: What the Experts are Saying
Stuff you should repost (or maybe even *cough* reword and take credit for)
Boring Busness outlines how the education-to-day-job pipeline is a scam eating away at our God-given potential
Banking Slut had some pretty unhinged thoughts about Goldman Sachs making junior banks re-pledge their fealty every quarter—it’s probably best if you just read it here
David Friedberg of the All In Podcast compares Zohran Mamdani to the kid in the middle school election who promises to make the vending machines free
Kinjal Shah of blockchain capital thinks that hot wallets are the next everything app
Litquidity claps back at the Elon d*ck riders
Meme of the Week
🏦 Kiss my SaaS: What’s Changing the Game for Fintech
Things you should care about if you want to impress your coworkers
JPMorgan plans to start charging fintechs for access to customer bank data, signaling a shift in how big banks monetize open banking infrastructure
Robinhood stock is up 160% YTD, but regulatory heat over crypto staking and synthetic stock tokens could complicate its next chapter
Ramp’s upgraded corporate card is putting pressure on legacy issuers, as fintechs continue to raise the bar on business expense management
Goldman Sachs is piloting its first autonomous AI coder from Cognition, signaling a new era of automation on Wall Street
Amazon is considering a deeper investment in Anthropic, signaling a strengthening AI alliance that could reshape its competitive edge in the artificial intelligence landscape
Closing Thoughts
It’s been a pretty crazy week with Bitcoin ripping, ETFs printing, and even TradFi being unable to look away. So, whether you’re stacking, speculating, or just doomscrolling like the best of them, remember to stay sharp, stay liquid, and be ready for another round of your favorite finance insights in two weeks.
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