Markets Two Way, Spot ETFs Strong, and Hyperliquid’s USDH Hunger Games

• BTC ETFs pulled in $0.5B over the past 30 trading days, while ETH ETFs outperformed with $3.2B in inflows
• The SEC delayed decisions on BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF staking proposal, along with XRP and SOL fund applications
• The Winklevoss twins reserved up to 30% of Gemini’s IPO shares for retail investors
  

Gains then drains: A rollercoaster month as new ETF hopes stay in chains

Crypto has been anything but boring these past 30 days. The market opened with fireworks — with a sharp, confidence-fueled rally — only to watch that spark fade as gains were handed back in the latter half of the month. The round trip left traders feeling like they’d just ridden a roller coaster in reverse. Among the heavyweights, bitcoin lost its footing with a 4.02% slide, weighed down by steady profit-taking. Ether, however, managed to buck the tide, posting a respectable 2.89% gain and quietly positioned itself as the month’s outperformer. The ETF flows told their own story. US spot bitcoin ETFs kept humming along, drawing in a steady drumbeat of $0.5 billion in cumulative daily inflows — nothing flashy but a sign of persistent conviction. Ether ETFs, meanwhile, surged into the limelight, raking in a massive $3.22 billion, reminding the market that investor appetite for ETH exposure is alive and well. Look back over 6 months and the picture gets even more interesting. Bitcoin ETFs haven’t missed a beat, with positive inflows every single month, culminating in a record-breaking $6.02 billion peak in July. Ether ETFs had their moment too, scooping up $9.3 billion across June, July, and August, before September threw cold water on the party with their first-ever outflow of $0.66 billion.

And while investors were focused on flows, regulators were busy with delays. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has once again pushed back the clock on crypto ETF ambitions, delaying decisions on a fresh batch of rule change proposals. In a series of filings Wednesday, the agency said it needs more time to review applications seeking to allow staking for ether ETFs from giants like BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton’s bid to launch ETFs tracking alts (including Solana) was also pushed further down the road. The delays highlight a familiar tension: SEC Chair Paul Atkins has voiced support for digital assets in principle, but his agency continues to move at a glacial pace when it comes to approving new ETFs. The contrast is striking: while the SEC stalls, Wall Street is pressing forward. Applications for new altcoin-based ETFs continue to surface almost weekly, underscoring the eagerness of traditional finance to carve out products that offer exposure beyond bitcoin and ether. More than 90 crypto ETFs are now sitting in regulatory limbo, awaiting SEC approval. For now, issuers and investors are left watching an industry ready to evolve, but constrained by regulatory hesitation.

BlackRock is set to debut its iShares Bitcoin ETP (BTCN) on the London Stock Exchange timed with the Financial Conduct Authority’s October 8 lift of the long-standing embargo on crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs). For the first time since the FCA’s January 2021 ban, UK retail investors will once again gain access to crypto ETNs. ETNs differ from ETFs in a crucial way: they’re debt securities designed to mirror the performance of an underlying asset like bitcoin. Investors don’t own a piece of the fund itself; they hold a claim on the issuer. Importantly, the rule change won’t clear the way for bitcoin ETFs in the UK or EU, since those fall outside the UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) framework that governs European ETFs. UCITS enforces the 5/10/40 rule: no more than 5% of a fund’s assets can be allocated to a single issuer (extendable to 10% in some cases), and any exposure above 5% cannot collectively exceed 40% of the portfolio. This diversification guardrail effectively blocks asset managers in Europe from structuring bitcoin ETFs the way they have in the US. For now, ETNs are the workaround. Alongside BlackRock, issuers such as Bitwise, WisdomTree and 21Shares have used the format to bring BTC-tracking products to the London Stock Exchange. But these vehicles remain limited to qualified investors, leaving retail with only partial access until the FCA’s October policy shift takes effect.

Crypto’s capital markets go full throttle: IPOs, treasuries, stablecoins

The IPO wave in crypto shows no signs of slowing. Gemini, the US-based exchange, has raised its expected offering price to $24–26 per share, up from the original $17–19 range. At the higher band, the deal could push Gemini’s valuation north of $3 billion when it hits the market. According to an SEC filing on September 9, Gemini plans to offer 16,666,667 common shares of GEMI at the updated range. While the firm hasn’t pinned down the exact listing date, it noted the IPO would proceed “as soon as practicable” following the effective filing. In a further bid to broaden participation, Gemini also disclosed in an updated filing Tuesday that it intends to allocate up to 30% of shares to retail investors via online brokerage platforms including Robinhood, Moomoo, and Webull. Gemini first flagged its public ambitions back in June, riding the momentum of Circle’s blockbuster IPO earlier this year. Its own debut is being led by a heavyweight roster of underwriters with Goldman Sachs, Cantor, and Morgan Stanley among them. GEMI is slated to trade on the Nasdaq, with shares expected to begin trading this Friday.

Corporate treasuries are in the midst of a profound shift. According to a 2025 Animoca Brands report, companies announcing crypto adoption strategies have seen their stocks jump an average of 150% within 24 hours, fueled by a pivot from idle cash reserves to active bitcoin accumulation. Collectively, corporations now hold more than $113 billion in bitcoin, with over 90 public companies carrying it on their balance sheets. Early movers such as CEA Industries, Kindly MD, Metaplanet, The Smarter Web Company and Cipher Mining are positioning bitcoin as both an inflation hedge and growth engine. Strategy’s treasury model, anchored by the accumulation of 582,000 BTC worth roughly $62 billion, has already delivered nearly 257% returns. With clearer regulations, ETF accessibility, and corporate adoption aligning, markets are bracing for a new supply-demand dynamic unlike anything seen before.

At the same time, a fresh theme is taking shape: raising capital to back digital asset treasury companies. Hong Kong–based exchange HashKey, one of the first licensed crypto platforms in the city, has unveiled a $500 million fund to build a diversified portfolio of treasury projects, with bitcoin as its initial anchor allocation. The initiative follows a broader wave of institutional vehicles targeting this emerging niche. Back in July, Pantera launched a fund offering investors exposure to digital asset treasury opportunities, signaling a deeper institutional push into this corner of the crypto economy. Together, these efforts mark the early formation of a dedicated capital market around corporate bitcoin treasuries.

If treasuries are shaping the long game, stablecoins are where the action is right now, and all eyes are on Hyperliquid’s USDH showdown. The battle for USDH is heating up on Hyperliquid. The exchange has thrown open the doors for teams to pitch a “Hyperliquid-first, compliant” stablecoin, with validators given 5 days to decide who gets the keys to the ticker. Early voting shows Native Markets in the lead, thanks to a proposal tied to Stripe’s payment rails and fiat gateways. But it’s no runaway — rivals like Paxos, MoonPay, Frax, and Agora are in the mix too. Paxos even promised to recycle 95% of reserve yields into HYPE token buybacks, a move designed to turn stablecoin adoption into direct fuel for the ecosystem. And the stakes couldn’t be bigger. USDH isn’t just another ticker; it’s set to become Hyperliquid’s native settlement currency, cutting dependence on USDC and channeling as much as $220 million in annual yield back into HYPE holders’ hands. All this comes as the platform is on a tear: $400 billion in August trading volume, over 60% market share, and HYPE up more than 20% in the past week. With fee cuts and permissionless listings already boosting liquidity, the outcome of the USDH race could mark a turning point not just for Hyperliquid’s growth, but for the stablecoin wars at large.

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