Bitcoin price slipped below $77K as rate-hike bets rise, Ripple expands AI treasury tools and ESMA flags crypto-TradFi risks; today’s BTC is near $77.2K in Greed sentiment. BTC is trading at around $77.2K, down roughly 2% over the past 24 hours. ETH is trading near $2,460 with a 24-hour decline of about 1.6%. BTC briefly fell below $77K during the day as shifting U.S. inflation expectations and Treasury yields added volatility across risk assets. The price has since moved back toward the lower end of its recent trading range. ETH also dropped below $2,500 during the same period but posted a slightly smaller decline than BTC. Market sentiment cooled alongside the price pullback. The latest Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell from 69 yesterday to 56. It remains in Greed territory but is now well below last week's reading of 74. The decline reflects a rapid shift in short-term sentiment as prices fall and leveraged positions are adjusted. On the fund-flow side, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net outflows of USD 282.7 million yesterday. ARKB posted USD 164.3 million in net outflows, while GBTC and FBTC recorded USD 36.4 million and USD 33.6 million in net outflows respectively. Spot Ether ETFs posted USD 29.9 million in net outflows over the same period. Deleveraging also intensified across the derivatives market. Total crypto liquidations reached USD 446 million over the past 24 hours, including USD 352 million in long liquidations and USD 93.9378 million in short liquidations. This shows that liquidation pressure was concentrated heavily on leveraged long positions. BTC recorded around USD 111 million in long liquidations and USD 9.3708 million in short liquidations. ETH saw USD 74.0102 million in long liquidations and USD 14.7168 million in short liquidations. The figures show that leveraged bulls faced greater pressure as prices moved lower. Liquidation maps also point to sizable positioning on both sides of the market. If BTC rises above $80,660, cumulative short liquidation intensity across major trading platforms could reach approximately USD 1.825 billion. A drop below $73,471 could expose around USD 1.365 billion in cumulative long liquidation intensity. For ETH, a move above $2,568 could bring cumulative short liquidation intensity to around USD 942 million. A decline below $2,326 could raise cumulative long liquidation intensity to approximately USD 911 million. Outside the crypto market, energy prices and bond yields remain elevated. U.S. markets are awaiting the August CPI release, while Japan's 10-year government bond yield briefly touched 3%. Interest-rate and inflation expectations therefore remain important factors in risk-asset pricing. Overall, BTC and ETH are currently facing weaker spot ETF flows, concentrated liquidations of leveraged long positions, and renewed pressure from higher rate expectations. The short-term market structure has shifted away from the previous rebound phase toward an environment marked by higher volatility and continued deleveraging.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

Bitcoin Briefly Falls Below $77K as Zcash Leads Losses and Fed Rate Hike Bets Rise

Bitcoin briefly fell below $77K during the latest market pullback and lost nearly 2% over 24 hours. The broader crypto market also moved lower. The decline followed the release of U.S. August producer price data. The Producer Price Index rose 5.4% year over year, above the 5.1% market forecast. U.S. Treasury yields climbed further after the release. The 30-year Treasury yield reached its highest level in around 19 years, while the 10-year yield approached 5% and the 2-year yield moved above 4.5%. Interest-rate futures also showed that traders had increased their expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike. Energy markets rose sharply during the same period. Brent crude moved above $107 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate approached $102. Markets continued to watch whether higher energy prices could add further pressure to upcoming inflation readings. Crypto assets broadly declined. Zcash fell around 12% to roughly $1,134, while HYPE dropped about 7% to below $79. Dogecoin traded near $0.08 and XRP fell to around $1.34. Solana moved below $100. ETH traded near $2,445 and was down close to 2% over 24 hours, which was a smaller decline than several other major crypto assets. Traditional markets also came under pressure. Gold slipped toward $4,330 and the U.S. Dollar Index rose to around 99. The S&P 500 closed lower for a fourth consecutive session, while major Asian equity futures also weakened. The next key U.S. data release is the August CPI report. Headline inflation is expected at around 3.4% year over year, while core inflation is forecast at approximately 2.4%. The release will provide another important inflation reading ahead of the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting. Interest-rate futures now price the probability of a rate hike at around 70%, up from roughly 50% about two weeks earlier.

Ripple Brings AI Agents Into Its USD 1 Billion Corporate Treasury Strategy

Ripple announced an expansion of GSmart AI capabilities within Ripple Treasury. The company is bringing AI agents further into corporate cash management, liquidity management, risk monitoring, forecasting, reconciliation, and financial reporting workflows. Ripple Treasury is built on GTreasury, which Ripple acquired in 2025 in a deal valued at USD 1 billion. The corporate treasury platform has since been progressively integrated into Ripple's broader business. Following the latest update, GSmart agents can continuously monitor designated treasury processes and identify issues that may require action. The system can then recommend specific responses and cite relevant corporate policies or control requirements. Ripple said the system does not independently execute cash movements or other financial transactions. All recommended actions must still be reviewed and approved by authorized company personnel before execution. The architecture also separates financial calculations from AI interpretation. Traditional software handles calculations and other tasks that require deterministic results. AI is primarily used to interpret policies, identify patterns, and explain recommendations. The update also introduces Knowledge Studio as a policy and governance layer. Companies can use it to define internal rules that agents must follow. Ask GSmart also allows treasury teams to query corporate financial data and related analytical results. Ripple Treasury previously added digital asset management capabilities. This allows corporate finance teams to view and manage traditional cash and digital assets within the same treasury system. The latest GSmart expansion continues the platform's integration of corporate treasury management, digital assets, and AI tools while keeping human approval as a required step for all financial actions.

ESMA Warns Deeper Crypto Links Could Increase Spillover Risks to Traditional Finance

The European Securities and Markets Authority, or ESMA, said in its latest risk monitoring report that links between crypto markets and the traditional financial system continue to deepen. The regulator said closer monitoring is needed as the potential for risks to spread across markets increases. ESMA noted that tokenized equities still represent a very small share of global equity markets. However, adoption is increasing and could introduce new market participants, trading infrastructure, and asset-holding models. The report also highlighted several recent DeFi security incidents. ESMA said greater interaction between decentralized finance and traditional markets could allow such events to have broader financial spillover effects. Prediction markets were another area identified for closer scrutiny. The regulator highlighted concerns related to insider trading, market manipulation, and transaction monitoring. ESMA said the use of crypto assets and on-chain infrastructure in prediction markets could make it more difficult to identify insider trading, wash trading, and coordinated market activity. Regulatory jurisdiction over prediction markets also remains disputed in the United States. The federal derivatives regulator maintains that federally regulated event contracts fall under its jurisdiction. Some state authorities have instead sought to regulate these products under state gambling laws. The dispute has already led to legal proceedings across several states. New Jersey officials filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court on September 2 and asked the court to determine whether states can apply sports betting laws to federally regulated prediction markets. Similar legal disputes now involve at least 20 states. It remains unclear whether the Supreme Court will formally take up the case. ESMA included these developments within its broader framework for monitoring financial innovation and market risk. The regulator continues to watch the growing institutional and infrastructure links between crypto assets and traditional financial markets.

EU Financial Market Risk Indicators. Source: ESMA

Disclaimer: The information provided in this section is for informational purposes only and doesn't represent any investment advice or FameEX's official view.