US charges two ex-Robinhood engineers over pre-listing trades as Bitcoin ETF outflows hit $450.4M and CLARITY stalls; BTC price is near $75.9K in Neutral sentiment. The broader crypto market is moving lower. BTC is trading near $75.9K after falling about 2.85% over the past 24 hours, while ETH is trading around $2,401.73 after declining about 4.55%. ETH has seen a notably deeper short-term pullback than BTC. Market sentiment has also cooled. The Crypto Fear and Greed Index fell from 69 in Greed yesterday to 51 in Neutral, showing that the stronger risk appetite built during the recent advance is fading quickly. BTC previously approached $80K before giving back part of its gains following recent regulatory developments. The price has since returned to its recent consolidation range. Short-term trading activity has also shifted away from chasing higher prices toward adjusting leveraged positions. ETH has experienced sharper price swings and has fallen more than BTC as risk assets across the market weaken. This suggests that positions in higher-volatility assets are being reduced at a faster pace. On the capital-flow side, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about USD 450.4 million in net outflows in a single day. This was the largest daily outflow since late June and points to a noticeable withdrawal of capital from institutional investment products. The derivatives market also saw concentrated liquidations. Around USD 571 million in long positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, including roughly USD 190 million each in BTC and ETH longs. Leveraged positioning has therefore become an important part of the current market structure. Liquidation data also shows sizable leverage clusters on both sides of the BTC and ETH markets. If BTC moves toward $79,544, cumulative short liquidation intensity could reach about USD 2.45 billion. If ETH rises toward $2,522, cumulative short liquidation intensity could reach about USD 1.388 billion. On the downside, BTC could face about USD 1.217 billion in long liquidation intensity near $72,118. ETH could face about USD 552 million near $2,286. These figures show that meaningful leveraged exposure remains concentrated both above and below current prices. Overall, the market is being shaped by spot ETF outflows, long-side deleveraging in derivatives and weaker sentiment. BTC and ETH have both returned to their recent trading ranges. Short-term price action continues to reflect shifts in capital flows and the ongoing reset in leveraged positioning.

Source: Alternative

Key News Highlights:

US Prosecutors Charge Two Former Robinhood Engineers Over Alleged Pre-Listing Perpetual Trades

U.S. prosecutors have charged two former Robinhood engineers, Hefu Chai and Huaisong “Jerry” Xiang, with commodities fraud and wire fraud. The case centers on allegations that they used confidential information about upcoming cryptocurrency listings to trade perpetual contracts. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, both employees worked on or had access to digital asset listing operations during their time at Robinhood. This gave them access to nonpublic information about which tokens could be listed and when trading could begin on Robinhood. Prosecutors allege that the two opened long perpetual positions in related tokens on a decentralized derivatives platform before Robinhood publicly announced certain listings. They then allegedly closed the positions for a profit after the listing announcements affected token prices. The DOJ said the trades took place between 2025 and 2026. Each defendant allegedly earned more than USD 50,000 from the activity. Robinhood classified employees with access to certain listing information as personnel with sensitive information privileges and imposed restrictions on trading around listing and delisting announcements. Prosecutors said the case involved several crypto asset listings and positions opened through perpetual contracts rather than direct purchases of the underlying spot assets. U.S. prosecutors also stated that trading perpetual futures, tokenized securities or similar instruments with misappropriated confidential corporate information may still fall under existing commodities, securities and fraud laws. Each defendant currently faces one count of violating the Commodity Exchange Act and one count of wire fraud. The charges remain allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

US Spot Bitcoin ETFs Post USD 450.4 Million Daily Outflow, Largest Since Late June

U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about USD 450.4 million in combined net outflows during the latest trading session. This marked the largest single-day withdrawal since late June. According to Farside data, the 13 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had recorded about USD 159.9 million in net inflows during the previous session. Capital flows then reversed sharply into significant net outflows in the latest session. The latest figure was also the largest daily withdrawal since June 24, when the funds recorded about USD 469 million in net outflows. Fidelity’s FBTC posted the largest outflow of the day at approximately USD 214.8 million. BlackRock’s IBIT recorded about USD 161.7 million in net outflows and was another major source of withdrawals. Grayscale’s GBTC saw approximately USD 44.1 million in net outflows. ARK 21Shares’ ARKB and Bitwise’s BITB recorded about USD 17.4 million and USD 12.4 million in net outflows respectively. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs had seen stronger capital inflows during August. Since the start of September, however, daily fund flows have shown larger swings between inflows and outflows. ETF flow data tracks capital entering and leaving U.S.-listed investment products. The recent sequence of large inflows and outflows has therefore become an important indicator for monitoring changes in institutional allocation through these products.

CLARITY Act Fails to Advance in Senate as Crypto-Linked Stocks and Miners Retreat

Several U.S.-listed crypto-related stocks fell sharply in the latest trading session after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act. The vote involved a cloture motion that would have moved the legislation toward further consideration. It failed to secure the 60 votes required to advance. One of the main goals of the CLARITY Act is to establish a regulatory framework for the U.S. digital asset market. It also seeks to further define the regulatory responsibilities of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission across different digital assets and related activities. Following the vote, shares of Circle and a major CEX fell by about 10%, making them some of the more notable declines among crypto-linked stocks. Public companies with significant Bitcoin exposure also moved lower. Strategy and Strive each fell by about 5%. Bitcoin mining stocks came under pressure as well. Riot Platforms declined by about 6%, while CleanSpark fell nearly 5%. Hut 8 and IREN each lost around 4%. The equity declines occurred during the same trading period as a broader pullback in BTC. Bitcoin briefly fell below $75K before recovering toward $76K. The CLARITY Act had been under negotiation for several months. Discussions covered digital asset classification, regulatory jurisdiction, stablecoin-related provisions and ethics rules involving crypto assets held by government officials. The failed procedural vote does not completely end further legislative action. However, the timing and path for the bill’s next stage will depend on future congressional procedures.

Crypto Long Liquidations Reach About USD 571 Million in 24 Hours, With BTC and ETH Taking the Largest Losses

The crypto derivatives market recorded a significant wave of long liquidations over the past 24 hours. Around USD 571 million in bullish perpetual futures and futures positions were force-closed during the period. By comparison, short liquidations totaled about USD 100 million. This shows that the latest liquidation wave was concentrated mainly among leveraged traders positioned for higher prices. BTC and ETH recorded the largest liquidation totals. Long positions in each asset saw roughly USD 190 million liquidated. Other major crypto assets also recorded losses. XRP longs saw about USD 30 million in liquidations, while SOL longs recorded approximately USD 22 million. BTC had previously climbed from around $77K to nearly $80K. During that advance, some derivatives traders increased leveraged long exposure. As the market reversed lower, these positions gradually reached their maintenance margin thresholds. Some were then automatically closed by trading platforms. Forced liquidation typically occurs when losses on a leveraged position reduce the available collateral below the level needed to maintain that position. The platform then closes the position according to its risk management rules. When large numbers of liquidations occur within a short period, the resulting forced buy or sell orders can also increase trading activity and amplify price volatility. At the time of the latest data, BTC remained around $75.7K to $75.9K. The price was still within its recent primary trading range, while leveraged positions in the derivatives market had undergone a significant reset following the latest volatility.

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