Bitcoin (BTC) returned to $64,000 after Monday’s Wall Street open as US stocks gave way to gold.

Key points:

• Bitcoin continues a rebound from Sunday’s weekly close, gaining 2% on Monday.
• Oil stays steady after US president Donald Trump threatens to bomb Oman over the Strait of Hormuz.
• Bitcoin funding rates hit 20-month highs of 0.022 last week, data reveals. 

Bitcoin inches up as US-Iran rhetoric spreads to Oman

Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD up by more than 2% on the day, rebounding from Sunday’s weekly close. 

BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

US equities turned lower as an agreed 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran was set to expire, with the S&P 500 index down 0.5% from Thursday’s all-time highs. 

S&P 500 one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Speaking to Fox News, Trump threatened Oman with military action amid an ongoing dispute over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz oil route.

“If Oman gets in the way, we’ll bomb the s*** out of them,” he told the network.

Oil markets appeared unfazed by the tensions, with WTI crude flat at $82.35 per barrel at the time of writing.

Safe haven gold was more volatile, gaining just over 1% to start the week to reach a daily high of $4,427 per ounce. Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on a combination of retail and government interest fueling gold’s multiweek highs.

XAU/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Data from investment research platform Bytetree tracking the 30-day change in inflows to gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) put the figure at nearly $12 billion through Aug. 13.

In a note on Monday quoted by Investing.com, Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett wrote that long gold remained the trade, describing it as “still [sic] best hedge against dollar debasement, bond collapse, asset inflation, capitalist populism vs socialist populism politics of 2020s.”

Related: BTC price loses 200-week trend line as 2022 repeats: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

Funding rates hit levels not seen since late 2024

In its latest Market Color bulletin published on Monday, trading company QCP Capital noted Bitcoin’s continued ability to weather macro tailwinds without a major breakdown from its current range.

“Rather than treating individual price levels as directional signals, the more useful observation is that BTC remains close to the lower end of its recent range. A sustained move outside that range would provide more information about market positioning than the relatively contained moves seen within it,” it wrote.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on expectations that a return to $61,000 would trigger an unwinding of BTC long positions, adding to downside BTC price momentum.

The latest data from CoinGlass showed liquidations remaining muted as BTC/USD returned toward $64,000, with 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations at $180 million.

Crypto liquidation history (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

In a sign of long BTC becoming an increasingly crowded trade, derivatives market funding rates hit 20-month highs of 0.022 on Aug. 14, per data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant.

“The derivatives market sentiment is positive within the current BTC price range, indicating that most traders are taking long positions,” it commented on the readings.

CryptoQuant previously noted that futures trading volume on Binance was outweighing spot markets by almost eight times.

Bitcoin funding rates chart. Source: CryptoQuant

The US Department of the Treasury issued a notice of proposed rulemaking related to the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, a bill to establish a framework for payment stablecoins signed into law last year.

In a Monday notice, the Treasury Department said that it was opening a proposed rule up to public comment ahead of the January 2027 implementation of the GENIUS Act. Under the terms of the bill, the stablecoin law had been scheduled to go into effect 120 days after agencies finalize rules, or 18 months after it was passed in July 2025, making its effective date Jan. 18, 2027. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the department “welcomes input from stakeholders as [it works] to provide the regulatory certainty businesses need to innovate and grow in America.” 

Together with the Treasury Department, other US government agencies including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board have issued notices of proposed rules in 2026 related to the implementation of GENIUS. However, all departments reportedly missed the 120-day deadline in July to finalize regulations before January, signaling that GENIUS could go into effect without clear guidance.

Related: Wise to resubmit US bank charter application under GENIUS Act

According to Treasury, once the GENIUS Act goes into effect, an entity generally may not “issue a payment stablecoin” in the US without a related federal or state license. Public comment on the department’s proposed rules is open for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

US-UK regulators discuss GENIUS progress

In July, the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group met in London to discuss cooperation between the two country’s financial agencies, including implementation of the GENIUS Act.

Although UK authorities have taken steps to address stablecoin regulation, the pending implementation of GENIUS has some crypto industry insiders arguing the country is falling behind the US.

Magazine: Data of 54,000 wallet users leaked, CLARITY odds just 10%: Hodler’s Digest

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Bitcoin rebounded after Monday’s Wall Street open, returning to the $64,000 area as traditional markets rotated away from equities and toward commodities. The move followed a weekly close earlier in the weekend session, with BTC/USD recovering more than 2% on the day according to TradingView.

At the same time, geopolitical noise around the US–Iran standoff spilled toward Oman, raising renewed questions about the Strait of Hormuz shipping route—though oil prices appeared largely unmoved in early trading. Derivatives data also pointed to a crowded long trade, with Bitcoin funding rates reaching levels not seen since late 2024.

Key takeaways

• BTC/USD climbed more than 2% on Monday after rebounding from Sunday’s weekly close, with price returning to roughly $64,000.
• US–Iran ceasefire concerns and Trump’s comments related to Oman fed risk headlines, but WTI crude stayed near $82.35 per barrel.
• CryptoQuant data shows Bitcoin funding rates hitting 20-month highs of 0.022 as long positions build within the current range.
• QCP Capital said BTC remains near the lower end of its recent range, warning that sustained moves beyond the range would carry more signal than day-to-day fluctuations.

BTC tracks a shift from equities to commodities

TradingView data showed Bitcoin up over 2% on Monday, rebounding from the prior weekly close. The move coincided with softer US equity sentiment: the S&P 500 was down about 0.5% from its Thursday all-time high around the time of writing, as stocks gave way to gold as investors searched for alternative havens.

Geopolitical headlines added volatility to the broader macro picture. With an agreed 60-day ceasefire between the US and Iran set to expire, Trump told Fox News he would consider military action if Oman “gets in the way” amid a dispute linked to reopening the Strait of Hormuz oil route. Despite the rhetoric, oil markets appeared calm, with WTI crude trading flat around $82.35 per barrel at the time.

Gold showed more movement than oil at the start of the week. Safe-haven demand lifted XAU/USD by just over 1%, reaching a daily high of $4,427 per ounce. Cointelegraph previously reported that a mix of retail participation and government interest helped push gold to multiweek highs.

Data tracked by Bytetree, which monitors the 30-day change in inflows to gold-backed exchange-traded funds (ETFs), placed 30-day inflows at nearly $12 billion through Aug. 13. In an Investing.com piece that quoted a Bank of America strategist, Michael Hartnett argued that “long gold remained the trade,” framing it as a hedge amid concerns around currency debasement, bond stress, and inflationary pressures.

Investors keep BTC near a familiar range—until positioning shifts

In a Monday bulletin, QCP Capital said Bitcoin’s ability to withstand macro pressures without a major breakdown suggested the market is not yet signaling a decisive trend change. The firm emphasized that focusing on single price levels may miss the bigger picture.

Instead, QCP Capital pointed to range behavior: it described BTC as still sitting close to the lower end of its recent trading band and argued that a sustained move outside the range would reveal more meaningful information about market positioning than relatively contained intraday moves.

This framing matters for traders because it implies that catalysts may be more important than incremental price changes. Earlier coverage referenced expectations that a return to the $61,000 area could prompt an unwinding of BTC long positions—an observation tied to how leverage can amplify downside when levels break.

On Monday, liquidation activity appeared contained as BTC moved back toward the $64,000 region. CoinGlass data cited in the report put 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations at approximately $180 million, suggesting that the rebound occurred without a large liquidation-driven panic on the day.

Funding rates surge: long exposure is getting crowded

Beyond spot price, derivatives positioning offered a more pointed signal. CryptoQuant data showed Bitcoin funding rates reaching 20-month highs of 0.022 on Aug. 14. The analytics firm characterized derivatives sentiment within the current BTC price range as positive, adding that most traders were taking long positions.

When funding rates rise while price holds relatively stable, it can indicate that market participants are piling into the same side of the trade. That can be constructive if momentum extends—but it also increases the risk that a reversal could trigger crowded unwinds, depending on how price reacts at the edges of the prevailing range.

The report also cited CryptoQuant’s earlier observation that futures activity on Binance was outweighing spot markets by nearly eight times. While this metric alone doesn’t predict direction, it supports the broader theme: derivatives are playing a large role in how leverage and sentiment develop around Bitcoin’s current trading boundaries.

What to watch next amid macro and leverage signals

For now, Bitcoin is rebounding, but the underlying positioning looks increasingly one-sided as funding rates climb and longs become more crowded. Investors and traders should watch whether BTC can sustain moves beyond its recent range—since QCP Capital suggested that only a sustained breakout would meaningfully clarify market positioning—while keeping an eye on funding rate changes and liquidation levels for signs that leverage is either being rewarded or set up for a sharper unwind.

Tom Lee’s Bitmine Immersion Technologies has restarted a steady program of Ethereum treasury buying, adding 9,926 ETH during the week ending Aug. 16. The company says the purchase brings its Ether holdings to roughly 5.82 million ETH—about 4.8% of Ethereum’s circulating supply—putting it close to its long-term goal of owning 5% of the asset’s total supply.

In its disclosure, Bitmine also provided valuation context: at an ETH reference price of $1,893, the latest portfolio total is worth about $11 billion. But the company notes that many of its ETH were acquired at significantly higher prices, underscoring how difficult the prolonged bear market has been for Ethereum treasury strategies.

Key takeaways

• Bitmine bought 9,926 ETH for the week ending Aug. 16, lifting holdings to about 5.82 million ETH (around 4.8% of circulating supply).
• At a reference price of $1,893, Bitmine’s Ether stake is valued near $11 billion, though acquisition costs are substantially higher for a large portion of the position.
• Industry data cited by DropsTab estimates unrealized losses of more than $8.4 billion on the current ETH treasury.
• Despite the drawdown, Bitmine continues to stake more than 5 million ETH, which it says is generating protocol rewards.
• Bitmine’s staking yield was reported at 2.61% over seven days, implying roughly $287 million in annualized staking rewards, according to Tom Lee.

Restarting the “Alchemy of 5%” push

Bitmine’s strategy is built around scale and patience. After resuming purchases last week, the company is now within reach of its “Alchemy of 5%” target: holding 5% of Ethereum’s total supply. That target matters because it signals a treasury model designed to treat Ether as a long-duration bet rather than a tactical trading position.

According to Bitmine’s disclosure, the latest weekly buy also helps explain why the company continues to frame its program as a process rather than a series of opportunistic trades. The reported accumulation keeps the company moving toward a specific ownership threshold—one that would materially increase its influence and relevance as an institutional holder in Ethereum’s expanding ecosystem.

Unrealized losses remain a pressure point

The renewed buying comes even as Ether’s market environment has tested Bitmine’s conviction. The company is reported to be sitting on more than $8.4 billion in unrealized losses on its ETH holdings, based on industry data cited by DropsTab. DropsTab’s estimate places Bitmine’s unrealized losses at around 43% relative to the company’s reported acquisition costs, despite the current portfolio value being above $11 billion.

That mismatch—between the size of the position and the magnitude of drawdowns—highlights a key risk for any “buy-and-hold” treasury plan executed through a full market cycle. Even when a strategy is long-term, the path matters: buying during a downtrend can create large paper losses that only reverse if market prices recover meaningfully.

Staking helps fund the wait

What differentiates Bitmine’s approach from a simple spot accumulation strategy is its ongoing staking operation. The company said it is staking more than 5 million ETH, which it values at roughly $9.6 billion at current prices. By staking, Bitmine earns protocol rewards for helping secure the network—providing a source of yield that can partially offset the emotional and financial pressure of unrealized drawdowns.

Bitmine’s filing also links its staking activity to a measurable performance indicator. Based on a seven-day staking yield of 2.61%, Tom Lee projects annualized staking rewards of roughly $287 million. While annualized estimates can fluctuate—since staking yields depend on network conditions and how rewards are distributed—the point for investors is clear: Bitmine’s treasury is not entirely exposed to price movement. A portion of its return profile is tied to staking economics rather than only to Ether’s market direction.

Still, staking does not remove the core uncertainty. If Ether’s price does not recover, unrealized losses can remain large even while protocol rewards accrue. Conversely, if Ether rebounds, staking rewards can accelerate the path toward a healthier overall position—both in absolute returns and relative to acquisition costs.

Why steady accumulation is notable now

Bitmine’s restart of weekly Ether purchases suggests the company is treating the current phase of the market as compatible with its long-term ownership targets. Earlier coverage noted that Bitmine has continued accumulating Ether through weekly buys since launching its ETH treasury strategy in June 2025. In that context, the latest addition looks less like a reaction to short-term price action and more like execution of a defined roadmap.

For market observers, that matters because large treasury actions can act as a counterpoint to narratives that institutional interest fades during downturns. Even when unrealized losses mount, Bitmine appears willing to keep buying as it approaches its 5% target—while using staking yield to keep the strategy funded.

There is, however, an important asymmetry to watch. As Bitmine nears the 5% level, further buying can become harder depending on remaining supply dynamics and how the company structures future deployment. The company’s near-term challenge may shift from “can it keep accumulating?” to “how does it manage valuation risk and portfolio efficiency as its position grows?”

Next, investors and traders will likely focus on whether Bitmine can sustain weekly accumulation while Ethereum staking yields remain stable enough to support the projected reward rate. Just as importantly, readers should watch how fast the market price of Ether moves relative to Bitmine’s acquisition costs—because staking can soften the drawdown, but only a meaningful price recovery can fully relieve the unrealized loss picture.

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Ethereum researchers have proposed prioritizing two transaction changes for the 2027 Hegotá upgrade that could let privacy pools pay network fees without third-party intermediaries.

Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said in an Aug. 17 X post that the Protocol Architecture team wants developers to prioritize Frame Transactions, listed as EIP-8141, and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, known as FOCIL or EIP-7805.

Hegotá is taking shape, and we’ve published the Protocol Architecture team’s view on what should go into the fork:

Check it out here:https://t.co/W1lfX3GZC3

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The short version: FOCIL is the right headliner, and we think Frame Transactions should join it as the headliner on the…

— Toni Wahrstätter ⟠ (@nero_eth) August 17, 2026

Ethereum privacy pools could pay their own fees

Frame Transactions would introduce a programmable transaction format that gives wallets more control over validation, execution, and gas payments. Wahrstätter described frames as a “much more expressive transaction format” and a key part of Ethereum’s planned transaction experience.

Under the proposal, transaction logic would be divided into programmable frames instead of relying on Ethereum’s current fixed transaction structure. Wallets and applications could use the format for gas sponsorship, alternative signature systems, key rotation, and other forms of account abstraction.

For privacy pools, the fee-payment feature could remove the need for a separate relayer to submit a transaction and pay its gas. Relayers can create another point where transaction details, wallet behavior, or network information may become visible to an outside service.

“Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries,” Wahrstätter said. “Add FOCIL support, and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees.”

Frame Transactions would work with Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots, listed as EIP-8272. Keyed Nonces would let an account maintain separate transaction sequences, while Recent Roots would allow a transaction to refer to a recent Ethereum state without relying on one fixed block reference.

The proposed package also includes Transaction Assertions, or EIP-7906. According to Wahrstätter, assertions would let wallets define conditions that must remain true when a transaction is processed, giving users a way to limit what can happen after they sign and submit it.

Earlier crypto.news coverage found that EIP-8141 remains under consideration rather than scheduled for Hegotá. Ethereum client teams are also comparing it with EIP-8130, another account-abstraction proposal, before deciding which design should move into implementation and testing.

FOCIL would protect eligible transactions from censorship

FOCIL is the only Ethereum Improvement Proposal currently scheduled for Hegotá. The design would allow a committee of validators to publish lists of transactions that block builders are expected to include.

Attesters could reject a proposed block if its builder improperly left out eligible transactions from an inclusion list. Ethereum developers have presented the system as a way to protect transaction access as block production becomes more specialized and concentrated among large builders.

Privacy transactions could benefit because users would not have to depend entirely on a block builder’s willingness to include them. FOCIL would not make transactions private on its own, but it would add a protocol process for resisting selective exclusion.

Wahrstätter has argued that combining FOCIL with Frame Transactions, Keyed Nonces, and Recent Roots would give privacy pools both independent fee payment and stronger inclusion protection. His proposal represents a researcher’s preferred package, not a final decision by Ethereum’s core developers.

Hegotá currently has 66 proposals under discussion, covering account abstraction, censorship resistance, transaction pricing, state growth, validator economics, and network scaling. The number does not mean all 66 features will ship, as most have not entered implementation, development networks, or public testnets.

“A fork can’t be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become,” Wahrstätter wrote in an earlier post. Developers instead need to decide which changes Ethereum should adopt next and which ones require more time, he added.

US scrutiny has kept crypto privacy tools in focus

For US users, the proposals concern how Ethereum processes private transactions rather than changing federal rules governing money transmission, sanctions, or illicit finance. American treatment of crypto privacy software has remained contested across Treasury actions and criminal cases involving mixing services.

The US Treasury removed economic sanctions against Tornado Cash in March 2025 after reviewing the legal and policy questions raised by applying sanctions to technology-based financial activity. Treasury said at the time that it remained concerned about North Korean hackers and other illicit actors using digital assets.

In a separate criminal case, a Manhattan jury convicted Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm in August 2025 of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Jurors did not reach verdicts on the money-laundering and sanctions charges, according to the reported split verdict.

The US Justice Department said Tornado Cash had transmitted more than $1 billion in criminal proceeds, including funds connected to North Korea’s Lazarus Group. Storm’s defense maintained that the protocol operated through autonomous open-source software and that its developers did not control individual transactions.

Ethereum’s proposed privacy pool design differs at the protocol level because Wahrstätter’s post deals with fee payment and transaction inclusion, not the legal structure or compliance systems of a specific application. Neither EIP-8141 nor EIP-7805 defines how privacy applications would handle US sanctions screening, money-transmission rules, or other compliance requirements.

Hegotá follows Ethereum’s 2026 Glamsterdam upgrade

Hegotá is scheduled to follow Glamsterdam, the Ethereum upgrade developers want to release before the end of 2026. A June upgrade report said Glamsterdam centers on Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and Block-Level Access Lists, alongside changes to the way Ethereum prices network resources.

Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation would bring the division between block proposers and builders into Ethereum’s protocol. Block-Level Access Lists would show which accounts and contract data a block needs, allowing clients to prepare data before execution and process some transactions in parallel.

Hegotá candidates extend that work into privacy, censorship resistance, account abstraction, and state management. Scaling proposals under review include EIP-8368, which would adjust state-creation costs if Ethereum raises its gas limit beyond the level used for Glamsterdam.

Developers are also studying separate access-list data, higher gas limits approaching 500 million to 600 million, and optional zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine proofs on the main network. Each proposal must compete for engineering resources, client support, testing time, and space within the 2027 release schedule.

Privacy and quantum resistance also sit inside Ethereum’s multi-year technical plans. A July roadmap analysis reported that Vitalik Buterin’s Lean Ethereum plan calls for new cryptography, proof-based verification, redesigned storage, and native protocol privacy over the next three to four years.

Execution client teams are due to submit their Hegotá preference lists by Sept. 10. Before then, developers plan to compare EIP-8141 with EIP-8130 during an Aug. 25 breakout meeting, with a decision on the competing account-abstraction designs targeted for the Aug. 27 All Core Developers Execution call.

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