First Mover Asia: Bitcoin Is CPI Resistant

Good morning. Here’s what’s happening:

Prices: Bitcoin and ether are opening flat in Asia trading, seemingly unaffected by Thursday's Consumer Price Index numbers.

Insights: Coinbase (COIN) recently likened cryptocurrencies to Beanie Babies, questioning their future in finance. Meanwhile, analysts project that real-world asset tokenization could become a $5 trillion industry, but warn that without specific changes, tokenization won't significantly evolve finance.

Prices

CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) 1,228 −5.0 ▼ 0.4% Bitcoin BTC$88,046.74 $29,451 −111.3 ▼ 0.4% Ethereum ETH$2,988.64 $1,851 −2.3 ▼ 0.1% S&P 500 4,468.83 +1.1 ▲ 0.0% Gold $1,946 +30.4 ▲ 1.6% Nikkei 225 32,473.65 +269.3 ▲ 0.8% BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk Indices, as of 7 a.m. ET (11 a.m. UTC)CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) 1,228 −5.0 ▼ 0.4% Bitcoin BTC$88,046.74 $29,451 −111.3 ▼ 0.4% Ethereum ETH$2,988.64 $1,851 −2.3 ▼ 0.1% S&P 500 4,468.83 +1.1 ▲ 0.0% Gold $1,946 +30.4 ▲ 1.6% Nikkei 225 32,473.65 +269.3 ▲ 0.8% BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk Indices, as of 7 a.m. ET (11 a.m. UTC)

Bitcoin BTC$88,046.74 and ether ETH$2,988.64 are opening the Asia trading day flat, as the two largest cryptocurrencies continue to shake off macro waves.

Bitcoin was down 0.4% to $29,451, while ether was 0.1% lower at $1,851, during early Asian trading hours.

The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) is down 0.39%.

Crypto seems to be unaffected by the latest Consumer Price Index numbers, which showed a modest amount of inflation and which was in line with economists' predictions.

In July, both the CPI and core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2% from June. On an annual basis, CPI rose 3.2%, and core CPI rose 4.7%. The relatively mild inflation numbers mean the Federal Reserve will be less likely to raise rates at its next policy meeting in September.

Aside from macroeconomic factors, analysts continue to wonder why bitcoin won't budge above $30,000. Possible reasons include the uncertainty over whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a spot bitcoin ETF, miners taking profits ahead of the Bitcoin halving scheduled for next April, a dearth of new retail market participation and strong resistance in derivatives trading.

Even though many adrenaline-addicted crypto traders might be missing volatility, bitcoin is surely looking like a good store of value these days.

Biggest Gainers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector Shiba Inu SHIB +2.3% Currency Solana SOL +1.7% Smart Contract Platform Dogecoin DOGE +0.8% Currency

Biggest Losers

Asset Ticker Returns DACS Sector Gala GALA −2.1% Entertainment Cardano ADA −1.3% Smart Contract Platform Polkadot DOT −0.9% Smart Contract Platform

Insights

Is Coinbase Disillusioned With Crypto?: The exchange recently argued that cryptos are like Beanie Babies. So does it still think Bitcoin and Ethereum are the future of finance?

How Crypto Tokenization Can Go Wrong (and How to Make It Right):Real-world assets could become a $5 trillion industry, analysts project. But without certain changes, tokenization won't be a meaningful evolution in finance.

CoinDesk TV

In case you missed it, here is the most recent episode of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV:

SEC Gears Up to Appeal XRP Ruling in Case Against Ripple; Coinbase Launches Its Own Blockchain

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP Counsel Michael Selig discusses the SEC saying it will file an "interlocutory appeal" of a judge's ruling on Ripple's programmatic sales of XRP.

Headlines

Metaverse Platform Sandbox Transferred Out 60M SAND Ahead of Monday's $133M Token Unlock: As the price of SAND slid 4% in August, the Sandbox Genesis smart contract had emitted 60 million SAND tokens prior to the upcoming token unlocked scheduled for Aug. 14.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters Says She’s ‘Deeply Concerned’ About PayPal’s New Stablecoin: The top Democrat on the House Financial Service Committee said federal rules should be in place before a company the size of PayPal issues a stablecoin.

Digital Currency Group Files to Dismiss Crypto Exchange Gemini’s Fraud Claims:DCG called Gemini’s July complaint a continuation of a “public relations campaign” carried out by the exchange’s owners, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.