Asia Morning Briefing: Market Observers Say Bitcoin’s Structure Looks Weak Even as Industry Strengthens

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.

As Asia begins its trading day, BTC is down 3% in the past 24 hours, changing hands at $113,000, while Ether is also in the red, down 5.6% to $4,100, extending a week of weakness across majors.

The pullback comes despite a continued stream of bullish headlines, underscoring what market observers say is a widening gap between short-term price action and longer-term structural progress.

In a recent report, Glassnode frames the decline as a function of fragility: spot momentum is fading, leverage is stretched, and profit-taking pressure is building. Even though U.S.-listed spot ETFs attracted nearly $900 million in inflows last week, Glassnode warns that without renewed conviction in spot markets, positioning remains vulnerable to deeper deleveraging.

However, this view is not universal.

Enflux, a Singapore-based market maker, by contrast, argued in a recent note shared with CoinDesk that the industry is maturing faster than prices suggest.

Weak price action is a short-term disconnect, and traders aren't focusing on the more important headlines: Google becoming the largest shareholder in miner TeraWulf, Wyoming launching a state-backed stablecoin, and Tether hiring a former White House crypto policy official.

These shifts, they argue, show capital and talent aligning around a regulatory-aligned, institutional future.

The divergence in tone is telling. One camp sees fragile positioning and fading momentum; the other sees scaffolding being laid for an institutional, regulatory-aligned cycle. Prices may look unimpressed, but the industry’s trajectory suggests the market is maturing faster than charts imply.

Market Movers

BTC: Bitcoin fell 3.2% to below $114,000 as cryptocurrencies and related stocks extended losses ahead of the Fed’s FOMC minutes and Powell’s Jackson Hole speech later this week.

ETH: Ether fell 3.5% to under $4,200 as investors reconsider the likelihood of a September Fed rate cut, with Bank of America economists warning Powell may argue for holding rates amid sticky inflation and tariff pressures.

Gold: Gold edged up to $3,384.70 and silver to $38.115 in quiet trading as markets await Powell’s Jackson Hole speech Friday on the Fed’s policy outlook, while global stocks were mixed and China’s central bank injected $65 billion to steady bonds.

Nikkei 225: Japan’s Nikkei slipped 1.14% to 43,050.89, retreating from record highs as investors weigh risks tied to a fragile U.S. trade deal.

S&P 500: U.S. stock futures were little changed Tuesday night, with the S&P 500 flat, Dow steady, and Nasdaq 100 down 0.2%, as investors awaited major retail earnings and Fed meeting minutes.

Elsewhere in Crypto

• Bullish's $1.15B in IPO Proceeds Was Entirely in Stablecoins—A First for Public Market (CoinDesk)
• Who Needs 280 Bitcoin Domain Names? Massive BTC Bundle Goes Up for Auction (Decrypt)
• Robinhood launching sports betting prediction markets on NFL and NCAA football via Kalshi partnership (The Block)