Friday Forecasts: 15/08/25

Your weekly pulse on markets, narratives, protocols, and policy.

Market Pulse

Investment Firm Loses $190,000,000 After Trying to Short Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoins: Lookonchain

One investment firm is down hundreds of millions of dollars after attempting to short Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and other altcoins, according to on-chain analysis.

In a post on the social media platform X, Lookonchain says that crypto asset manager Abraxas Capital – a firm with around $3 billion in assets under its management – tried to short BTC, ETH, Solana (SOL), SUI Network (SUI), and Hyperliquid (HYPE) as a hedge on its other positions

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Japan’s Metaplanet Q2 Financial Report Shows 468% Bitcoin Yield, Now 4th Largest Global Holder

Japan’s Metaplanet Inc has achieved a massive 468% Bitcoin yield in Q2 2025 while accumulating 18,113 BTC worth $2.1 billion.

As a result, the company has established itself as the fourth-largest corporate Bitcoin holder globally and the largest in Asia, making it the number one best performer out of 55,000 publicly listed companies globally in 2024.

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Narratives to Watch

Analyst Predicts 135% Ethereum Explosion After Break Above $4,000 – Here’s His Outlook

A closely followed crypto analyst says that Ethereum (ETH) looks ready to rip further after breaking above the $4,000 price tag.

In a new video update, crypto trader Cheds tells his 50,200 YouTube subscribers that the second-largest digital asset by market cap looks primed to continue climbing all the way to $10,000, which would represent about a 135% gain from its current price.

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Ethereum Sees Biggest Search Spike on Google Since 2021 as ETH Nears ATH

Global search interest for “Ethereum” has soared to its highest level since 2021, according to Google Trends data, reflecting a surge in public attention as the cryptocurrency closes in on record prices.

The surge coincides with heightened institutional activity, propelling Ether to $4,670 on Wednesday and bringing it within 5% of its Nov. 2021 record high.

Google’s data shows sharp growth in search traffic over recent weeks, culminating in a steep rise that eclipses all peaks from the past three years.

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Protocol Watch

Mysterious institution builds Ethereum reserve to 171K tokens

Ethereum reserves are turning into a hot commodity as more companies set out plans to buy ETH. However, in the past week, a mysterious entity has built a potential treasury of over 171K ETH.

The anonymous entity is buying up ETH from multiple sources, building a reserve of 171,015 ETH. On-chain data shows that Ethereum tokens were sent to six newly created wallets, funded by other large-scale trading wallets.

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Ethereum Foundation Sells 1,100 ETH Worth $5M in Fresh Move

The #EthereumFoundation-linked wallet(0xF39d) sold another 1,100 $ETH($5.06M) at $4,602A wallet linked to the Ethereum Foundation has sold 1,100 ETH worth $5.06 million. On-chain tracker Lookonchain reported the transaction occurred at an average price of $4,602. The move comes amid a series of large transfers by the same wallet today. Blockchain data shows the wallet, identified as 0xF39d, processed the sale approximately four hours ago. The recipient address converted the assets into DAI, signaling a shift to stablecoin holdings.

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USDC issuer Circle to launch new layer-1 Arc blockchain this year

Circle, a publicly traded US company and the issuer of USDC stablecoin, said it will launch a layer-1 (L1) blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) later this year.

The company released its second-quarter results on Tuesday and announced the introduction of Arc, a new network designed to offer an “enterprise-grade foundation” for stablecoin payments, foreign exchange and capital markets applications.

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Regulatory Radar

SEC ends lawsuit against Ripple, company to pay $125 million fine

NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it ended its case accusing Ripple Labs of selling unregistered securities, leaving a $125 million fine intact and ending one of the cryptocurrency industry’s highest-profile lawsuits.
Ripple and the SEC agreed on Thursday to dismiss their appeals of the fine imposed by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan and her injunction against the sale of Ripple’s XRP token to institutional investors.

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BlackRock eyes XRP ETF after Ripple scores court win

Ripple’s long legal clash with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially come to a close with the two parties filing a joint dismissal.

However, while the legal saga may be over, speculation about the future of Ripple and XRP is not losing any steam.

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Moonrig Perspective

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