The SEC has unveiled its long-awaited “innovation exemption,” giving blockchain-based trading platforms a framework for listing and trading tokenized securities.
JPMorgan Drops Its Middle East Baseline
JPMorgan’s commodities team said Thursday that it no longer has a clear baseline outlook for the Middle East conflict.
“For the first time since the start of the Iran conflict, we don’t have a baseline view,” the team wrote, adding that it is unclear how the conflict will ultimately develop.
The comments have gained traction in financial discussions on X as the conflict becomes increasingly complex, involving multiple countries and groups and making its potential outcome difficult to model.
WTI crude was slightly lower on Thursday but remained above $100 per barrel. U.S. diesel prices also reached a record $6.29 per gallon.
Julian Assange Says He Is Back
Julian Assange returned to X on Thursday, posting, “I’m back.” WikiLeaks had shared a similar message shortly before, accompanied by a photo of the whistleblower.
The term “de-banking” has become increasingly common, but WikiLeaks faced a similar situation as early as 2010. Visa, MasterCard and PayPal cut off payment services to the organization amid pressure from the U.S. government.
Assange initially avoided using Bitcoin for WikiLeaks fundraising after Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto reportedly urged him not to use the newly launched cryptocurrency because of concerns that authorities could target the network.
Assange’s family later used Bitcoin to raise funds for his legal costs.
SEC Exemption Lifts Crypto-Linked Stocks
Several crypto-related stocks that fell sharply earlier in the week following the CLARITY Act’s Senate setback moved higher in premarket trading after the SEC announced its “innovation exemption.”
Coinbase (COIN), Circle (CRCL), Bullish (BLSH), Robinhood (HOOD) and Securitize (SECZ) were among the companies posting gains.
The SEC’s initiative provides blockchain-based trading venues with guidance on how they can list and trade tokenized securities.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said tokenization could bring benefits such as instant settlement, 24/7 trading and built-in fractional ownership, describing the development as a positive step for U.S. innovation.
CleanSpark Gains as CoreWeave Slides on Debt Plans
CleanSpark (CLSK) rose 5% after proposing a $2.227 billion debt offering due in 2031.
The company plans to use the proceeds to complete its Sandersville data center, reimburse investments already made in the project and reserve money for debt-related payments.
CoreWeave (CRWV), meanwhile, fell 2% after announcing a $3 billion convertible debt offering due in 2033. The offering could eventually reach $3.5 billion.
Most of the proceeds will go toward general corporate purposes, with no specific project identified. Some funds will also be used for options designed to reduce shareholder dilution if the debt converts into stock.
Jobless Claims Decline as Housing Market Weakens
U.S. initial jobless claims dropped to 196,000 last week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared with 206,000 the previous week and expectations of 208,000.
The four-week average also declined to 203,250 from 206,000.
Housing data was weaker, however. U.S. housing starts fell 2.6% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.275 million, down from 1.309 million in July and below the 1.31 million forecast.
Oil Drops Below $100 as China Pressures Iran
WTI crude fell below $100 per barrel for the first time in about a week after Reuters reported that China had asked Iranian leaders to help restrain Yemen’s Houthis.
The request reportedly followed appeals from Saudi Arabia after military advances by the Houthis.
WTI dropped 3% to $99.40 per barrel. Falling oil prices also helped push Treasury yields lower, with the 10-year yield declining 5.4 basis points to 4.95%.
Risk assets benefited from the move, with Bitcoin rising 1.15% to $76,900 and Nasdaq 100 futures gaining 1.5%.
Stocks Rally After Fed Rate Increase
U.S. stock futures moved sharply higher following the Federal Reserve’s rate hike.
Nasdaq 100 futures were up 1.1%, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.9% each less than two hours before the New York market opened.
With the Fed’s rate increase now behind investors and another hike widely expected in October, December or both, markets appeared to be shifting back toward risk assets.
The 10-year Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 4.975%, while the two-year yield declined 1.4 basis points to 4.71%.
Oil also eased, with WTI at $100.76 after reaching as high as $107 earlier in the week.
Bitcoin remained mostly unchanged at $76,100, close to its level immediately before the Fed announcement.
Bank of England Holds Rates at 3.75%
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.75%.
The central bank warned that the Middle East conflict and elevated oil prices could increase inflationary pressure heading into the first quarter of 2027.
Brent crude was trading above $103 per barrel.
Zcash Jumps 17% as Crypto Liquidations Hit $345 Million
Zcash surged more than 17% to nearly $1,358 during Asian morning trading Thursday, significantly outperforming other major cryptocurrencies, according to CoinDesk data.
Solana and Hyperliquid gained around 3% each, while BNB, Dogecoin and Ether rose about 2%. Bitcoin climbed 1% to just above $76,400, XRP added roughly 1%, and Tron remained flat.
The Fed increased its target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% on Wednesday. It marked the first rate hike of the cycle, with markets assigning about a 69% probability to the move beforehand.
Bitcoin barely reacted to the decision. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said Bitcoin had already experienced a significant negative reaction to the CLARITY Act’s Senate setback, leaving the cryptocurrency less exposed to further pressure from a stronger dollar.
CoinGlass reported that 86,816 traders were liquidated over the previous 24 hours, with combined losses reaching $345 million.
Short positions accounted for $208 million of the liquidations, while long positions represented $137 million, meaning traders betting on further declines suffered the larger share of losses.
Ether led liquidations with nearly $89 million, followed by Bitcoin at $85 million and Zcash at $56 million. The largest single liquidation was an $18 million Bitcoin position on Hyperliquid.
Zcash’s $56 million in liquidations represented a significant amount relative to its roughly $23 billion market capitalization. Market participants will be watching whether leverage rebuilds through Thursday, as rising leverage has helped fuel previous stages of the token’s rally.
