💥 Big announcement coming soon

Keep your inbox open for a major announcement this week. It’s too much to put into this rundown and I’m working on some final details.

Yes, the classic crypto cliché, the “announcement of an announcement.” But this will be an announcement you don’t want to miss.

🗓️ What you missed this week

Read the market update from August 14, 2025 for a look at the recent ETH pump, altcoin strategy, and the key takeaways about our most recent short squeeze and what it means for the market.

🚀 Chart of the Week

If you feel like the vibe is off for what you expected from “the best year of the cycle,” there’s good reason.

They told you the Banana Zone would bring parabolic growth but Bitcoin’s price is up less than 30% so far this year—its worst performance in a bull market year ever, despite numerous new all-time highs.

We were only ahead 27% when I made this chart, now 25% as of this post.

We have four months to change the picture. Let’s see if we can get that Q4 explosion the gurus promised, so we can send everybody home happy!

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😎 DeFi Lending Market Hits $100 Billion

DeFi has “aura.”

On-chain lending and borrowing markets recently reached new levels. Some data sources say DeFi borrowing is up 959% since its 2022 bottom.

As of this week, Aave leads with approximately $63.4 billion, followed by Morpho (Aave) at $8 billion and Spark (Sky) at $7.6 billion. That’s a 49% surge since early July.

The people want yield.

This Defiant article goes into more detail.

Most of the growth comes from higher asset values, with a slight uptick in utilization. AI compiled data into this chart—TVL (asset values) rose a lot while active loans rose a little.

While that’s less sexy than the article makes it sound, it’s a totally different picture than 2021, when centralized entities paid fraudulent rewards and various other shenanigans masked a lack of true yield-generating activity among protocols.

This may also contribute to the feeling of a “lost year” for altcoins. Sophisticated players have moved to yield-generating activites, not speculative ventures.

Could this mark the first shift into real institutional-grade money markets and legitimate financial protocols?

The real test comes when the market cools off. Does lending/borrowing continue to grow AND do those activities persist when asset values fall?

If the answer is “yes,” any protocol that captures this activity will have a very bright future. Today, that’s Aave and Sky (formerly MakerDAO).

We’ll need to see another bear market before coming to any conclusions about who might take that crown in the future.

🧐 Is Tether Propping Up Bitcoin?

We know Tether is mostly real and sometimes fake. Occasionally, they float close friends and associates USDT for free or at a discount. Let’s hope that’s the extent of the shenanigans and it’s not enough to matter.

Crypto Tips has a nice video about what else you need to love and fear about Tether. Heidi says more in this video than you’ll get from pretty much anyone else.

🤩 Charles Schwab, Fidelity among traditional companies hiring for crypto expansion

Bottom line: Several major legacy financial institutions are actively hiring for senior crypto roles like product managers for crypto trading, on-chain experience, and risk analysts.

My take: In 2017, Goldman Sachs launched a Bitcoin trading desk and BAKKT started hiring for a TradFi-meets-crypto push. In 2021, crypto job postings jumped 615% one month as Goldman rebooted its crypto desk and JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and other heavyweights raced toward “mainstream adoption.”

Is this time different?

Maybe. While this is late-cycle/early-bear behavior, these hires look more strategic—focused on infrastructure, lobbying, and business development—not just a reaction to hype and client demand, and they’re moving in sync with regulatory shifts like the GENIUS Act and whatever Congress cooks up next.

Look for the follow-through on these plans once the hype dies down. Do they stick to their plans? Follow those that build when nobody cares.

Why you should care: Unlike previous cycles, the institutions may not go away when the hype dies down. If people say you’re “getting in ahead of the institutions,” you may want to ask them to validate that statement. It might not be true.

Let’s connect! 

You can schedule a call with me. Use Calendly to book your time.

Relax and enjoy the ride!

— Mark