On August 5, the price of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), plummeted by 14% at the market opening, following an 8% decline the previous week. Despite the drop, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that there were no flows, indicating that traders held their positions firmly.

Anchorage Digital has announced the expansion of its custody services to include tokens on the Solana blockchain to meet the evolving needs of its diverse clientele, which includes venture capital firms, hedge funds, and protocol treasuries.

On August 6, Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) released its unaudited Bitcoin production and miner installation updates for July 2024. The company reported notable increases in both Bitcoin production and operational efficiencies, highlighting its commitment to maintaining a leading position in the Bitcoin mining industry.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Sees Zero Outflows Amid Price Drop
• Anchorage Digital Expands Custody Support to Solana Tokens
• Marathon Digital Boosts Bitcoin Production and Hash Rate in July 2024
• Chart of the Week: ETH/BTC Reaches Lowest Level Since April 2021

BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Sees Zero Outflows Amid Price Drop

On August 5, the price of BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), plummeted by 14% at the market opening, following an 8% decline the previous week. Despite the drop, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that there were no flows, indicating that traders held their positions firmly.

The broader group of spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced total outflows of $168 million, representing just 0.3% of the total assets under management (AUM), with about one-third of these outflows being attributed to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). Balchunas speculated that further outflows could be on the horizon, estimating that several billion dollars might exit the market, potentially reaching up to 5%.

The recent crypto market crash caused the Crypto Fear & Greed Index to go into the "extreme fear" category for the first time in two years. This heightened level of fear has been reflected in Bitcoin's volatile performance, with its price falling under $50,000 earlier this week. During this period, long-term Bitcoin holders sold approximately $600,000 worth of the cryptocurrency, while short-term holders bore the brunt of the losses.

Due to the market turmoil, Bitcoin and Ether ETFs continued to see significant activity, recording nearly $6 billion in trading volume on August 5. Interestingly, spot Ether ETFs remained relatively unaffected by the turbulence.

Balchunas pointed out on August 6 that US-listed equity ETFs managed to attract "double the cash" compared to usual, even amid what he described as the "scariest selloff in quite a while."

Anchorage Digital Expands Custody Support to Solana Tokens

Anchorage Digital has announced the expansion of its custody services to include tokens on the Solana blockchain.

The firm, established in 2017, offers institutional cryptocurrency services like custody, trading, staking, and governance. It also operates Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered U.S. crypto bank, ensuring regulatory compliance.

CEO Nathan McCauley revealed this development to CoinDesk, emphasizing the firm's commitment to meeting the evolving needs of its diverse clientele, which includes venture capital firms, hedge funds, and protocol treasuries.

Anchorage Digital started integrating Solana-based tokens into its custody services in 2022 and began offering staking support for these tokens last year. McCauley explained that the firm opted for a cautious approach in rolling out custody support for Solana's SPL tokens. This measured strategy was chosen to ensure robust support and security for a blockchain that has faced its share of challenges.

Despite the cautious approach, Anchorage Digital remains highly responsive to client demands. McCauley underscored the importance of addressing client needs promptly and effectively, reflecting the company's client-centric philosophy.

The Solana ecosystem faced significant setbacks in early 2023, following the collapse of FTX, which caused considerable collateral and reputational damage. However, the resilience of Solana’s developers and the return of users to trade, stake, and mint new tokens have revived the ecosystem. Platforms like Pump.fun, known for launching memecoins, have played a crucial role in this resurgence.

Currently, Anchorage Digital's custody support for SPL assets includes a select few tokens such as USDC, HNT, W, PYTH, and MPLX. The firm plans to expand its support to more tokens based on customer demand and thorough due diligence reviews.

Marathon Digital Boosts Bitcoin Production and Hash Rate in July 2024

On August 6, Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) released its unaudited Bitcoin production and miner installation updates for July 2024. The company reported notable increases in both Bitcoin production and operational efficiencies, highlighting its commitment to maintaining a leading position in the Bitcoin mining industry.

Marathon Digital reported a 17% increase in Bitcoin production, generating 692 BTC in July compared to the previous month. This boost in production is attributed to the recovery efforts at their Ellendale facility, where they experienced a 27% increase in block wins. The company's average operational hash rate also grew by 5%, reaching 27.5 exahashes per second (EH/s).

Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of Marathon Digital, emphasized the company's strategic efforts to optimize operations. The company has begun deploying its proprietary technology to improve site efficiency, specifically transitioning a significant portion of its Granbury site from air-cooled systems to Marathon's immersion containers. While this transition caused a temporary reduction in the Granbury hash rate for July, the first group of 18 immersion containers is set to be energized in August, with full deployment expected by year-end.

In July, Marathon energized approximately 5,000 new miners and relocated around 10,000 existing miners to optimize its fleet. This optimization has led to an operating fleet of roughly 245,000 Bitcoin miners, theoretically capable of producing 31.8 EH/s. The company achieved a peak overall hash rate of 30.1 EH/s in July.

Marathon Digital has adopted a full HODL approach towards its Bitcoin treasury policy, opting not to sell any Bitcoin mined in July. As of 31 July 2024, the company holds 20,818 unrestricted BTC. This strategy aligns with Marathon's goal of retaining mined Bitcoin while periodically making strategic open-market purchases.

Chart of the Week: ETH/BTC Reaches Lowest Level Since April 2021

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization Ethereum has significantly underperformed Bitcoin, with the ETH/BTC ratio reaching its lowest level since April 2021 at 0.044.

Meanwhile, the SOL/ETH ratio has continued to trend upwards and is nearing a new all-time high.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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