Gate Daily (August 13): Trump sets the tone for a 50 basis point rate cut in September; Do Kwon admits to two criminal charges; SOL and XRP leveraged futures ETF volume surges.

Bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded again, temporarily reporting around $119,930 during the Asian session on August 13. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% month-on-month in July, while the annual inflation rate was slightly below expectations, prompting U.S. President Trump to reiterate calls for interest rate cuts. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stated that the Federal Reserve (FED) should consider a 50 basis point rate cut in September. Do Kwon admitted to two charges related to his role at Terraform. Before the SEC's decision is announced, leveraged Solana and Ripple (XRP) ETFs have gained $3 billion in momentum.

Today's Outlook

1. China's M2 money supply (year-on-year) at the end of July was 8.3%, previous value.

2, Change in US API Crude Oil Inventories (10,000 barrels) (as of 0808), previous value was -423.3

3. Japan's July domestic corporate goods price index (year-on-year) was 2.9% previously.

4. U.S. EIA crude oil inventory change (10,000 barrels) (as of 0808), previous value was -302.9

5. The EIA releases its Monthly Short-Term Energy Outlook report.

6. The IEA releases its monthly oil market report.

Macroeconomic Events & Crypto Market Hotspots

1. U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stated that the Federal Reserve should consider a 50 basis point rate cut in September. He said: "I hope to confirm the Federal Reserve Board seats in the Senate before the September meeting. We are casting a wide net for talent to fill the Federal Reserve vacancies, and Trump is very open to it. We hope to find someone who can reform the Federal Reserve. If the data is accurate, the Federal Reserve may cut rates in September. There are fundamental issues within the Federal Reserve." According to the U.S. political news website Politico: Officials from President Trump's administration are considering having Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Clarida assume the role of Federal Reserve Chairman.

2. Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon's defense against charges of telecommunications fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud has changed from not guilty to guilty. According to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) report on Tuesday, Kwon waived his right to trial on two of the nine charges brought by the U.S. government and admitted to the crimes. It was reported that the plea agreement he reached with prosecutors will impose a fine of $19 million on him. If sentenced consecutively, these two felony charges could carry a maximum of 25 years in prison, but reports indicate that the agreement stipulates that the recommended sentence by prosecutors should not exceed 12 years. Do Kwon's sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 11.

3. Against the backdrop of market expectations for the approval of spot ETFs, the trading volume of futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to Solana and XRP has accumulated nearly 3 billion dollars. This momentum is driven by new leveraged products, a surge in derivative positions, and demand for yield-oriented structures. Although futures-based ETFs differ from spot products in structure and risk exposure, their asset growth and trading activity indicate the market depth and liquidity of these altcoins.

Market Trends

1. $BTC has rebounded again, currently reported at around $119,930, with $32.79 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, mainly from short positions;

2. On August 12, the three major U.S. stock indices surged over 1%, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices setting new closing record highs, as the July inflation data largely met expectations, reinforcing the market's anticipation that the Federal Reserve will almost certainly cut interest rates in September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 483.52 points on the 12th, an increase of 1.10%, at 44,458.61 points; the S&P 500 index rose 72.31 points, an increase of 1.13%, at 6,445.76 points; and the Nasdaq index increased by 296.50 points, an increase of 1.39%, at 21,681.90 points. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged by 169.71 points, an increase of 2.99%, at 5,840.08 points.

(Source: Gate)

3. In the Gate BTC/USDT liquidation map, based on the current 119,981.90 USDT, if it drops to around 117,860 USD, the total liquidation amount of long positions exceeds 296 million USD; if it rises to around 120,301 USD, the total liquidation amount of short positions exceeds 572 million USD. The liquidation amount for shorts is significantly higher than that for longs, so it is recommended to reasonably control the leverage ratio to avoid triggering large-scale liquidations during market fluctuations.

(Source: Coinglass)

4. In the past 24 hours, BTC spot inflow was $2.36 billion, outflow was $2.03 billion, with a net outflow of $330 million.

(Source: Coinglass)

5. In the past 24 hours, the net outflow of contract trading for $XRP, $ENA, $DOGE, $DOT, and $SUI has led, indicating trading opportunities.

News Updates

1. PumpFun sold 86,000 SOL for the first time after issuing coins, exchanging for 16.28 million USDC.

2. Ethereum Foundation associated address sold 1,694.8 ETH

3. Qubic indicates that the team experiments with the PoW protocol, emphasizing that it does not harm the Monero network.

4. eToro's cryptocurrency trading revenue accounted for over 90% in the second quarter.

5. U.S. Treasury Secretary Becerra: The Federal Reserve (FED) should consider a 50 basis point rate cut in September.

6. The total amount of U.S. national debt has exceeded 37 trillion dollars for the first time.

7. Stripe appoints Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang as the first CEO of Tempo Blockchain.

8. Grayscale Cardano Trust ETF registered in Delaware.

9. Norway's sovereign wealth fund's Bitcoin exposure surged by 192% to 7,161 coins in 2025.

10. Perplexity proposed a $34.5 billion acquisition of the Chrome browser.

11. A certain anonymous whale has increased its holdings by 35,000 ETH, bringing the total holdings to 328,000 ETH.

12. The Arc blockchain proposed by Circle will use USDC as its native Gas.

13. Politico: Trump officials consider Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Jefferson to serve as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

14. Do Kwon intends to plead guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit fraud and wire fraud.

15. SUI Network mistakenly issued a listing announcement for Robinhood, suspected of premature disclosure.

X KOL Selected Insights

Phyrex Ni (@Phyrex_Ni): "Today's homework is still a bit challenging, mainly regarding the understanding of U.S. macro data. If we're still fixated on inflation data today, it's hard to calculate how both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 reached new highs. From the data perspective, inflation indeed looks bad, which may affect the decisions of The Federal Reserve (FED). After the CPI data was released, several articles from FED officials echoed this sentiment. Some FED officials still believe that inflation is quite high, and maintaining current policies is appropriate, while a small number of officials hinted that it might be time to lower interest rates. Ultimately, Nick's tweet stated that although the inflation data is not good, it will not affect the FED's decision to cut rates in September, increasing the chances of a rate cut in September. Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal does seem to lean more towards the Republican side, so the content Nick mentioned this time raises the question of whether it represents the Federal Reserve or Powell, or if it aligns with Trump’s faction. It's hard to say for now, but it's evident that U.S. macro data is not that significant at the moment. If the data is good, then naturally everyone is happy, but if the data is bad, Trump will seek to blame Powell, and that is indeed the case. The market is eager to know what Powell thinks; before the September meeting, there will be a Jackson Hole conference where Powell will speak, around August 22 Beijing time. Therefore, the main contest in the U.S. market currently revolves around Trump and the FED's monetary policy, while the importance of macro data has been diminished."

"Looking back at the data for Bitcoin, due to some sentiment for hedging against the consumer price index, the turnover of BTC has slightly increased. However, the main force in the turnover is still investors whose holding cost is above 100,000 USD. As the influence of the consumer price index data diminishes, investor sentiment will gradually stabilize, and turnover will also decrease. Recently, the price of BTC has been quite stable, maintaining a strong correlation with the trends of the US stock market. Although purchasing power is not very strong, ETH investors have shown obvious FOMO sentiment, which has even helped stabilize the price of BTC. Today, the S&P and Nasdaq rose by 1.3%, and the price of BTC increased by 1.1%."