Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$116,454, down by 0.8 percent over the last 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$115,979, while its highest valuation was US$117,038.

Bitcoin price performance, August 8, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

An executive order from the Trump administration about the addition of cryptocurrency investment options to federally regulated 401(k) retirement plans could trigger an influx of new capital and drive up Bitcoin’s price.

Separately, over US$1 billion in Bitcoin call options are set to activate if Bitcoin hits US$200,000 on December 26, when US$8.8 billion in options are set to expire; however, experts believe the presence of these call options reflects strategic positioning rather than a widespread belief in a year-end surge to that level. Cointelegraph analyst Marcel Pechman notes that pro traders are using far-out-of-the-money calls in structured strategies like diagonal spreads and inverse butterflies to manage risk and seek asymmetric upside, not as direct bets on extreme price targets.

Ethereum (ETH) was priced at US$4,053, up by 4.9 percent over the past 24 hours and its highest valuation of the day. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$3,910 at the start of trading.

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) was priced at US$178.05, up by 3.8 percent over 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$174.86, and its highest was US$179.36.

• XRP was trading for US$3.30, up by 6.6 percent in the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation of the day was US$3.22, and its highest price was US$3.35.

• Sui (SUI) was trading at US$3.85, up 3.1 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation of the day was US$3.73, and its highest was US$3.86.

• Cardano (ADA) was trading at US$0.7964, up by 4.2 percent over 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Friday was US$0.7787, and its highest was US$0.8022.

Today’s crypto news to know

Trump order opens door for crypto and private equity in 401(k)s

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order directing the Department of Labor to review its fiduciary rules for retirement plans, potentially clearing the way for assets like cryptocurrencies, private equity and real estate to be included in 401(k)s. While no laws have changed, the move signals a potential shift from the Biden era.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act still requires fiduciaries to choose “prudent” investments, meaning employers will need to justify the inclusion of volatile or opaque assets. Legal experts say the order could influence how federal agencies interpret the rules, but it won’t override decades of court precedents on fiduciary duty.

For now, employers remain cautious due to the risk of lawsuits over imprudent or overly expensive options. Crypto in 401(k)s remains rare, though large firms like BlackRock are already exploring target-date funds with alternative assets.

SEC and Ripple dismiss appeals, ending lawsuit

Ripple and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have dismissed their respective appeals, effectively ending a five-year lawsuit, as per a brief filing on Thursday (August 7) with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

“Following the Commission’s vote today, the SEC and Ripple formally filed directly with the Second Circuit to dismiss their appeals,” Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, wrote on X.

The SEC sued Ripple in 2020 for selling XRP as an unregistered security. A July 2023 ruling by Judge Analisa Torres found XRP was not a security when sold on public exchanges, but was when sold to institutional investors.

The SEC appealed, and Ripple cross appealed. However, this past April, both parties filed a joint motion to pause their appeals, hinting at a settlement. They settled in May, asking Torres to dissolve the injunction and lower the US$125 million fine. She denied that in June, stating that Ripple must still follow federal securities laws.

Following the announcement, open interest in XRP grew by over 15 percent in 24 hours and futures volumes rose by over 233 percent, according to Coinglass data.

Parataxis to go public via SPAC merger

Bitcoin asset manager Parataxis announced its plan to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called SilverBox Corp. IV on Wednesday (August 6).

The deal aims to raise up to US$640 million to “support acceleration of digital asset purchases and support long-term strategy.’ It implies a total pro forma equity value of up to US$800 million for the combined company, assuming the US$10 share price and no redemptions. The new public company will be named Parataxis Holdings and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “PRTX.”

The company’s goal is to launch a yield-enhanced Bitcoin treasury strategy in the US and South Korea. The deal also includes an equity line of credit to raise additional funds. This will allow it to continue accumulating Bitcoin.

The company has already allocated US$31 million for an initial Bitcoin purchase.

Fundamental Global files to raise funds for ETH accumulation

Fundamental Global (NASDAQ:FGF), a new Ethereum treasury vehicle, has filed to raise US$5 billion, signaling the potential emergence of a new mega whale in the Ethereum market.

According to a Friday press release, the company aims to use the majority of the proceeds from a potential US$4 billion common stock offering to acquire a 10 percent stake in the Ethereum network.

“This US$5 billion shelf filing represents a significant step in our capital raising capabilities and positions us to move with speed and scale when capital deployment opportunities arise,” said CEO and Chairman Kyle Cerminara.

“We believe this framework will enable us to capitalize on ETH accumulation opportunities and support our target of a 10 percent stake in the Ethereum Network,’ he added.

Binance partners with Spain’s BBVA to bolster asset security

Binance is teaming up with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Spain’s second largest bank, to give customers the option of storing their assets with a regulated custodian rather than directly on the exchange.

The arrangement is designed to reassure investors after Binance’s US$4.3 billion fine from US regulators in 2023 over anti-money laundering failures. With BBVA acting as an independent custodian, customer funds would remain secure even if Binance faced hacking, insolvency or further regulatory action.

The partnership leverages BBVA’s strong reputation for compliance and innovation, aiming to encourage more cautious investors to engage with crypto. The move also follows leadership changes at Binance, including founder Changpeng Zhao’s resignation and brief prison sentence, as the company works to repair its image.

1. OpenAI’s busy week

On Wednesday (August 6), OpenAI unveiled the long-awaited GPT-5 version of ChatGPT, which CEO Sam Altman described as a “significant step” along the path to artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Altman declared that GPT-5 gives users PhD-level expert assistance on any subject, with fewer hallucinations, as well as superior coding abilities that could lead to an era of “software on demand.’

“Something like GPT-5 would be pretty much unimaginable in any other time in history,” he said during a pre-briefing with journalists on Wednesday. While GPT-5 exhibits signs of broad intelligence, Altman clarified that it lacks a key characteristic of AGI: the ability to learn and improve autonomously.

Concurrently, OpenAI for Government announced it is partnering with the US General Services Administration to offer ChatGPT Enterprise to the federal executive branch workforce for US$1 per agency for the next year.

In a statement to Wired, Altman said the agreement was part of Trump’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan, which is geared at leveraging AI to better serve the American people.

Additionally, the company reportedly engaged in early discussions this week for a secondary stock sale that would increase its valuation to US$500 billion. During an interview with Schwab Network, Ben Emons, chief investment officer and founder of FedWatch Advisors, said OpenAI’s valuation could hit US$1 trillion.

A recent report by the Information found that OpenAI has hit an annualized run rate of US$12 billion, roughly double the US$6 billion recorded in revenue in the first half of 2025.

OpenAI also introduced a pair of freely available models this week, which Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will offer to cloud-computing clients.

2. Stocks react to chip tariff exemptions

Trump announced plans to impose a nearly 100 percent tariff on semiconductor chips on Wednesday, but carved out an exemption for companies investing in US manufacturing capacity.

After a meeting at the White House, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook pledged an additional US$100 billion investment in US manufacturing capacity, bringing its total commitment to US$600 billion over the next four years.

However, final assembly is expected to remain overseas “for a while,” according to Cook, and the announcement did not include any mention of future iPhone assembly in the US.

Apple performance, August 5 to 8, 2025.

Chart via Google Finance.

The pledge led to a significant market reaction, with Apple shares climbing over 4 percent, leading gains on Wall Street.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) also saw strong gains after it was reported that National Development Council Chief Liu Chin-ching told parliament that the company will be exempt since it has factories in the US, referring to fabrication plants currently under construction in Arizona.

However, he added that some of Taiwan’s chipmakers will be affected.

Likewise, South Korean trade officials stated that Samsung Electronics (KRX:005930) and SK Hynix (KRX:000660) will both avoid the tariffs due to their investments in US manufacturing facilities. Samsung has two chip fabrication plants in Texas, while SK Hynix is building a new advanced chip packaging and R&D facility in Indiana.

3. Firefly Aerospace makes explosive Nasdaq debut

Firefly Aerospace (NASDAQ:FLY) made a strong debut on the Nasdaq Global Market on Thursday (August 7).

The stock opened at US$70 per share, a significant jump from its initial public offering price of US$45.

After first targeting between US$35 and US$39 per share, the company raised the price from US$41 to US$43 on Tuesday (August 5). Firefly was valued at over US$2 billion after a Series D funding round in November 2024.

Its opening price represented a further increase. After briefly topping US$73.80, the company closed its first day on the market at US$60.35, raising US$868.3 million and achieving a valuation of approximately US$8.5 billion.

The company experienced a moderate pullback on Friday, opening at US$54.85 before briefly touching US$57.07; it then closed the week at US$50.17.

4. Tesla desbands Dojo team

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk confirmed reports that the company is disbanding its Dojo supercomputer team, posting to X on Thursday evening:

“It doesn’t make sense for Tesla to divide its resources and scale two quite different AI chip designs.

“The Tesla AI5, AI6 and subsequent chips will be excellent for inference and at least pretty good for training. All effort is focused on that.”

Tesla intended for Dojo to facilitate the training of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems.

Sources for Bloomberg, which first reported the story, said Tesla will rely on partners like NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and Samsung for chip manufacturing.

This move contradicts Musk’s commitments to “double down on Dojo” during his company’s second quarter earnings call on July 23. The development follows a letter sent to shareholders by two Tesla directors on Monday explaining the board’s decision to grant Musk a US$23.7 billion stock award.

Robyn Denholm, chair of Tesla’s board of directors, and Kathleen Wilson-Thompson, a director, said the decision was driven by Tesla’s transition from electric vehicles to AI and robotics.

The letter emphasizes the critical need to motivate Musk, stating that his involvement is essential for attracting and retaining talent at Tesla, especially as competition for AI talent intensifies.

5. Palantir reports solid growth in Q2

Major software company Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR) reported its Q2 earnings on Monday, revealing revenue growth of 48 percent to US$1.003 billion. Shares of the company opened over 7 percent higher on Tuesday and continued to rise, finishing the week up nearly 18 percent.

Palantir Technologies performance, August 5 to 8, 2025.

Chart via Google Finance.

“This was a phenomenal quarter. We continue to see the astonishing impact of AI leverage,’ said Alex C. Karp, co-founder and CEO of Palantir, in a press release. “We are guiding to the highest sequential quarterly revenue growth in our company’s history, representing 50 percent year-over-year growth.”

Free cashflow rose by 282 percent to US$568.7 million. The company is projecting further revenue growth of around 49 percent in the third quarter. Its share price is up over 145 percent year-to-date after starting the year at US$76.20. As of Friday’s closing bell, shares of Palantir were trading for US$186.96.