Good morning, Asia. Here’s the latest market update:
Welcome to the Asian morning briefing—a daily snapshot of significant stories from the US and a look at market movements. For a comprehensive analysis of the US market, consult Coindesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.
As Asia begins its day on Thursday, Ethereum (ETH) is trading at $2,770.
Data from Coindesk Market shows that ETH has increased nearly 11% this month, outpacing Bitcoin (BTC), which is up 5%.
This uptick can be attributed, at least in part, to a surge in institutional trading demand. More sophisticated investors are putting their faith in ETH’s growth and its potential to bridge decentralized finance (DeFi) with traditional finance, according to an interview with OKX’s chief commercial officer, Renniksly.
“Ethereum has taken the lead over BTC in the perpetual futures market, claiming 45.2% of the trading volume in the past week, compared to BTC’s 38.1%,” Lai remarked.
Similar patterns are emerging in other marketplaces like Deribit, as noted in recent reports from Coindesk.
However, that doesn’t mean the agency has written off BTC—far from it.
A recent report from GlassNode indicates that despite BTC’s recent fluctuations, there remains a willingness to purchase at low points.
The report highlights that Long-Term Holders (LTH) have seen daily profits exceeding $930 million during the recent rally, reflecting levels seen at previous peaks. Yet, instead of leading to a massive sell-off, the LTH supply has actually expanded.
“This dynamic illustrates that the forces of maturation and accumulation outweigh distribution behaviors,” a GlassNode analyst pointed out, calling it “highly unusual for a late-stage bull market.”
Nevertheless, both assets are still vulnerable to geopolitical uncertainties or unexpected events—like the Trump Mask incident, for example.
These situations remind us how quickly sentiments can shift, even in a fundamentally strong market. However, beneath the surface volatility, institutional outlooks remain steady. While ETH is increasingly seen as a reliable entry point into regulated DeFi, BTC continues to benefit from institutional long-term investments through ETFs.
“Given the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, a $3,000 ETH seems more plausible by the day,” concluded Lai.
Tron Sees a Surge in Stablecoin Influx
The Stablecoin sector has reached a staggering $228 billion, marking a 17% increase since the year’s beginning, according to a recent crypto report.
This spike in US dollar-pegged liquidity, buoyed by heightened investor confidence following the blockbuster Circle IPO, is subtly reshaping the landscape of where capital resides in the blockchain, enhancing DeFi yields and clarifying US regulations.
Cryptoquant reports that stablecoin volumes on centralized exchanges have also surged, reaching all-time highs and significantly enhancing the liquidity of crypto trading.
The total of ERC20 stablecoins on centralized exchanges has hit an unprecedented $50 billion.
This increase in stablecoin reserves is primarily driven by a 1.6x escalation in USDC reserves across exchanges so far in 2025.
Tron is leading the charge among protocols benefiting from this trend. Its quick finality and strong integration with stablecoin issuers position it as a liquidity beacon.
Presto Research recently published a report highlighting that Tron secured over $6 billion in net stablecoin inflows in May, outpacing its competitors with the second-highest number of active users after Solana and claiming the top spot in Native Total Value Locked (TVL) growth.
In contrast, Ethereum and Solana have seen capital exits; data from Presto reveals.
Both chains have suffered significant stablecoin outflows and bridge volume deficits, suggesting a shortage of new yield opportunities and major protocol advancements. Presto’s findings underscore a broader trend: capital from both institutional and retail investors is gravitating towards base networks, namely Solana and Tron.
What’s common among them? These networks offer quicker transaction execution, a more vibrant ecosystem, and, at times, better incentive structures.
The Agent Economy Awaits, But Needs Crypto Infrastructure
The next AI generation won’t just communicate with us but also amongst themselves. As autonomous agents grow more skilled, they increasingly take on comprehensive tasks—everything from booking flights to gathering data and delegating subtasks to other bots. Yet, a significant hurdle remains. These AI agents are currently confined within isolated systems and need a common platform to communicate.
A recent essay from A16Z Crypto highlights that interactions between today’s agents rely mostly on hardcoded API calls or internal functions within closed ecosystems, lacking shared infrastructure for cooperative engagement or trade. This is where blockchain comes in. With an open architecture, blockchains can create a “forward-compatible” environment for an interoperable agent economy, which can evolve alongside AI technologies.
Various early projects like Halliday are working on established protocols for agent collaboration, while companies like Catena and Skyfire employ Crypto to facilitate transactions between autonomous agents without human intervention.
Coinbase has also stepped in to lend support for these infrastructural efforts. If these frameworks become widespread, blockchain could evolve into more than just financial infrastructure; it could serve as the backbone of an open AI economy where agents can coordinate and enforce user intent transparently.
The message is quite clear: if AI agents represent the future of productivity, cryptocurrency will underpin that future.
Web3 Gaming Needs to Improve
Gaming continues to be a leading category in the decentralized app (DApp) universe, but its market share is diminishing. According to the latest data from Dappradar, the gaming advantage has fallen for the second consecutive month, decreasing from 21% in April to 19.4% in May.
Daily user activity has remained relatively stable, hovering around 4.9 million unique active wallets; however, a notable decline in investment presents a more concerning picture. Funding for game projects has plummeted from over $220 million at the end of 2024.
“So far, 2025 has proven to be a wake-up call for the gaming sector. Many previously popular projects have shut down,” analysts at Dappradar note.
The root causes behind this exodus appear to be fundamental flaws—primarily a lack of engaging gameplay.
Many projects emphasize token economics, speculative NFT launches, and aggressive marketing campaigns but often overlook the vital aspects of gameplay testing and development.
Without enticing, replayable mechanics, even heavily funded Web3 titles struggle to keep player interest. It seems like the industry’s most significant challenge is just figuring out how to create an excellent game—this isn’t a new concern; surveys have indicated this since 2022.
Market Movement Highlights:
- BTC: Bitcoin dropped 2% after failing to maintain the $110,000 mark, amid rising geopolitical tensions. It found key support at 108.5K, although strong institutional interest via spot ETFs suggests underlying demand remains strong.
- ETH: Ethereum has surged 5% past $2,800 due to favorable technical factors, record staking levels, and an influx into ETH ETFs totaling $815 million, indicating that staking and wallet software may not fall under securities law.
- Gold: Gold increased 0.97% to $3,363 following US inflation data, which showed decreasing prices, boosting expectations for potential interest rate cuts by the Fed in September.
- Nikkei 225: Tokyo stocks showed a mixed performance on Thursday. The Nikkei fell 0.22% in early trades, although there’s optimism around US trade agreements that could benefit exporters.
- S&P 500: The S&P 500 also displayed a mixed picture on Thursday, with exporters gaining prominence, while the Nikkei’s early trading reflects similar sentiments.
