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A handful of renewable energy stocks slumped on Thursday, after President Donald Trump indicated his administration will block new solar and wind projects. Suggested Reading Shares in Enphase Energy, Sunrun, Solaredge, and First Solar fell 2.3%, 8.2%, 4.7%, and 4.7%, respectively, as of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Related Content Companies based overseas also saw steep losses, with China’s JinkoSolar and Canadian Solar down 5.5% and 19.5%, respectively. Energy-related imports from Canada into the U.S. currently face a 10% tariff, while China faces a 34% tariff on all goods. “We will not approve wind or farmer destroying Solar,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday, adding “The days of stupidity are over in the USA!!!” He continued by blaming renewables for rising electricity prices in the U.S. The president has also previously complained that solar takes up too much land. The comments come after the administration tightened federal permits for renewable energy projects last month. The process is now centralized in Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office. Renewable energy firms fear that projects will “no longer receive permits that were once normal course of business,” according to CNBC. On top of that, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Tuesday that it will no longer fund solar panels on productive farmland or allow solar panels manufactured by foreign adversaries to be used in projects funded by the department. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid, saw prices for new power capacity rise 22% compared to last year in an auction held last month. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) also expects August prices to return to triple-digit levels; during the same period last year, averages were in the mid-$40s/MWh. ERCOT says expected August price rises are due to “high temperatures and strong natural gas pricing.” Despite Trump’s claims that states that have built wind and solar farms are seeing “RECORD BREAKING INCREASES IN ELECTRICITY AND ENERGY COSTS,” solar and battery storage have been shown to ease the supply-and-demand gap fastest, according to data from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That’s because they make up the majority of new projects in line to connect to the grid. What’s more, the acceleration of new AI data centers and crypto-mining facilities have created unprecedented demand for energy resources, and have also been linked to increased electricity prices. A recent U.S. Department of Energy-backed analysis projects that U.S. data centers could need roughly 150-400 TWh more electricity per year by 2028 compared to 2023 levels. That would be rise of around 230%, at the upper limit of the projection. An August report from Axios found that over 60% of the increase in PJM market prices resulted from data center energy demands, translating to $9.3 billion in added costs passed to consumers. Despite this growing demand for power, Trump has attacked renewables since taking office. The Big Beautiful Bill Act ends tax credits for the investment in, and production of, wind and solar by the end of 2027. Those credits have played a crucial role in the expansion of U.S. renewable energy. 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

When Andrew Cady started working in mortgages in Jacksonville, Florida a decade ago, he would budget about $120 per month for homeowners insurance when qualifying new clients. Suggested Reading Today, that number has more than doubled. Related Content “Now, you don’t prequalify a client unless you’re putting a holding of $250 to $300 a month at minimum,” said Cady, a producing branch manager with UMortgage in Inlet Beach, Florida. “And that’s if everything is really good in a house.” The math for homebuyers is brutal. Homeowners insurance rates have soared, with major insurers raising premiums by an average of 10.4% in 2024, following a 12.7% increase in 2023, according to a study from the insurance marketplace Insurance.com. Over the past five years, average home insurance premiums from the top 10 companies in the U.S. have spiked by an eye-watering 53.1%, the study found. Housing affordability is already a major obstacle, thanks to stubbornly high mortgage rates near the 6.5% mark and the national median home sales price reaching a record high of $435,300 in June. But higher home insurance premiums are dealing another blow, pushing borrowers’ debt-to-income (DTI) ratios — a key factor in determining someone’s ability to repay their loan — well beyond many loan program maximums. For every $100 monthly increase in insurance costs, homebuyers see their purchasing power reduced by about $16,000, Cady said. That means if someone is approved for a $400,000 home and insurance costs $300 more per month than expected, their buying power falls to $352,000. Home insurance is no longer an afterthought in determining how much house you can afford. In many cases, it’s now one of the first line items mortgage and real estate professionals advise their clients to consider. High building costs, more severe weather events driving costs higher Home insurance wasn’t always this expensive, but several headwinds have hit the industry since the COVID-19 pandemic. For starters, insurers are shelling out for higher claim amounts. Building costs related to home insurance jumped 55% between 2020 and 2022, according to the Insurance Information Institute. The frequency and severity of catastrophic natural disasters have also increased, with 2023 seeing 28 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters totaling nearly $93 billion in damages, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). National insurance rates have risen by an average of 40.4% over six years, with Colorado seeing the steepest increase at 76.6%, followed by Nebraska (72.3%) and Utah (70.6%), according to a report from LendingTree. No state saw a decrease in insurance premiums in 2024. Western states have been plagued by devastating wildfires in recent years as other parts of the country grapple with more severe flooding and hailstorms, intense hurricanes, and tornado activity.  “Insurance companies have been raising their rates to keep up with their escalating expenses,” Rob Bhatt, LendingTree’s home insurance expert and a licensed insurance agent, said in the report. “The early 2020s saw an uptick in natural disasters and inflation. Insurance companies have had to rebuild more homes than normal, and the cost of rebuilding each one has become more expensive.” Florida is a prime example. The average annual rate of homeowners insurance in Florida was $14,140 in 2024, according to a report from Insurify, another online insurance marketplace. For 2025, Insurify estimates that rates in the Sunshine States will jump 9% to $15,460. Hialeah, a city just outside of Miami, will have the highest projected average home insurance cost of any U.S. city at $26,693, Insurify said. Throw tariffs into the mix, and rates could easily surpass those projections, Insurify noted. “Tariffs would increase the cost of imported construction materials by up to $4 billion, and insurers would pass those costs on to homeowners through higher premiums,” the company said. When insurance sabotages your real estate deal Higher home insurance rates are increasingly having a notable impact on mortgage qualification. Most lenders require DTI ratios below 43% for conventional loans, though some programs allow up to 50%. But when insurance costs spike unexpectedly, borrowers can quickly exceed those limits, stretching their budgets past the point of comfort, Cady said. “We are seeing people that are under contract on a home, and when they go to get insurance, they find out there’s probably two liens on the home, and the insurance comes back and says, ‘We’ll do it, but it’s a $16,000 policy,’” Cady said. “And now the debt-to-income ratio is too high, and we have to issue a loan denial.” In fact, 68% of lenders report their borrowers’ DTI ratios exceed limits once insurance is factored in, according to a survey of mortgage professionals from Matic. Nearly 60% of lenders also said that insurance-related issues are causing closing delays when homebuyers encounter problems securing coverage. In Fort Lauderdale, Cady encountered a property about a mile from the water that required a $19,000 annual insurance premium — nearly half the principal and interest payment. This economic reality is forcing many buyers to adjust their expectations. They’re either buying cheaper homes or abandoning coastal dreams entirely, Cady said. “Buyers that want to be by the coast end up buying across the bay or inland, just for the sheer sake of insurance cost,” Cady said. “That $450,000 house, when they see what that payment looks like when we add the insurance to it, they tend to take a step back and say, ‘Why don’t we readjust our budget to $375,000?’” On the front end, the process is now more labor-intensive for lenders and insurance agents. Rather than running quotes only on properties under contract, Cady said he’s advising his clients to get insurance estimates on different properties during the house-hunting phase to ensure it’s not out of reach before going through drawn-out offer negotiations. Savvy tips for homebuyers Industry experts recommend several strategies to navigate the home insurance crisis: Shop aggressively: Work with independent insurance brokers who can shop rates with several carriers, Cady recommends. When he shopped for coverage on one of his

When Jerome Powell took the stage at the 2024 Jackson Hole economic policy summit, he signalled that rate cuts were on their way. This year, it may not be so simple. Suggested Reading The Federal Reserve Chair faces pressure on all fronts. On one side, the recent jobs report that revealed a slump in hiring, fueling calls for a cut. On the other, a sharp spike in wholesale prices, fueling fresh concern about tariff-led inflation. Related Content Then there is President Donald Trump, who has called him a “major loser” and a “total stiff” for not cutting rates, and has floated the idea of trying to fire the central bank chief on several occasions. Powell may be cornered, but Wall Street will still listen intently for clues as to which way he is leaning. Here are three possible outcomes. Signals for a rate cut At the Fed’s July policy meeting, Powell described the labor market as “solid.” Since then, jobs data suggested it is anything but. The U.S. created just 73,000 new jobs in July, far less than the 110,000 economists expected, while the figures for May and June were slashed by 258,000 combined.  Several Fed officials have since pointed to the data as evidence of a slowing economy, suggesting that a cut is imminent. Markets agree. CME Group’s FedWatch tool indicates that traders were pricing in an 83% chance of a cut as of Tuesday morning. “With the labor market already near the limit of what could be called maximum employment, we suspect that weak job growth and concern about further downward revisions and downside risks have already convinced the Fed leadership to resume rate cuts,” wrote David Mericle, chief U.S. economist at Goldman Sachs. Short of simply stating that he sees it as appropriate to cut rates, markets will look out for changes of tone on jobs data, or references to an economic slowdown to cement their hopes of a cut. Dashing market hopes Powell could well lean more heavily on last week’s hotter-than-expected inflation data, however. The latest Producer Price Index showed a 0.9% climb in July compared with the previous month — triple the pace economists expected — and pushed the annual wholesale inflation rate up to 3.3%. The data sent markets lower last week on concerns that a rate cut may be less likely. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management, wrote that it was “a most unwelcome surprise to the upside and is likely to unwind some of the optimism of a ‘guaranteed’ rate cut next month.” What’s more, Trump’s tariffs are increasingly in the mix. Tariff-exposed categories such as machinery and certain food products showed the sharpest rises. Zaccarelli added that the figures show inflation is “coursing through the economy, even if it hasn’t been felt by consumers yet.”  That could be too much for Powell to commit to a rate cut, said Barclays in a recent note, adding that markets are “excessively confident” about a September move.  Powell’s July press conference described policy as “only modestly restrictive” and emphasized the need to keep inflation expectations anchored, it added. “A reiteration of Powell’s earlier comments would likely reduce expectations of a September cut.” Sitting on the fence Perhaps the most likely outcome, given the circumstances, is that Powell adopts a wait-and-see approach. After all, another jobs report and more inflation data are due before the Fed’s Sept. 18 meeting.  “If Chair Powell carves out part of the speech with an update on the outlook for policy, we expect he remains data dependent,” economists at UBS wrote. “We doubt he commits to a September rate cut specifically.” Jeremy Siegel, a senior economist at WisdomTree, wrote that even this could be taken as a sign that he is leaning against a cut.  “If he stresses the need for more data and downplays recent softness, markets will take it as a hawkish signal, and I expect risk markets to react negatively,” he said in a recent note. But either way, he added, the speech “will be the fulcrum on which the next leg of this market pivots.” 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

The U.S. and European Union took the first step to formalize their trade deal on Thursday, releasing a framework that eventually paves the way to a legally-enforceable agreement. Suggested Reading The U.S. and the 27-member bloc of the E.U. announced a trade deal last month that establishes a 15% tariff on most European products imported by the United States. The E.U. is the largest U.S. trade partner with trade between them totaling $1.5 trillion last year, per federal data. Related Content European automakers, though, will have to grapple with a higher 27.5% duty. That’s an existing import tax that won’t be scaled back until the E.U. relaxes other tariffs on industrial and agricultural goods from the U.S. E.U. pharmaceutical companies are likely breathing a sigh of relief, as the framework locks in a 15% tariff for U.S. imports and averts higher duties. President Donald Trump has teased a supersized tariff of up to 200% on pharmaceutical products that would gradually kick in. It’s not clear when that could be rolled out. Under the deal, the E.U. has also committed to purchasing $750 billion worth of U.S. natural gas and oil through 2028, along with $40 billion worth of U.S.-produced semiconductors. One possible future source of contention is a proposed investment fund that the Trump administration has strongly sought from the E.U., in addition to other trade partners. The current framework says that European companies are “expected to invest” $600 billion in the U.S., even though the E.U. has no mechanism to compel that enormous amount of private-sector spending. Still, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the E.U. commission, praised the agreement as one that establishes predictability, stability, and security for the E.U. “This EU-US trade deal delivers for our citizens & companies, and strengthens transatlantic relations,” she said in a social media post. 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

Meta Platforms has reportedly paused hiring across its artificial intelligence unit after months of aggressively poaching top talent from its rivals. Suggested Reading The abrupt freeze, which began last week, is part of a wider reshuffle of the AI division and bars staff from transferring between internal teams, the Wall Street Journal reported. Any exceptions to outside hiring now require approval from Meta’s chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, the report continues, adding that it’s unclear how long the restrictions will remain in place. Related Content In a statement to the Journal, Meta said it’s engaging in routine planning and budgeting, and setting up clear structures for its Superintelligence Labs — a moonshot to develop systems that surpass human-level reasoning. The advertising and social-media giant didn’t immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment. Meta has been one of the most aggressive recruiters in the AI race, frequently outbidding rivals with lavish compensation packages and acquiring startups primarily for their talent. Analysts have questioned whether such heavy spending, particularly on stock-based pay, risks eroding shareholder returns. The internal reorganization reportedly splits Meta’s AI division into four branches: TBD Lab, which houses the superintelligence push; a products-focused team; an infrastructure group; and Fundamental AI Research, which remains mostly untouched. Since April, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has personally courted researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and other labs, sometimes dangling nine-figure compensation packages that stretched into hundreds of millions. Meta has hired more than 50 specialists in recent months. Sam Altman, however, doesn’t believe this will be enough to revive Meta’s edge, he said on a podcast in June, as attracting workers with financial incentives doesn’t always pay off long-term. “The degree to which they’re focusing on that and not the work and not the mission, I don’t think that’s going to set up a great culture,” he said. “I don’t think they’re a company that’s great at innovation,” he said of Meta. “Their current AI efforts have not worked as well as they hoped.” Indeed, the overhaul follows disappointment with Meta’s Llama language model earlier this year, which underperformed expectations and led to the dismantling of the AGI Foundations team. Several members exited the company around the August 15 vesting date. The costly hiring spree has also fueled investor unease. Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in an August 18 research note, viewed by the Journal, that escalating stock-based compensation offered by Meta and Google to lure AI talent undermine shareholder value if results fall short. Extravagant sign-on bonuses and salaries have “the potential to drive AI breakthroughs with massive value creation or could dilute shareholder value without any clear innovation gains,” the analysts wrote. The freeze comes days after The Verge reported that Altman said AI is in a bubble, which preceded this week’s tech stock sell-off. At a recent dinner in San Francisco with a small group of reporters, Altman was asked whether investors are collectively overhyping the AI space, and Altman reportedly replied, “Yes.” He compared the current surge of excitement with the dot-com boom of the late 90s, when investors piled into internet startups on the back of one undeniable fact: that the internet was a world-changing technology. “When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” Altman was quoted saying. Since news broke on Friday of Altman’s apprehensions, the S&P 500 is down 1.43%, while the Nasdaq Composite has lost 2.68%. 📬 Sign up for the Daily Brief Read More

Fed’s Hammack Says ‘No’ to Rate Cut; Bitcoin Slips to Session Low Below $113K The data currently on hand does not support the case for lowering interest rates, said the president of the Cleveland Fed. Updated Aug 21, 2025, 4:36 p.m. Published Aug 21, 2025, 3:57 p.m. Markets are quickly recalibrating previously lofty odds of an imminent rate cut as the jets touch down in Jackson Hole for the Kansas City Fed’s Economic Symposium. The current data does not make the case for a September ease, said Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, speaking with Yahoo News in Wyoming. “We have inflation that’s too high and has been trending upwards over the past year,” she said. “If the meeting was tomorrow, I would not see a case for reducing interest rates.” She further argued that inflation numbers are only beginning to show the impact of tariffs and that the full effect wouldn’t be seen until next year. Hammack’s comments are notable, showing Fed Chair Jerome Powell continues to have plenty of support in his hawkish stance despite two dissident dovish votes at the last central bank policy meeting and President Trump’s continuing campaign for lower rates. Her remarks also come after a series of potential Powell replacements appeared on the airwaves in recent days to argue for sharply lower interest rates. The latest this morning was former St. Louis Fed boss Jim Bullard, who argued for policy rates 100 basis points below the current level. Just one week ago, bitcoin touched a record high above $124,000 alongside a nearly 100% expectation that the Fed would trim rates next month. Seven days later, those odds have slipped back to 71%, according to CME FedWatch and bitcoin BTC$112,792.70 has plunged nearly 10% to the current $112,800. Markets will get to hear from Powell himself at his keynote address on Friday morning and at this point it’s nearly certain he’ll not turn dove. Instead, he’s likely to emphasize that inflation continues to remain too hot and thus the need to take a wait and see approach towards adjusting monetary policy. Stephen Alpher Stephen is CoinDesk’s managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000. X icon More For You HBAR Rebounds as SWIFT Blockchain Trials Boost Bullish Outlook HBAR demonstrates strong recovery momentum following SWIFT blockchain trials. What to know: HBAR held firm support around $0.23 before rebounding to $0.24, signaling accumulation in a tight 4% trading range. Macro tailwinds boost sentiment as the Federal Reserve maintains rates below 2%, fueling expectations of cuts that could benefit crypto markets. Institutional momentum builds with SWIFT launching blockchain trials using Hedera and Grayscale filing a Delaware trust tied to HBAR. Read full story Read More

On-chain data flagged institutional-sized flows, with nearly 155 million in XRP turnover during recovery periods, far above the 63 million daily average. Updated Aug 21, 2025, 3:56 p.m. Published Aug 21, 2025, 3:56 p.m. (CoinDesk Data) What to know: XRP rallied towards $3, with trading volume increasing by over 6% above its weekly average, indicating renewed institutional interest. The token faces a strong resistance at the $3 mark, despite a significant price swing between $2.84 and $2.99. Traders are closely monitoring whether the $2.93 support level will hold or if a break above $3 will trigger further upward momentum. XRP rallied toward the $3 mark in the past session, with trading volume spiking more than 6% above its weekly baseline. News Background • XRP’s rally comes amid broader crypto stabilization, with altcoins tracking modest inflows after last week’s drawdown.• On-chain data flagged institutional-sized flows, with nearly 155 million in XRP turnover during recovery periods, far above the 63 million daily average.• Market chatter initially suggested XRP was hitting new highs, though the actual all-time peak remains $3.84 from January 2018 — underscoring that this is a recovery test, not price discovery. Price Action Summary • XRP swung 5.1% between $2.84 and $2.99 in the 23-hour window from Aug. 20 13:00 to Aug. 21 12:00.• The strongest push came around 19:00 UTC on Aug. 20, when the token surged from $2.84 to $2.99 on 80.6 million volume.• Subsequent sessions showed consolidation, with repeated bounces in the $2.89–$2.93 range, confirming it as interim support.• A sharp whipsaw in the final hour (Aug. 21 11:03–12:02) saw an 8.6% swing: from $2.916 to $2.901 on 960,000 units, before stabilizing. Technical Analysis • Support: $2.89–$2.93 zone shows multiple strong bounces on above-average participation.• Resistance: $2.99–$3.00 psychological ceiling caps momentum; repeated rejections visible.• Volume: 80.65 million during the rally vs. a 24-hour baseline of ~63 million.• Pattern: Sideways consolidation following bullish impulse; momentum tilting slightly downward. What Traders Are Watching • Whether $2.93 support holds in the short term or gives way to a retest of $2.82.• Break above $3.00 as a potential trigger for trend continuation.• Volume sustainability — if flows taper, bulls risk losing control. Shaurya Malwa Shaurya is the Co-Leader of the CoinDesk tokens and data team in Asia with a focus on crypto derivatives, DeFi, market microstructure, and protocol analysis. Shaurya holds over $1,000 in BTC, ETH, SOL, AVAX, SUSHI, CRV, NEAR, YFI, YFII, SHIB, DOGE, USDT, USDC, BNB, MANA, MLN, LINK, XMR, ALGO, VET, CAKE, AAVE, COMP, ROOK, TRX, SNX, RUNE, FTM, ZIL, KSM, ENJ, CKB, JOE, GHST, PERP, BTRFLY, OHM, BANANA, ROME, BURGER, SPIRIT, and ORCA. He provides over $1,000 to liquidity pools on Compound, Curve, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, BurgerSwap, Orca, AnySwap, SpiritSwap, Rook Protocol, Yearn Finance, Synthetix, Harvest, Redacted Cartel, OlympusDAO, Rome, Trader Joe, and SUN. X icon CD Analytics CoinDesk Analytics is CoinDesk’s AI-powered tool that, with the help of human reporters, generates market data analysis, price movement reports, and financial content focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain markets. All content produced by CoinDesk Analytics is undergoes human editing by CoinDesk’s editorial team before publication. The tool synthesizes market data and information from CoinDesk Data and other sources to create timely market reports, with all external sources clearly attributed within each article. CoinDesk Analytics operates under CoinDesk’s AI content guidelines, which prioritize accuracy, transparency, and editorial oversight. Learn more about CoinDesk’s approach to AI-generated content in our AI policy. More For You HBAR Rebounds as SWIFT Blockchain Trials Boost Bullish Outlook HBAR demonstrates strong recovery momentum following SWIFT blockchain trials. What to know: HBAR held firm support around $0.23 before rebounding to $0.24, signaling accumulation in a tight 4% trading range. Macro tailwinds boost sentiment as the Federal Reserve maintains rates below 2%, fueling expectations of cuts that could benefit crypto markets. Institutional momentum builds with SWIFT launching blockchain trials using Hedera and Grayscale filing a Delaware trust tied to HBAR. Read full story Read More

Stablecoin Market Could Hit $1.2T by 2028, Maybe Affecting U.S. Government Debt Yields: Coinbase The target translates to stablecoins growing almost five-fold from the current market size of $270 billion. Updated Aug 21, 2025, 5:24 p.m. Published Aug 21, 2025, 3:28 p.m. Stablecoins, digital tokens tied to predominantly fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, will balloon to a $1.2 trillion market by 2028 and even have an impact on U.S. debt markets, Coinbase analysts projected in a Thursday report. The forecast, published by the exchange’s research arm led by David Duong, is based on a stochastic model simulating thousands of growth paths for the stablecoin sector. To swell almost five-fold from the current market size of $270 billion, the asset class “relies on incremental, policy-enabled adoption compounding over time,” the report said. Stablecoin issuers such as USDC (USDC) issuer Circle (CRCL) and Tether, the firm behind USDT (USDT), typically hold large portfolios of U.S. Treasury bills to back the tokens’ value. The growth to $1.2 trillion would translate into roughly $5.3 billion in new T-bill purchases every week, the report projected. Such inflows could shave 2-4 basis points off of the three-month Treasury yield over time, a small but noticeable effect in the $6 trillion money market where marginal moves can sway institutional funding costs, the analysts said. Redemption surges, on the other hand, could have an adverse effect. A $3.5 billion outflow in five days could lead to a cascade of forced selling, tightening liquidity on the T-bill market, the report noted. Coinbase analysts pointed to the recently passed stablecoin regulation, dubbed GENIUS Act, as critical to containing that risk. The law, which will come into effect in 2027 for issuers and tokens, mandates one-to-one reserves, audits and bankruptcy protections for holders. While the law doesn’t grant stablecoin issuers direct access to Federal Reserve facilities, it could reduce the likelihood of a destabilizing run, the report said. Read more: Stablecoins, Tokenization Put Pressure on Money Market Funds: Bank of America Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. Krisztian Sandor Krisztian Sandor is a U.S. markets reporter focusing on stablecoins, tokenization, real-world assets. He graduated from New York University’s business and economic reporting program before joining CoinDesk. He holds BTC, SOL and ETH. X icon AI Boost “AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy. More For You HBAR Rebounds as SWIFT Blockchain Trials Boost Bullish Outlook HBAR demonstrates strong recovery momentum following SWIFT blockchain trials. What to know: HBAR held firm support around $0.23 before rebounding to $0.24, signaling accumulation in a tight 4% trading range. Macro tailwinds boost sentiment as the Federal Reserve maintains rates below 2%, fueling expectations of cuts that could benefit crypto markets. Institutional momentum builds with SWIFT launching blockchain trials using Hedera and Grayscale filing a Delaware trust tied to HBAR. Read full story Read More

Stellar’s token pushed through resistance at $0.398 on surging volume after a day-long consolidation, with shifting macro trends fueling demand for payment-focused assets. Updated Aug 21, 2025, 3:24 p.m. Published Aug 21, 2025, 3:24 p.m. XLM traded in a narrow band between $0.39 and $0.41 over a 24-hour stretch ending Aug. 21, reflecting a consolidation phase ahead of a potential move. Sellers repeatedly capped upside at $0.41, while buyers defended support at $0.40, keeping volatility subdued. A gradual dip in volume suggested traders were positioning for a breakout attempt. That breakout came in the final hour of trading, when XLM rallied from $0.396 to $0.399. Strong buying momentum pushed through the $0.398 resistance level, accompanied by a sharp spike in volume exceeding 1.5 million tokens traded. The push set fresh intraday highs, reinforcing a short-term bullish setup. Broader market currents also support rising demand for payment-focused tokens. Shifting trade dynamics, evolving stablecoin frameworks, and heightened inflation risks tied to supply chain pressures are reshaping the global payments landscape. Against this backdrop, XLM’s recent strength reflects growing interest in blockchain-based settlement alternatives. XLM/USD (TradingView) Technical Indicators Signal Bullish Momentum Price action broke through key $0.398 resistance level with strong volume confirmation. Trading range of $0.01 or 3% indicates contained volatility before breakout. Volume spike exceeding 1.55 million during final hour suggests institutional interest. Support established around $0.40 level with multiple successful bounces. Declining volume trend reversed during breakout, indicating renewed conviction. Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. CD Analytics CoinDesk Analytics is CoinDesk’s AI-powered tool that, with the help of human reporters, generates market data analysis, price movement reports, and financial content focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain markets. All content produced by CoinDesk Analytics is undergoes human editing by CoinDesk’s editorial team before publication. The tool synthesizes market data and information from CoinDesk Data and other sources to create timely market reports, with all external sources clearly attributed within each article. CoinDesk Analytics operates under CoinDesk’s AI content guidelines, which prioritize accuracy, transparency, and editorial oversight. Learn more about CoinDesk’s approach to AI-generated content in our AI policy. Oliver Knight Oliver Knight is the co-leader of CoinDesk data tokens and data team. Before joining CoinDesk in 2022 Oliver spent three years as the chief reporter at Coin Rivet. He first started investing in bitcoin in 2013 and spent a period of his career working at a market making firm in the UK. He does not currently have any crypto holdings. X icon More For You HBAR Rebounds as SWIFT Blockchain Trials Boost Bullish Outlook HBAR demonstrates strong recovery momentum following SWIFT blockchain trials. What to know: HBAR held firm support around $0.23 before rebounding to $0.24, signaling accumulation in a tight 4% trading range. Macro tailwinds boost sentiment as the Federal Reserve maintains rates below 2%, fueling expectations of cuts that could benefit crypto markets. Institutional momentum builds with SWIFT launching blockchain trials using Hedera and Grayscale filing a Delaware trust tied to HBAR. Read full story Read More

Regulatory uncertainty, volatility, and liquidity challenges, could all elevate the credit risk profile of firms adopting a crypto treasury strategy, the report said. Aug 21, 2025, 3:10 p.m. The corporate use of cryptocurrencies is evolving beyond payments, with a number of businesses adopting bitcoin BTC$112,792.70 and other digital assets as core treasury reserves. A report Thursday from rating company Morningstar DBRS cautions that this strategy could heighten credit risk profiles. According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, roughly 3.68 million BTC (worth about $428 billion as of Aug. 19) are held across companies, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), governments, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and custodians. This is about 18% of bitcoin’s circulating supply. Funds dominate with 40% of holdings, followed by public companies at 27%. That exposure remains highly concentrated. One firm, Strategy (MSTR), controls over 629,000 BTC, accounting for 64% of all public-company treasury holdings, the report noted. Morningstar DBRS highlighted a range of vulnerabilities in corporate crypto treasury strategies, including regulatory uncertainty, liquidity challenges during periods of volatility and exposure to exchange counterparties. Heavy reliance on bitcoin reserves could strain liquidity management, while the asset’s sharp price swings add further risk. The firm also noted that different tokens carry distinct technological and governance issues, and custody, whether handled in-house or through third parties, remains a critical security concern. Corporate adoption of crypto treasury strategies is expected to grow, led by companies like Strategy and MARA Holdings (MARA). Morningstar DBRS warned that concentration, volatility, and regulatory complexity mean such strategies could materially reshape how credit markets assess corporate risk. Read more: Bitcoin Treasury Firm Semler Scientific Still Has 3X Upside: Benchmark Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy. Will Canny Will Canny is an experienced market reporter with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. He’s now covering the crypto beat as a finance reporter at CoinDesk. He owns more than $1,000 of SOL. X icon AI Boost “AI Boost” indicates a generative text tool, typically an AI chatbot, contributed to the article. In each and every case, the article was edited, fact-checked and published by a human. Read more about CoinDesk’s AI Policy. More For You HBAR Rebounds as SWIFT Blockchain Trials Boost Bullish Outlook HBAR demonstrates strong recovery momentum following SWIFT blockchain trials. What to know: HBAR held firm support around $0.23 before rebounding to $0.24, signaling accumulation in a tight 4% trading range. Macro tailwinds boost sentiment as the Federal Reserve maintains rates below 2%, fueling expectations of cuts that could benefit crypto markets. Institutional momentum builds with SWIFT launching blockchain trials using Hedera and Grayscale filing a Delaware trust tied to HBAR. Read full story Read More