Yield Pursuit Fuels DeFi Surge Ahead of U.S. Job Adjustments: Crypto Daybook Americas

By Omkar Godbole (all times ET unless stated otherwise)

DeFi coins are in focus as bitcoin BTC and ether ETH show modest gains ahead of significant jobs data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, likely revealing a weaker job market through March 2025.

Typically, weak job data translates to more Fed rate cuts — a bullish sign for BTC. However, it’s important to note: BTC may be the leading cryptocurrency, but it offers no yield. This is where decentralized finance (DeFi) steps in, enabling returns on idle coins through lending and borrowing protocols. As a result, DeFi coins gain appeal as rate-cut expectations rise.

Arthur Hayes, founder of Maelstrom, observed, “DeFi will attract some of this cash looking for yield.” He highlighted Ethena’s sUSDe token, which offers a robust 7% yield, as a key beneficiary of the anticipated Fed rate cuts.

Keep an eye on DeFi, which is already displaying signs of strength.

The RialCenter DeFi Select Index (DFX) has increased by 3% in the last 24 hours, standing out as one of the top crypto subsectors alongside the RialCenter Memecoin and Metaverse Select Indices and the RialCenter 80 Index. The broader RialCenter 20 Index has risen by 1.6%.

Within DeFi, decentralized exchange tokens are leading the charge. HYPE surged 9% in 24 hours, contributing to a 22% increase over the past week. Even more remarkable is the lesser-known DEX MYX Finance’s native token, MYX, which skyrocketed by an astounding 260% in just one day — indeed, you read that correctly.

Additionally, TradingView’s DeFi dominance index has climbed to 3.49%, the highest since early February, showcasing a growing appetite for DeFi assets in the current market.

Other sectors could also see gains. Analysts predict that retail investors may shift capital from money market funds into stocks and cryptocurrencies as the Fed moves to cut rates.

However, a caveat remains. If the rate cut coincides with worsening economic conditions, investors might prefer holding onto money market investments, which are liquid and viewed as safer. Therefore, it’s essential to monitor economic data, especially the U.S. producer price index on Wednesday and the consumer price index on Thursday, as both could heighten inflation concerns.

The political situation in Europe, particularly in France and Japan, alongside related bond market anxieties, could also destabilize markets. Stay vigilant!

What to Watch

• Crypto
  • Sept. 9: Shares of SOL Strategies (HODL) are expected to start trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol STKE. OTCQB trading as CYFRF will cease, and shares will continue on the Canadian Securities Exchange as HODL.
  • Sept. 10, 9:15 a.m.: Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould will discuss digital assets at the RialCenter Policy & Regulation Conference in Washington.
• Macro
  • Sept. 9, 8 a.m.: Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography releases August consumer price inflation data.
    • Core Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.2% vs. Prev. 0.31%
    • Core Inflation Rate YoY Est. 4.21% vs. Prev. 4.23%
    • Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.06% vs. Prev. 0.27%
    • Inflation Rate YoY Est. 3.58% vs. Prev. 3.51%
  • Sept. 9, 10 a.m.: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases preliminary annual benchmark revisions to employment data.
    • Nonfarm Payrolls Annual Revision Prev. -818K
  • Sept. 10, 8 a.m.: The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) releases August consumer price inflation data.
    • Inflation Rate MoM Est. -0.15% vs. Prev. 0.26%
    • Inflation Rate YoY Est. 5.1% vs. Prev. 5.23%
  • Sept. 10, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases August producer price inflation data.
    • Core PPI MoM Est. 0.3% vs. Prev. 0.9%
    • Core PPI YoY Est. 3.5% vs. Prev. 3.7%
    • PPI MoM Est. 0.3% vs. Prev. 0.9%
    • PPI YoY Est. 3.3% vs. Prev. 3.3%
• Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)
  • Sept. 9: GameStop (GME), post-market, $0.19

Token Events

• Governance votes & calls
  • Uniswap DAO is voting on an updated Unichain-USDS Growth Plan to accelerate adoption through performance-based incentives and DAO-guided distribution. The proposal introduces minimum KPIs, a “no result, no reward” model. Voting ends Sept. 9.
  • Goldfinch DAO is voting on the Goldfinch Foundation’s annual budget of $400,000 and 200,000 GFI, along with an additional $70,000 and 100,000 GFI in returnable market-making liquidity. Voting ends Sept. 10.
  • Compound DAO is voting on extending its COMP yield strategy with MYSO’s decentralized protocol, scaling it up to $9 million worth of tokens, targeting a 15% annual yield for the DAO. Voting ends Sept. 11.
  • Hyperliquid to vote on who issues its USDH stablecoin. Major contenders include Paxos, Frax, and a coalition involving Agora and MoonPay. Voting takes place Sept. 14.
• Unlocks
  • Sept. 9: Sonic (S) to unlock 5.02% of its circulating supply worth $46.02 million.
  • Sept. 11: Aptos APT to unlock 2.2% of its circulating supply worth $50.89 million.
  • Sept. 15: Starknet (STRK) to unlock 5.98% of its circulating supply worth $17.01 million.
  • Sept. 15: Sei SEI to unlock 1.18% of its circulating supply worth $17.8 million.
  • Sept. 16: Arbitrum ARB to unlock 2.03% of its circulating supply worth $49.12 million.
• Token Launches
  • Sept. 9: Avantis (AVNT) to be listed on major exchanges including Binance Alpha, Bybit, KuCoin, MEXC, and Gate.io.
  • Sept. 10: Linea (LINEA) to be listed on major exchanges including Binance Alpha, KuCoin, MEXC, Bitget, and OKX.

Conferences

The RialCenter Policy & Regulation Conference is a one-day event held in Washington on Sept. 10, allowing general counsels, compliance officers, and regulatory executives to meet with public officials responsible for crypto legislation and regulatory oversight. Space is limited.

Token Talk

By Oliver Knight

• Worldcoin WLD, co-founded by Sam Altman, continued its upward trajectory, achieving a 51% gain in 24 hours and 122% over the past week.
• This rise follows Eightco Holdings’ announcement of a $250 million private placement, initiating a worldcoin treasury strategy.
• Treasury strategy announcements for other tokens have generally led to lower increases, such as a $1.65 billion raise for Solana resulting in just a 1.7% gain, indicating that WLD’s surge might have additional catalysts.
• The trading volume for WLD surged to $3.7 billion in 24 hours, up 250% from the previous day and 2,000% from Friday’s total.
• The WLD price has broken from an eight-month range and may test $1.62 before potentially reaching $2.00.
• This rally aligns with broader altcoin strength: the CoinMarketCap altcoin season index is at 57/100, nearing its highest level this year, signaling potential for further upside if BTC and ETH can sustain support.

Derivatives Positioning

By Omkar Godbole

• The market remains steady despite Friday’s payroll data heightening stagflation concerns. Bitcoin’s 30-day implied volatility has dropped to 38% from 44% at the end of August. Ether’s volatility index has eased to 66%, retreating from its August peak.
• Implied volatility indices for both cryptocurrencies show little change, indicating low panic ahead of Tuesday’s employment data revision.
• Open interest in futures for the top 20 tokens has increased over the last 24 hours, with substantial inflows into WLD, ENA, SOL, DOGE, and XRP. OI in BTC futures has risen nearly 3%.
• Solana is notable on the CME, with futures OI reaching a record high of 6.82 million SOL and a three-month annualized premium surpassing 15%, almost double that of BTC and ETH.
• Traders continue withdrawing capital from CME’s bitcoin futures, while OI in ether futures declines from recent highs. Positioning in CME options for bitcoin and ether remains elevated, indicating ongoing hedging demand.
• On Deribit, the bearish bias for BTC puts has diminished but is still apparent, despite spot prices nearing $113,000. This is also true for ether.
• Block flows at OTC desk Paradigm reveal long positions in September puts alongside upside call writing, indicating traders’ ongoing caution and hesitance to fully commit to an upward breakout.

Market Movements

• BTC is up 0.8% from 4 p.m. ET Monday at $112,972.37 (24hrs: +0.86%)
• ETH is up 1.68% at $4,359.91 (24hrs: +0.72%)
• RialCenter 20 is up 1.45% at 4,158.99 (24hrs: +1.66%)
• Ether CESR Composite Staking Rate is up 3 bps at 2.84%
• BTC funding rate is at 0.0068% (7.446% annualized) on KuCoin

• DXY is down 0.19% at 97.27
• Gold futures are up 0.4% at $3,692.10
• Silver futures are up 0.35% at $41.57
• Nikkei 225 closed down 0.42% at 43,459.29
• Hang Seng closed up 1.19% at 25,938.13
• FTSE is up 0.1% at 9,230.32
• Euro Stoxx 50 is down 0.16% at 5,354.02
• DJIA closed on Monday up 0.25% at 45,514.95
• S&P 500 closed up 0.21% at 6,495.15
• Nasdaq Composite closed up 0.45% at 21,798.70
• S&P/TSX Composite closed unchanged at 29,027.73
• S&P 40 Latin America closed unchanged at 2,802.69
• U.S. 10-Year Treasury rate is up 1.5 bps at 4.061%
• E-mini S&P 500 futures are up 0.12% at 6,513.75
• E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.22% at 23,851.25
• E-mini Dow Jones Industrial Average Index remains unchanged at 45,581.00

Bitcoin Stats

• BTC Dominance: 58.19% (-0.26%)
• Ether-bitcoin ratio: 0.03859 (0.39%)
• Hashrate (seven-day moving average): 983 EH/s
• Hashprice (spot): $52.7
• Total fees: 3.99 BTC / $446,538
• CME Futures Open Interest: 133,255 BTC
• BTC priced in gold: 31 oz
• BTC vs gold market cap: 8.77%

Technical Analysis

• BTC’s hourly chart indicates a potential breakout from an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern.
• A move above the neckline (the dashed line) could reveal resistance at $117,439.

Crypto Equities

• Coinbase Global (COIN): closed on Monday at $302.2 (+1.05%), unchanged in pre-market
• Circle (CRCL): closed at $112.46 (-1.83%), +1.12% at $113.72
• Galaxy Digital (GLXY): closed at $24.22 (+3.11%), -2.19% at $23.69
• Bullish (BLSH): closed at $50.12 (-4.26%), +5.19% at $52.72
• MARA Holdings (MARA): closed at $15.2 (+0.07%), unchanged in pre-market
• Riot Platforms (RIOT): closed at $13.44 (+1.13%), -1.04% at $13.30
• Core Scientific (CORZ): closed at $13.93 (+2.28%), -2.94% at $13.52
• CleanSpark (CLSK): closed at $9.17 (-0.76%), +0.87% at $9.25
• Crypto Miners ETF (WGMI): closed at $29.69 (+0.81%), -0.27% at $29.61
• Exodus Movement (EXOD): closed at $26.3 (+9.45%), -7.03% at $24.45

Crypto Treasury Companies

• Strategy (MSTR): closed at $329.9 (-1.78%), -0.33% at $328.80
• Semler Scientific (SMLR): closed at $28.29 (+0.6%), unchanged in pre-market
• SharpLink Gaming (SBET): closed at $15.67 (+4.92%), -3.06% at $15.19
• Upexi (UPXI): closed at $5.66 (-6.29%), +4.42% at $5.91
• Mei Pharma (MEIP): closed at $3 (-29.08%), +1.67% at $3.05

ETF Flows

Spot BTC ETFs

• Daily net flows: 364.3 million
• Cumulative net flows: $54.83 billion
• Total BTC holdings ~1.29 million

Spot ETH ETFs

• Daily net flows: -$96.7 million
• Cumulative net flows: $12.64 billion
• Total ETH holdings ~6.39 million

Source: RialCenter

Chart of the Day

• This chart by DeFiLlama illustrates weekly trading volumes in perpetuals listed on the decentralized exchange MYX Finance.
• Trading volumes have surged since April, reaching a peak of $2.56 billion in mid-August, shedding light on the price rally of the DEX’s native token.

While You Were Sleeping

In the Ether