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Stocks surge, Bitcoin lags
The S&P 500 gained 3.12% this month, adding roughly $2.1 trillion in market cap and pushing its total value to a record $70.5 trillion with its price at 7,723 points, while bitcoin was up just 2% this month and trading around $64,600.
“The S&P 500 has gained 3.12% this month, adding roughly $2.1 trillion in market cap”
CoinDesk said bitcoin was “sitting this one out” as Wall Street stayed in “full risk-on mode,” and it tied the gap to an equity rally driven by AI and semiconductor stocks rather than a broad macro impulse that would lift beta assets like BTC.
Adam Haeems, head of asset management at Tesseract Group, said the rally is being driven by “areas to which bitcoin has little direct exposure, particularly AI and semiconductor stocks,” and he linked bitcoin’s underperformance to how oil and Strait of Hormuz reopening hopes flow through inflation expectations and Federal Reserve policy.
CoinDesk also reported that U.S.-listed funds registered an outflow of $61.53 million, snapping an equally anemic three-week streak of inflows, while the same piece said the crypto market rally driven previously by ETF demand has been subdued as it seeks its own catalyst independent of US equities.
In parallel, CoinDesk noted crypto’s own pressures, including the $120 million Coldcard exploit and reports of Strategy liquidating its BTC, as it described these events as sentiment hits rather than a broader liquidation cycle.
Hormuz hopes lift records
Bloomingbit reported that the S&P 500 and the Dow hit fresh records for a second straight day on August 5, with the S&P 500 rising to a record high and extending its winning streak to a fifth straight session.
As of 10:15 a.m. in New York, the S&P 500 was up 0.57% above 7,782, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1% to a record high for a second consecutive day, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.4%.
Bloomingbit said oil prices extended their decline, with West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery falling more than 1% to $74.8 a barrel and Brent crude for October delivery dropping 0.8% to about $78 a barrel, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury was little changed at 4.621%.
The same report said SpaceX shares plunged 11% after the company reported that capital spending tied to artificial intelligence had increased sixfold, and it cited Bloomberg that 90% of U.S. companies that have reported results so far have beaten estimates.
Bloomingbit also quoted Keith Lerner of Truist Advisory Services saying, “Earnings are still serving as the compass, the economy continues to show resilience, market participation has broadened, and much of the excessive valuation has been worked off,” as Strait of Hormuz reopening hopes supported the rally.
Tokenized equities and catalysts
CoinMarketCap reported that Dinari opened tokenized S&P 500 trading to US self-custody wallet users, letting eligible US investors trade 724 tokenized stocks, including the full S&P 500, via USDC across 4 blockchains.
“Dinari lets eligible US investors trade 724 tokenized stocks, including the full S&P 500”
Dinari co-founder and CEO Gabriel Otte said, “This launch brings them together, allowing investors to move seamlessly between stablecoins and US equities while preserving the protections of traditional capital markets,” and the platform went live with partners including Circle and Stripe-owned Privy.
The same report said Dinari operates under a regulatory authorization it received roughly a year ago and that it did not name the specific regulator or authorization type in its Aug. 4 announcement, while it warned that secondary markets for tokenized securities can be illiquid.
Separately, CoinDesk described a potential timing catalyst for bitcoin traders tied to a four-year halving-cycle thesis that points to a bottom in October, quoting Markus Thielen of 10x Research saying, “bitcoiners have suddenly, collectively bought into the four-year cycle thesis, which points to a bottom in early October, so they're waiting on the sidelines.”
CoinDesk also said stablecoin outflows were a headwind for crypto, noting USDT supply had fallen from about $190 billion in April to $183 billion and USDC had declined from $79.5 billion to $72 billion, with real Treasury returns at their highest since 2008.
