Asia Morning Briefing: Bitcoin’s ETFs Kill the Transaction Fees, Punishing the Miners More

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during ￰0￱ and an overview of market moves and ￰1￱ a detailed overview of U. S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.

Bitcoin’s price is holding near records, but the chain itself is ￰2￱ data shows transaction fees have collapsed back toward decade lows, even as BTC flirts with six ￰3￱ past cycles, fee spikes tracked bull markets as traders bid for ￰4￱ year, the fee curve is flat while price rises, a clear sign that onchain demand is no longer driving the market. A new report from Galaxy Research shows median daily fees have fallen more than 80% since April 2024, with as much as 15% of daily blocks now clearing at just 1 satoshi per ￰5￱ half of recent blocks are not full, signaling weak demand for blockspace and a dormant ￰6￱ is a sharp contrast to prior bull cycles, where price rallies translated into congestion and fee ￰7￱ data confirms a structural shift: spot ETFs and custodians now hold more than 1.3 million BTC, and coins parked in those wrappers rarely touch the chain ￰8￱ the same time, retail activity that once clogged the Bitcoin blockchain has migrated to Solana, where memecoins and NFTs benefit from cheaper and faster ￰9￱ result, Galaxy notes, is that the bitcoin price is being set by custodial inflows while the network's onchain demand – once a proxy for price movement – has slowed ￰10￱ miners, this dynamic is particularly ￰11￱ rewards halved to 3.125 BTC and fees contributing less than 1% of block revenue in July, profitability is under ￰12￱ stress is pushing listed miners to diversify into AI and HPC ￰13￱ more: Bitcoin Mining Faces 'Incredibly Difficult' Market as Power Becomes the Real Currency A report from earlier this year by Rittenhouse Research argues that Galaxy Digital’s move out of mining altogether could be the model for the ￰14￱ move has been applauded by the equity ￰15￱ BTC is down more than 3% on-year, the CoinShares Bitcoin Mining ETF has gained nearly 22%.

Investors are rewarding firms that have leaned into diversification rather than relying on block rewards ￰16￱ miners tell a similar story. Hive, Core Scientific, and TeraWulf all reported Q2 results padded by HPC and AI hosting ￰17￱ with no diversification, like Bitdeer and BitFuFu, remain deeply exposed to electricity costs, equipment depreciation, and a fee market that Galaxy warns in its report is “anything but robust.” The juxtaposition is telling: Galaxy’s own research warns that the Bitcoin blockchain's settlement role is stagnating, while Galaxy's balance sheet is being repositioned for growth in AI data ￰18￱ data makes the point: without organic demand for blockspace, fees can’t fund ￰19￱ if fees stay low, equity markets are painting a clear picture that mining sector’s best future returns may come from AI, not ￰20￱ Movements BTC: Bitcoin traded at $113,286.95, down 1.79%, after briefly plunging to a six-week low near $110,600, with the broader crypto market facing heavy liquidations and ￰21￱ : Ether traded flat at $4,779 as Jerome Powell’s dovish Jackson Hole remarks boosted expectations of a September rate cut, with asset managers predicting new highs for bitcoin and an ETH breakout above $5,000 despite risks from treasury adoption and equity volatility.

Gold: Gold closed at $3,371 after Powell’s dovish Jackson Hole remarks boosted September rate-cut ￰22￱ 225: Asia-Pacific stocks climbed Monday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 1.08%, after Powell signaled potential Fed rate cuts in September during his Jackson Hole ￰23￱ in Crypto The Funding: Why raising a crypto VC fund is harder now — even in a bull market ( The Block ) Why Luca Netz Will Be 'Disappointed' If Pudgy Penguins Doesn't IPO Within 2 Years ( Decrypt ) KPMG Says Investor Interest in Digital Assets Will Drive Strong Second Half for Canadian Fintechs ( CoinDesk )