Today’s crypto markets were marked by big moves from institutional vaults, an ambitious US entry plan for a derivatives platform, and the largest year of token repurchases on record. Large BTC purchases by custody firms contrasted with notable transfers that fuelled sale speculation, while derivatives, ETFs and token buybacks kept institutional flows busy.
Institutional Bitcoin buying resumes
After a ten-week pause, Strategy resumed buying Bitcoin, acquiring 4,603 BTC for $369.7 million at an average price of $80,318 and bringing its holdings to 845,050 BTC. Another large buyer, Strive, purchased 1,800 BTC for $143 million and now holds 23,156 BTC, overtaking Bullish as the fifth-largest public company holder of Bitcoin according to the reported figures.
At the same time, Japan's Metaplanet moved 4,800 BTC, roughly $377 million, to Coinbase Prime as part of 10,270 BTC in transfers during the week. Those movements prompted market discussion about whether the transfers signalled a potential sale rather than a change in custody.
Hyperliquid advances US derivatives access amid scrutiny
Hyperliquid is in advanced talks to offer its perpetual futures to US traders through Bitnomial, a subsidiary of Payward, the parent company of Kraken, which has filed a draft structure with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Perpetual futures are derivative contracts that let traders maintain long or short exposure without a fixed expiry date.
The reported push to bring Hyperliquid into the US follows public statements that the administration is working to permit the platform to operate legally. Separately, Arkham data reviewed by CoinDesk allegedly shows wallets linked to North Korea's Lazarus Group sold more than $30 million in Bitcoin to Hyperliquid over the prior three weeks, with proceeds then moved to exchanges including Kraken.
Record token repurchases concentrated in two tokens
Crypto projects repurchased a record $638 million of their own tokens through 2026, driven largely by two platforms. Hyperliquid accounted for about $370 million of buybacks, directing 99% of its revenue into HYPE repurchases, while Pump.fun contributed nearly $200 million. Together they represented nearly 90% of the total repurchase volume.
Those buybacks have correlated with strong token performance this year, with HYPE up 145% and PUMP up 109% in the period cited, while Bitcoin was reported as down about 10% year-to-date.
Tom Lee’s vault expands Ethereum position
Tom Lee’s Ethereum vault company, Bitmine, purchased 53,501 ETH, about $131 million, marking its largest weekly acquisition since June and lifting total holdings to 5,901,112 ETH, roughly 4.9% of supply. Bitmine reported total assets of $15.6 billion and said 86% of its ETH is staked through MAVAN. Lee also noted that Ethereum outperformed the S&P 500 by 5,430 basis points in the third quarter.
XRP ETFs extend inflow streak
XRP spot ETFs recorded $26.2 million of inflows on August 28, extending a nine-day inflow streak and bringing cumulative inflows to about $1.6 billion. Analyst James Seyffart described the flows as "surprisingly resilient" given weak price action, and reported that Goldman Sachs and Jane Street were among the largest holders. At the time of the report, XRP was trading near $1.39; this ETF inflow streak contrasted with Bitcoin ETFs that had themselves just finished a nine-day run.
Daily roundup
The day highlighted how institutional activity can move in opposite directions at once: renewed accumulation by vault firms sits alongside transfers that may indicate selling, while derivatives expansion and concentrated buybacks have boosted specific tokens. ETF inflows and large custody balances show continued institutional engagement even amid mixed price performance.