FiCAS Selected Crypto Assets ETI

Bitcoin fell 3.41%, and Ethereum dropped 11.07%, with ETH once again taking the heavier hit as liquidity thinned and macro sensitivity rose. Even with the ceasefire holding, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz kept energy markets on edge. Headline inflation moved back toward 3.7% year on year and core inflation to 2.7%, enough to revive the market’s fear that the Fed could pause easing or lean tighter. That shift in rate expectations shaped positioning more than any crypto-specific fundamental.

Flows told the same story. The month began with over $1bn of inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs as BTC held above $80,000, then flipped hard into $2.43bn of net monthly outflows as de-risking set in. The contrast was visible in product leadership, with XRP and HYPE ETFs cited among the strongest inflow leaders year to date. In the spot market, only a few names managed to trade on their own narrative. Hyperliquid, Zcash, NEAR, and TON held up better than the pack, while the wider altcoin complex continued to lack volume and conviction.

Under the surface, the industry kept building. The latest CLARITY Act language would block interest payments on passive payment-stablecoin holdings while still allowing rewards tied to genuine network activity, a compromise that says as much about banking politics as it does about crypto. Tokenization momentum also pushed forward. DTCC announced a tokenized asset platform spanning Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs, and US Treasuries, the Bank of Italy backed tokenized SEPA payments, Citi projected tokenized securities at $5.5tn by 2030, and tokenized Treasuries reached $15bn as BlackRock expanded its offering. Meanwhile, execution continued to migrate to cheaper rails, with Arbitrum and Base now accounting for more than 65% of Ethereumbased DeFi activity.