Bitcoin Sees Short-Term Recovery, Surges Past $82,000

Glassnode noted in a recent post that as U.S. consumer confidence has plunged to an all-time low, U.S. stock markets have continued to hit new all-time highs, creating a stark contrast between market sentiment and asset performance. Weak consumer confidence is driving capital to accelerate shifting from cash assets to stocks, artificial intelligence (AI)-related assets, and commodities, as investors seek higher returns by allocating to risk assets. Notably, Bitcoin has been noticeably overlooked in this round of capital rotation. While stocks, AI, and commodities continue to attract inflows, Bitcoin has not benefited in tandem, indicating that current market capital allocation remains concentrated primarily on traditional risk assets and AI themes, with BTC’s participation in this round of asset rotation being relatively limited.

TD Cowen announced it is raising its target price for Berkshire Hathaway from $481 to $529.

Hyperliquid’s AQAv2 stablecoin model protocol has previously secured support from 19 out of 26 validators, with the mechanism’s revenue accrual set to officially launch on August 26. Meanwhile, Circle has transferred roughly $4.4 billion in USDC to Coinbase on HyperEVM via the AQAv2 mechanism, marking the largest single USDC transfer on HyperEVM to date. If all proceeds as planned, revenue generated by AQAv2 will start accruing on August 26, with the first payment expected to enter the Assistance Fund on October 3. AQAv2 (Aligned Quote Asset v2) is a stablecoin mechanism announced by Hyperliquid in May this year, allowing stablecoins not exclusively issued by Hyperliquid—including USDC—to obtain "Aligned" qualification. According to public information, AQAv2 returns most of the stablecoin revenue to the Hyperliquid ecosystem: 90% of the revenue is allocated to the relevant mechanism, and 100% of that sum is then used to repurchase and burn HYPE tokens. Coinbase is designated as the fund deployer, while Circle handles technical deployment; both parties will also stake HYPE to participate in the mechanism. Previously, the mechanism required stablecoins to be exclusive assets of Hyperliquid, but AQAv2 removes this restriction, focusing instead on HIP-4 standardized markets and perpetual contract markets operated by validators. Per public disclosures, AQAv2 is projected to generate up to approximately $200 million in revenue, further boosting token value capture through the HYPE repurchase and burn mechanism.

Goldman Sachs said that given U.S. inflation is cooling, market expectations for Federal Reserve interest rate hikes remain overly aggressive. Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a report that due to weak retail sales data, disappointing employment figures, and continued slowing inflation data, the likelihood of the Fed raising rates at its September meeting is "extremely low". Hatzius noted: "Based on our baseline economic forecast, the likelihood of inflation data improving further over time is higher than that of it worsening again. We still believe market pricing for the federal funds rate is overly hawkish." Data shows markets have pushed back expectations for the Fed's next 25-basis-point rate hike to January next year, while just a week ago, markets had fully expected the Fed to raise rates in December. Goldman Sachs believes that although market pricing is no longer as hawkish, there is still room for rate hike expectations to fade further.

Japanese government bond prices fell due to fiscal concerns and growing market speculation that the Bank of Japan may raise interest rates in the coming months, pushing the 10-year government bond yield to its highest level since 1996. The 10-year yield rose as much as 5.5 basis points to 2.93%, while the 30-year yield climbed 5 basis points to 4.06%, approaching the record high reached in May.

Duquesne Family Office, in its Q2 2026 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), disclosed that as of June 30, it had built a $23 million position in Hyperliquid Strategies Inc (Nasdaq: PURR) — a HYPE-focused treasury firm — marking its first disclosed holding in the asset. Earlier reports noted that U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Walsh previously worked at Duquesne Family Office; before taking office, his major asset holdings exceeded $100 million, including two Duquesne-related investments worth over $50 million, seemingly linked to his advisory role for the family office.