Brent Crude Hits $106 as Crypto Prices Decline

Brent crude surged to $106.83 per barrel, its highest level since May, as long‑dated Treasury yields climbed to multi‑year highs and market participants raised the probability of a Federal Reserve rate increase to 64%.

Broad Crypto Sell‑off

Out of the 125 largest non‑stablecoin tokens, 103 fell in the 24‑hour period ending at 1:10 p.m. ET. Bitcoin traded around $77,120, down 2.1% in a day and 5.1% over the week. Ether slipped to $2,448.88, a 1.9% daily decline. Other notable drops included XRP (-4.8% to $1.35), Solana (-3.6% to $99.69) and BNB (-4.4% to $708.37). The total crypto market value stood at $2.64 trillion with Bitcoin dominance at 58.5%.

Oil Shock and Yield Moves

Brent’s 11.7% rise since early September coincided with the August Producer Price Index increasing 0.4% month‑over‑month and the 30‑year Treasury yield reaching 5.34%, the highest daily close in five years. The 10‑year yield hit 4.92%, also a multi‑year peak.

Market Sentiment and Futures Pricing

Polymarket priced a quarter‑point Fed hike for the September 15‑16 meeting at 63.5%, up from 41.5% a week earlier. The European Central Bank announced a 25‑basis‑point rate increase across its key rates.

DeFi and Token‑Specific Moves

DeFi total value locked fell 1.6% to $87.13 billion, while stablecoin supply was largely unchanged at $311.83 billion. Ether.fi posted the largest single‑token gain, up 14.2% after a buyback vote, though the actual purchases remain unverified. Falcon Finance’s token rose 65.2% over seven days despite flat TVL. VeChain’s TVL increased modestly, and Ape and Pepe each rose about 5% against their market caps.

Notable Losses

• Hunter Biden’s “LAPTOP” token fell 64.9% in 24 hours, trading at $0.6088.
• Pons token dropped after a prior record high, while Uniswap’s token fell 9.6%.
• Privacy coins Dash and Zcash fell 13.5% and 11.2% respectively, despite weekly gains.

ETF Flows and Equity Markets

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw $120.2 million of outflows on Wednesday, following a day of $46.6 million outflows. Spot Ether ETFs recorded a modest $2.1 million inflow after a prior day of $24.3 million outflows. Equities also slipped, with the S&P 500 down 0.4% and the Nasdaq down 0.3%, while gold fell 1.3% to $4,405 per ounce.