Liquid Network loses $320 million, CLARITY vote approaches, Bitcoin ETF outflows $463 million| weekl

This week's crypto market review: Liquid Network suspends trading due to large withdrawals, and CLARITY bill faces key Senate vote.

During this week's regular review, a large withdrawal worth nearly 4,000 BTC forced Liquid Network to suspend trading, and then the operator began a limited restart. On the eve of the US CLARITY bill's vote in the Senate on September 15, its prospects were once again overshadowed; meanwhile, the spot Bitcoin ETF lost $462.7 million in four trading days.

Liquid Network restarts block production after $320 million withdrawal

It was reported that a participant extracted approximately 3,996 BTC through an authorized peg-out service and created unsupported L-BTC. The withdrawal, first reported on September 6, removed approximately 95% of the bitcoins held in the Sidechain Alliance wallet at the time. Liquid immediately stopped trading and reconciliation operations, and developers are fixing certification verification flaws in its Elements software.

On September 10, Liquid announced that its nodes had resumed block production after an emergency update, but trading and reconciliation operations remained suspended. The parties involved subsequently returned 3,400 BTC, resulting in approximately 598 BTC still outside the alliance's wallet. Liquid called the participants "self-proclaimed white hackers," reflecting the participants 'self-claims rather than confirmation that they were officially authorized.

CLARITY bill faces Senate 60-vote threshold test

Republican senators have warned that the CLARITY bill may lack enough votes to move the legislative process forward in a procedural vote on September 15. The measure requires 60 votes to open debate. Given that Republicans have 53 seats, if all Republicans support the motion, supporters need the support of at least seven more Democrats or independents.

Senator Cynthia Loomis blamed the deadlock on Democratic demands, while other lawmakers pointed out that ethics provisions involving government officials 'crypto-asset interests have not yet been resolved. Issues such as stablecin rewards and protection for decentralized financial developers are also controversial. A successful procedural vote only marks the beginning of Senate debate and does not mean that the bill has passed or become law.

Bitcoin ETF net outflow of US$462.7 million, Ethereum Fund received net inflow

Data shows that from September 8 to September 11, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF recorded a net outflow of US$462.7 million. Since the market is closed on Monday for Labor Day, there are only four trading days this week, and funds will flow out on each trading day. Thursday's loss of $282.7 million was the largest single outflow this week.

In contrast, the Ethereum ETF achieved a net inflow of $196.9 million during the period, of which it attracted $216.4 million in funding on Friday. Solana-related funds increased by $9.7 million. Fund data showed that investors were divided on the allocation of Bitcoin and Ethereum when evaluating U.S. inflation data and the results of the Federal Reserve's September 15-16 meeting.

Department of Justice freezes more than US$52 million in crypto assets, cracks Xinbi Guaranteed Network

The U.S. Department of Justice has frozen more than US$52 million in cryptocurrency in operations targeting wallets and online channels associated with the Xinbi Guaranteed Network. Tether said authorities seized two wallets that received approximately $12 million in payments and sought restraining orders on 47 other related wallets suspected of money laundering.

U.S. authorities and blockchain researchers have described Xinbi as a market that connects so-called fraud operators with payments, money laundering and other services. Tether said it assisted in the law enforcement operation. Although wallet restrictions are an established step in the investigation, allegations about the market and its users are still being raised by authorities.

Ethereum Foundation ranks Hegotá upgrade proposals

Ethereum Foundation rated 62 proposed modifications to its planned Hegotá upgrade. About 60 agreement experts contributed 397 evaluation reports. The "Deal Include List" and "Frame Transactions" received the highest "must-go" ratings, while other proposals were given lower priority or rejected.

These rankings describe the foundation's development priorities and do not decide to deploy all 62 changes. Its protocol cluster also sets a goal of making Ethereum's basic layer resistant to quantum attacks by December 2029. Members of the developer community can communicate about the Hegotá list at a Reddit discussion on September 16.

Harmony proposes to end its Layer-1 blockchain

Harmony proposes to retire its Layer-1 network and convert its ONE balance to Ethereum-based tokens after the final snapshot. The project announced the plan on September 6 and requires users to remove smart contracts by September 10 because liquidity pools, multi-signature vaults and apps will not be transferred with wallet balances.

Harmony has set aside US$1.372 million for eligible verifiers and committers, which is expected to be paid in four quarters. The plan was proposed after an attack in August that resulted in counterfeiting of ONE tokens. The final network block and Ethereum token distribution were not confirmed in the link report.

Bitcoin fluctuates due to inflation data ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting

On September 10, after the U.S. producer price index exceeded forecasts, Bitcoin fell below US$78,000 to hit approximately US$76,676. Previously, in early September, Bitcoin repeatedly failed to stabilize the US$80,000 mark. On September 11, BTC rebounded to above $78,000 after the U.S. consumer price index met headline forecasts. Consumer prices rose 3.4% year-on-year, and core prices rose 0.3% from July.

Polymarket trader pricing reportedly shows an 81% probability of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points.

Ripple urges senators to listen to the voices of crypto holders

Ripple's chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty called on undecided and opposing senators to meet with crypto holders before the CLARITY bill vote. He cited an estimate from the National Cryptocurrency Association that approximately 67 million U.S. adults hold digital assets.

Reports say supporters of Stand With Crypto contacted lawmakers nearly 50,000 times in August. Banking groups have also pressured senators to focus on stablecoin rewards and their possible impact on deposits. These competing lobbying activities have exacerbated legislative controversy, but none has made clear the senators 'voting intentions.

Robinhood's report shows a 61% increase in monthly crypto transaction volume

According to operating data released this week, Robinhood's crypto transaction volume reached US$17.5 billion in August, a 61% increase from July. Bitstamp processed $10.1 billion, while the Robinhood app processed $7.4 billion.

Despite the monthly increase, overall trading volume is still 38% lower than in August 2025. The comparison distinguishes a rebound from sluggish trading in July from a year-on-year recovery, which Robinhood has not yet reported.

U.S. regulators propose revised bank supplier guidelines

The Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC and the National Credit Union Administration have proposed new third-party risk guidelines that allow banks and credit unions to adjust supervision based on each external relationship. If finalized, these non-binding guidelines will replace the 2023 and 2024 frameworks.

Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr voted against it, warning of possible oversight loopholes. The proposal is related to agencies that evaluate external fintech providers, including digital asset services companies, but does not itself approve any crypto activity.

Bank of Brazil expands customer access to crypto-assets

Brazilian banks added digital assets to their customer platforms, but did not report virtual assets on their own balance sheet in a March filing. Itaú provides 15 crypto assets, and Nubank lists 28.

Banco do Brasil reported that since January this year, it has processed more than 11 million Riarell customer-demanding crypto transactions. As Brazilian crypto companies prepare to meet licensing requirements later this year, there is an important difference between assisting customers in transactions and purchasing bank-owned account tokens.

Flare reports that 21.5 billion FLRs have been pledged

DefiLlama Research reports that as Flare changed its network economics model, the number of FLRs pledged has increased from approximately 16 billion to 21.5 billion. The FIP.16 upgrade reduces annual inflation from 5% to 3%.

DefiLlama also reported that transaction fee destruction has increased to more than 10 times previous levels. These data measure post-upgrade activity and do not prove that the rule change alone caused all the increase in pledge volume.

UniCredit considers providing a wider range of digital asset services

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, UniCredit Italy is exploring crypto custody and brokerage infrastructure. The bank is also considering tokenized investments and stablecoin services, but has not yet selected a final product line or announced a launch time.

UniCredit has previously provided products linked to BlackRock's U.S. Bitcoin ETF to professional customers and issued tokenized mini bonds. Its latest discussions are still in the early stages and could change before any customer service begins.