LMAX Digital volumes continue to trend well above 30-day average volumes as we get going in August. We had gone through a lull in June and early July, but things are picking back up nicely. Total notional volume for Wednesday came in at $1.2 billion, 34% above 30-day average volume.

Bitcoin volume for Wednesday came in at $586 million, 19% above 30-day average volume. Ether volume came in at $351 million,61% above 30-day average volume. Total notional volume over the past 30 days at LMAX Digital comes in at $25.7 billion.

The two big stories in the crypto space at the moment are around regulation and the Ethereum hard fork. We believe both stories have resulted in some renewed downside pressure into the latter half of the week, though each for different reasons.

The proposed language around crypto in the US infrastructure spending bill is quite aggressive with respect to oversight and many believe this will undermine the outlook for cryptocurrency innovation in the United States.

There has been quite a bit of pushback, with an amendment already drafted that would make things more palatable. But we’re in a wait and see right now and this has struck a chord with the market.

The other big story is the Ethereum London hard fork. There are a lot of positives that come with this latest upgrade that should be of great benefit to the protocol, though the anticipation of the event has resulted in some outperformance in the price of eth in the leadup, which could now inspire a sell the fact type reaction.