Spotting Signals for the Next Crypto Bull Run: Will Bitcoin Asia 2025 Deliver?

TradingKey - Markets were caught off guard last week when Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a surprisingly dovish tone at Jackson Hole. Bitcoin reacted instantly, ripping past 117,000 in minutes. Ethereum followed on Monday, notching a new all −time high at 4,900—finally breaking above its 2021 peak.

Momentum didn’t stop there. Solana emerged as the standout performer in the layer-1 space, with daily trading volume outpacing Ethereum two-to-one. Buzz around a potential Solana ETF is heating up, and if approved, it could hand Solana a narrative-defining catalyst—perhaps even positioning it as a real contender to Ethereum’s dominance going into September.

Markets, however, pulled back sharply in the early part of this week. Still, attention now turns to Bitcoin Asia 2025, held August 28–29 in Hong Kong. It’s the second-largest crypto conference globally, and some believe it could act as a signal flare in a market still waiting for its next real inflection point.

Why Hong Kong?

Asia’s enthusiasm for crypto has been accelerating beneath the surface. Chainalysis data shows the Central & Southern Asia and Oceania (CSAO) region pulled in more than $750 billion in crypto between July 2023 and June 2024—about 16.6% of global volumes, trailing only North America and Western Europe.

East Asia presents a different structure. Nearly $400 billion of activity there is largely driven by professional and institutional players.

South Korea, for example, accounts for around $130 billion in inflows, driven heavily by altcoin and stablecoin strategies, many tied to arbitrage around the so-called “Kimchi Premium.”

Japan has also reemerged. Since the start of 2024—closely aligned with Wall Street’s institutional embrace of Bitcoin—spot crypto trading volumes surged 82% year over year. According to BlockBeats, more than 12.4 million Japanese users now participate in digital assets. Hong Kong–based custodians hold ¥4.26 trillion ($27.5 billion) on behalf of these users.

But it’s Hong Kong that’s quietly taken the lead in East Asia. It posted 85.6% year-on-year growth in crypto flows, over 40% of it in stablecoins. In April 2024, Hong Kong became one of the first jurisdictions in the region to approve spot BTC and ETH ETFs, and followed up with a regulatory framework for stablecoins in May. The result: Hong Kong now positions itself as a structured launchpad for regulated crypto innovation in Asia.

Who's Speaking？

The theme of Bitcoin Asia 2025 is “Signal over Noise.” Appropriately, one of the headline speakers is Eric Trump, son of former President Donald Trump—and a vocal proponent of Bitcoin.

He’ll give a keynote reflecting on Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a tool for global monetary reset. In past statements, Trump has forecasted BTC reaching 1 million and suggested the U.S. should leverage DeFi and stablecoins to enhance the dollar’s global role—backing WLF1 settlement stablecoin for cross-border trade.

He and his brother, Donald Trump Jr., are reportedly backing American Bitcoin, a U.S.-based mining company aiming to replicate MicroStrategy’s balance-sheet playbook. The company is rumored to be scouting M&A targets across Asia.

Also on the agenda: Metaplanet, the first publicly listed Japanese firm to adopt Bitcoin as a corporate treasury asset. CEO Simon Gerovich is expected to walk through their full-blown pivot from a traditional balance sheet to what he calls “strategic currency management.” Sources say Eric Trump may attend Metaplanet’s shareholder meeting in Tokyo on September 1.

Is Ethereum Quietly Winning the Cycle?

Over the past month, ETH has climbed nearly 25%—while BTC has slipped 5.3%. The rotation is hard to ignore, and capital seems to be flowing where volatility (and upside) still lives.

ETH spot ETFs registered 2.79 billion in inflows over the past month. In contrast, Bitcoin ETFs saw 1.2 billion in net outflows.

Institutional buying has picked up meaningfully. Wallets tied to corporate or fund ownership now hold over 4.1 million ETH, worth nearly 18.7 billion. Topping the list is BitMine Immersion Tech, with upwards of 1.5 million ETH under management —a 6.9 billion position.

Tom Lee of Fundstrat continues to call for a $15,000 ETH by year-end, doubling down after Powell’s remarks encouraged renewed flows into risk assets.

JPMorgan strategists say ETH may be setting up for another leg higher—not only due to institutional flows, but because of what’s coming: SEC approval of staking-enabled ETFs. These vehicles would allow managers to earn staking rewards on behalf of clients, without the need to lock up 32 ETH per validator. Early signs suggest this may be an institutional favorite-in-waiting.

Also worth watching: the SEC’s greenlight for in-kind redemptions on BTC and ETH ETFs. That means investors will eventually be able to redeem shares for actual crypto—not just USD equivalents—further legitimizing ETF exposure for sophisticated allocators.

Whale Whispers — Bull Signal or Blowoff?

On-chain watchers also took note this week as a dormant Ethereum “whale” reactivated for the first time in seven years. The wallet snapped up 62,914 ETH (~270million) in spot purchases and opened long futures totaling another 135,265 ETH ( 580 million). Moves like this typically precede large directional bets—and often, broader price action follows.

But not everyone sees this as a rocket ship ride just yet. Bloomberg data shows ETH short interest is at multi-year highs. Funds are hedging exposure, and positioning implies caution.

The trader known as CryptoGoos points out that ETH has historically underperformed in September. That narrative could reassert itself quickly if macro tailwinds fade or if sentiment flips risk-off.