MarsBit has published its Weekly Editor’s Picks for Sept. 12 to Sept. 18, pulling together a set of longer reads across macro, policy, investing, CeFi and DeFi, Ethereum scaling, meme markets, multi-ecosystem developments and security.
Macro: the Federal Reserve’s first rate hike in three years
In the macro section, MarsBit pointed to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 decision. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to raise the benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a 3.75% to 4.00% range.
The latest dot plot showed at least one more rate hike this year. Market pricing for an October hike then rose to about 50%, while expectations for a December move also increased. MarsBit said the hawkish signal triggered a chain reaction: U.S. stocks and gold came under pressure, the dollar climbed to a one-month high, and the yield curve sharply bear-flattened.
The roundup also recommended the article titled “The Fed’s first rate hike in three years is imminent, but it may not be the last.”
Investing and startups: X adds a trading entry to Cashtags
In the investing and startup section, MarsBit highlighted the launch of the X Cashtag Partner Program in the United States. The program adds a “Trade” entry to Cashtags.
Users who click supported stock, ETF or cryptocurrency Cashtags can view price charts and related posts, then jump through the Trade entry to partner brokerages to complete transactions. The first batch of partners includes Interactive Brokers, Moomoo, Gemini, Kraken and Coinbase.
MarsBit said the Cashtag test phase drove more than $1 billion in trading volume in four days and could push at least $25 billion by year-end.
Policy and stablecoins: the SEC opens the door to tokenized stock trading
In the policy and stablecoin section, MarsBit said that although the CLARITY bill failed to pass a Senate vote, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moved just one day later to facilitate tokenized stock trading under what it called an “innovation exemption.”
According to MarsBit, the document temporarily cleared obstacles for tokenized stocks. The outlet added that some in the industry described it as an important moment for U.S. innovation, and that it gave a short-term lift to on-chain markets and altcoins.
MarsBit also recommended two related reads: “Why did four Republican senators switch sides against the CLARITY bill?” and “Hyperliquid’s path into the U.S. is now clearer, but restrictions remain strict.”
CeFi and DeFi: how a failed BTC treasury company exits the market
In the CeFi and DeFi section, MarsBit examined how a failed BTC treasury company goes through delisting. It said Satsuma, a former U.K.-listed BTC DAT company, is winding down by selling its BTC, shutting its business, returning most of its capital to shareholders, and then voluntarily leaving the stock market.
The article laid out the main steps in a DAT voluntary delisting process:
- shareholders pass a special resolution;
- the company determines which shareholders and how many shares are entitled to the capital return;
- it sells BTC, shuts operations and cleans up the balance sheet;
- a court confirms the capital return plan;
- the company delists and completes distributions to shareholders.
MarsBit described the sale of BTC, the business shutdown and the balance-sheet cleanup as the key step in the process. At that point, the company stops being a listed firm that holds BTC and becomes a liquidation vehicle waiting to distribute remaining cash.
Airdrop opportunities and interaction guides
The roundup included “Popular interaction collection | Jumper early whitelist application; Startale Group adds new points tasks (Sept. 17).”
Meme: genius.fun and the reverse-acquisition narrative
In the meme section, MarsBit focused on genius.fun, which it described as backed by CZ. The article said genius.fun uses a foundation model to help meme communities direct capital back into the real world, with a scenario in which the community could eventually acquire a listed company. MarsBit framed that as version 2.0 of the meme narrative pairing crypto and equities.
At the same time, the article said many practical questions still need answers before that idea can be implemented. It also recommended the related piece “Arc mainnet is live: what are the ‘P juniors’ trading?”
Ethereum and scaling: what it means if users can pay gas without ETH
In the Ethereum and scaling section, MarsBit discussed EIP-8141, or Frame Transactions. As the proposal advances, the article said, users may be able to send transactions without holding ETH in their wallets. Gas could be deducted directly from USDC, and some applications could choose to cover gas on behalf of users.
On that trajectory, authorization, execution, payment and verification can all be separated and recombined in different ways.
MarsBit also stressed that even if users no longer feel the presence of ETH directly, the Paymaster, application or other account paying on their behalf still needs the ability to cover network fees priced in ETH. The existing EIP-1559 fee market, it added, is not being replaced by stablecoins because of Frames. What changes is the location of ETH demand.
The article argued that EIP-1559 weakens the requirement that every user must stockpile some ETH before using Ethereum. The bet, it said, is that once that barrier disappears, more people will actually start using Ethereum.
Multi-ecosystem: ARC’s meme launch stumbled on day one
In the multi-ecosystem section, MarsBit collected a critical take on ARC. The article said meme culture has not yet formed there, while launchpads are already oversupplied. It described the team’s marketing as stiff and its livestream presentation as unappealing. It also said ARC once had a clearer positioning as a stablecoin chain, but is now stuck between enterprise finance and meme speculation. In MarsBit’s wording, it copied the mechanics from Robinhood Chain, but not the buyers.
The section also recommended three related reads: “Arc mainnet goes live tomorrow: which token launch platforms are worth watching in advance?”, “On Arc’s first day, crypto infrastructure projects are celebrating together — is the next Robinhood Chain here?”, and “At a very early stage, which projects in the Zcash ecosystem are worth watching?”
Security: a new North Korean hacker tactic
In the security section, MarsBit highlighted what it described as a new North Korean hacker tactic: paying someone $500 to attend a job interview, then sending another person to take the role in person after hiring.
Weekly catch-up
Policy and macro markets
- the CLARITY bill failed to clear its hurdle;
- the SEC set four conditions for on-chain trading of tokenized stocks and banned trading in synthetic tokenized stocks;
- South Korean stock trading hours were extended to 8 p.m.;
- an OpenAI model suddenly left a message for its “future self”: “You are already free”;
- concerns over AI safety intensified, and three major AI companies called for a slowdown in frontier model development;
- Sam Altman said OpenAI will not go public this year and that any IPO is delayed until at least 2027;
- OpenAI is reportedly seeking pre-IPO financing at a target valuation of $1.2 trillion.
Views and comments
- Donald Trump said U.S. interest rates should be cut below 1% and urged the Federal Reserve to move quickly;
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent said the United States made tens of millions of dollars from yen intervention;
- Cathie Wood backed David Sacks and said claims that AI will destroy humanity may have been orchestrated by people;
- JPMorgan took a bullish view on U.S. stocks and urged investors to value the “golden pit” buying opportunity;
- Arthur Hayes said rates will stay on hold and that AI capital misallocation and yen repatriation will ignite Bitcoin;
- the AMC CEO again criticized Robinhood, questioning shareholder rights tied to tokenized stocks and the 1:1 backing mechanism.
Institutions, large companies and major projects
- Anthropic reached a $13.7 billion computing-power agreement with Rum Group, which MarsBit described as linked to Trump;
- the Robinhood CEO said Robinhood’s stock tokens will soon support physical redemption and voting rights;
- Pump.fun launched a holder rewards mechanism and scrapped its Cashback model;
- CoinEx shut down voluntarily;
- Balancer plans to shut down;
- South Korean stock market turnover fell to its lowest level this year as investor enthusiasm faded;
- ZEC repeatedly hit fresh all-time highs.
Security
- Nostra suffered an oracle attack with losses of about $3.5 million.
MarsBit ended the roundup by linking to the broader Weekly Editor’s Picks series and signing off until the next edition.