X user CBB published a detailed account of how he and his brother spent the past 10 months arbitraging price gaps between Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 stock perpetual contracts and Interactive Brokers, or IBKR. According to the post, the pair started with no background in stock trading, stitched together a hedging system by working through IBKR’s API, and even used Anthropic’s Claude to understand parts of the broker interface and hedging flow. The strategy treated IBKR quotes as the reference price and traded against discounts or premiums in HIP-3, with positions hedged on the broker side. CBB said the effort eventually produced $32 billion in trading volume, equal to 1.5% of TradeXYZ’s total volume, and roughly $10 million in net profit, with annualized returns on deployed capital of 35% to 45%. The write-up also described a major failure: a stale IBKR market data feed led the bot to build a $120 million net short position in gold futures, resulting in a $1.1 million loss after manual unwinding. The pair later tightened controls, added checks on quote freshness, upgraded risk management, and expanded into metals, oil and semiconductor-related names. CBB said the opportunity may narrow as firms including Ethena move into stock basis trading and more regulated institutions connect to the market.

Trader CBB has published a full account of a 10-month arbitrage strategy he ran with his brother across Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets and Interactive Brokers (IBKR), describing how the pair went from having almost no traditional finance experience to trading a combined $32 billion in volume and making about $10 million in profit. The strategy began after HIP-3 launched on Hyperliquid in October 2025 and Unit/TradeXYZ rolled out its first stock perpetual market three days later. CBB said the pair used IBKR quotes as the reference price and built bots to capture discrepancies between stock perpetuals on Hyperliquid and corresponding positions in traditional markets. The write-up includes detailed operational milestones and failures. In November 2025, the strategy generated roughly $850 million in volume and more than $500,000 in profit. In January 2026, as gold and silver markets surged, monthly volume rose to about $1.7 billion and funding income alone exceeded $600,000. That same month, however, stale IBKR interface data caused the bot to repeatedly add short gold futures positions to offset a mismatch that did not exist, leaving the account net short $120 million in gold futures. CBB said he manually closed the position after landing in Dubai, locking in a $1.1 million loss. After adding new risk controls, the pair resumed trading and, according to CBB, recovered roughly $600,000 the next day when silver pulled back and a spread of about 3% opened between Hyperliquid and IBKR. By early September 2026, he said institutional participation had increased and Ethena had announced plans to enter stock basis trading, suggesting the opportunity may be nearing its end.

Goldman Sachs said in an Aug. 24 Americas brokers and cryptocurrency sector report that it remains “cautiously optimistic” on crypto-related names in the second half of the year, even after a prolonged slump in trading activity. The bank said crypto trading fell 30% in July and another 21% in August, extending the decline to 10 consecutive months. That stretch is already longer than the median duration seen across the previous five downturn cycles. The report argues that the setup for crypto differs from other market themes it tracks. Traditional brokers are tied more closely to a potential seasonal rebound in September, prediction markets are framed around structural growth of 1,160% over two years, while crypto may be approaching a reversal as the current downcycle nears historical limits. Goldman said sector valuations now sit at the 30th percentile of the past five years. The bank also highlighted three factors that could support the group: a rebound in crypto market capitalization, cost cuts across listed firms, and regulatory reform in the U.S. It pointed to SEC innovation exemption proposals, more than 10 additional digital asset firms obtaining OCC bank charters in 2026, and more than 15 crypto companies now inside the federal banking system. Goldman also listed HOOD, IBKR, FIGR and COIN among its buy-rated names, each with distinct business drivers.

Goldman Sachs is keeping a cautiously constructive view on brokerage and crypto-linked equities after the second-quarter earnings season, arguing that the main support for the group is not a confirmed rebound in crypto trading but a mix of seasonal recovery in traditional brokerage activity and continued expansion in prediction markets. Since the first company in the group reported on July 21, shares in Goldman’s covered names have risen 3% on average, about 1 percentage point ahead of the S&P 500, while sector earnings beat consensus by 8% and revenue came in 2% above expectations, though expenses were also 5% higher. The bank said summer retail trading has cooled, with U.S. retail equity volumes down about 15% in July and 14% in August month over month. Still, after adjusting for account growth, volume per account in the second quarter of 2026 remained about 8% below the 2021 peak, suggesting the current cycle may not have topped out. Goldman also pointed to prediction markets as a growing revenue driver, with annualized volume up about 1,160% from January 2024 to July 2026 and a possible pickup from September as U.S. sports calendars recover and the midterm election approaches. Crypto remains the more tentative part of the thesis. Sector trading volume fell 30% in July and another 21% so far in August, extending the decline to roughly 10 months. Goldman said the recent 21% rise in total crypto market capitalization in the week before the report improves the odds of a recovery, but only a sustained market-cap rebound that feeds through to spot and derivatives volumes would mark a true turning point. Goldman’s preferred names are FIGR, HOOD and IBKR, while COIN is framed as the higher-beta way to express a crypto recovery.

Goldman Sachs said in an Aug. 24 Americas brokers and cryptocurrency industry report that it remains “cautiously optimistic” on the second half of the year, even after a prolonged slump in crypto trading activity. The bank said crypto trading fell 30% in July and another 21% in August, marking a 10-month decline that has already lasted longer than the median of the previous five downturns. The report separates the setup across three groups. Traditional brokers are tied to a seasonal rebound in September. Prediction markets are linked to the election cycle and what Goldman described as 1,160% structural growth over two years. Crypto-related equities, by contrast, are being judged on three possible catalysts: a rebound in market capitalization, cost cuts, and regulatory reform. Goldman said the sector is trading around the 30th percentile of its five-year valuation range. It also pointed to survey data showing 35% of institutional investors see regulatory uncertainty as the biggest barrier to entering crypto, while 32% view regulatory clarity as the top catalyst for adoption. The bank highlighted HOOD, IBKR, FIGR and COIN as its four key buy-rated names, with target prices of $124, $114, $43 and $196, respectively.

A Goldman Sachs research note, cited by Chaoxiang Research and carried by ChainCatcher, said crypto trading volumes fell 30% in July and another 21% in August, marking 10 consecutive months of decline. The duration now exceeds the median length seen across the previous five cycles. Goldman said trading volume in the current cycle has dropped 75% from its peak, even as total crypto market capitalization rebounded 21% over the past week. The bank added that a turning point in trading activity could emerge if market value holds near current levels. The note also highlighted regulation as a central issue for institutional investors. It said 35% of institutions view regulatory uncertainty as the biggest obstacle, while 32% see regulatory clarity as the leading catalyst. On policy developments, the report referenced a recent SEC innovation exemption proposal and said that by 2026, more than 10 additional digital asset companies had received OCC bank charters, with more than 15 crypto firms already brought into the federal banking system. Goldman described its second-half stance as cautiously optimistic, pointing to lower costs, better operating margins, and valuation levels around the 30th percentile of the past five years.

Binance is expanding on two fronts at once: bringing real stock holdings from brokers such as Interactive Brokers into Binance accounts, and listing perpetual contracts tied to Hong Kong and Asian equities. According to the article, users can now submit details such as their full account name and a delivering broker’s DTC number to move real holdings into Binance, while an incentive program running from Aug. 11 to Sept. 30 offers a share of 300,000 USDC for U.S. stock transfers. At the same time, Binance and other major exchanges including Gate, OKX, Bitget, Hyperliquid, Bybit, and Coinbase are broadening stock and index perpetual offerings covering names in Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China-related markets. The piece argues that these two tracks serve the same direction: exchanges become a unified venue for trading both tokenized real-world securities and synthetic price exposure, reducing the role banks and traditional brokers used to play in the path between capital and markets. The report also highlights the trade-off. Tokenized equities such as bStocks, issued by BTech Holdings Limited under an Abu Dhabi Global Market framework, differ sharply from USDT-settled stock perpetuals that offer only price exposure. Past regulatory pressure on Binance in 2021 and scrutiny of Robinhood’s tokenized stock products in 2025 show that legal boundaries remain unsettled, especially around whether tokens are backed by real assets and what protections apply in each jurisdiction.

Bitget has introduced Stock+, a service that lets users buy more than 10,000 real U.S. stocks and ETFs with USDC and other digital assets, while claiming underlying ownership rather than synthetic exposure.