Crypto Market Up 0.87% on Tuesday as Trump Rules Out Nuke

On Tuesday, September 1, the crypto market added 0.87%, hovering near $2.64 trillion. The TOTAL ticker has now posted gains for two consecutive days, as losses from Monday were reversed after Trump ruled out nuclear options.

But the buying activity is more concentrated than in the previous week.

1. Bitcoin ETF Inflows Halted, While Three Others Continued

On August 28, Bitcoin funds saw a net outflow of $201.81 million, breaking a nine-day streak of inflows. However, investors did not exit the asset class entirely; they rotated into other tokens.

In the same session, Ethereum funds attracted $102.18 million, marking a tenth consecutive day of positive flows. Wall Street capital has preferred Ethereum for the past two weeks. XRP and Solana funds saw inflows of $26.20 million and $18.08 million respectively that day, and both have now recorded positive flows for ten straight sessions through August 31. The shift in institutional preference toward altcoins could strengthen the 'altcoin season' narrative.

Despite the gains, the market has not yet confirmed a trend. Since August 21, nearly every daily candle has closed with a long upper wick, indicating that sellers have been pushing back against each rally attempt.

The total market cap must break above $2.71 trillion for any meaningful shift. On the downside, support at $2.54 trillion is critical; a drop below that level could quickly lead to $2.43 trillion.

• Streak Halted: Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows of $201.81 million on August 28
• Quiet Winners: XRP, ETH and Solana ETF streaks remain unbroken
• Unchanged Scoreboard: BTC dominance is 60.11%, up 1.87% in a month

2. Trump Rules Out Nuclear Strike on Iran

The second factor comes down to a single response. During a Monday Oval Office exchange, President Trump was asked if he would rule out nuclear weapons against Iran and confirmed he had, even as his administration considers limited conventional strikes near the Strait of Hormuz.

President Trump confirmed he has ruled out using a nuclear weapon on Iran.

“Iran is not a big war for us,” President Trump says.

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) August 31, 2026

This removes the worst-case scenario from the equation without halting the conflict, and oil markets are reflecting that. Brent crude is trading near $88.90, roughly 12% above its one-year average, weeks after Iran denied striking a Hormuz deal. While crude has retreated from panicked levels, it has not fully normalized, suggesting a war premium persists.

• Ceiling Removed: Trump ruled out nuclear escalation
• Fight Continues: Hormuz strikes are still on the table
• Oil Agrees: Brent near $88.90, 12% above its one-year average

Coin Spotlight: Arbitrum (ARB) Surges 31.3%

Arbitrum (ARB) jumped 31.3%, making it the day's top performer in the crypto market. The catalyst was Robinhood Chain, built on Arbitrum's technology, which set a new daily decentralized exchange volume record of $1.49 billion on August 31, according to DefiLlama. Only three days have ever exceeded $1 billion in volume, and all three occurred in the past three days.

This is significant for ARB holders because 10% of fees from Orbit chains—custom Arbitrum chains—are directed back to Arbitrum, with 8% going to the token holder treasury. Higher volume translates into increased revenue for the chain.

It took Robinhood Chain just 60 days from mainnet launch to hit $1M in daily network revenue, nearly 4x faster than Base (224 days).

Generating over $1.07M in 24h fees, Robinhood Chain flipped Solana, Tron, and Ethereum, trailing only Hyperliquid.

— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) August 31, 2026

However, there are two cautionary signals in this rally. The two-day candle has seen 362.08 million ARB traded, the highest volume since February, but on February 19 and 20, volume was 386.68 million with the price 15.2% lower. A larger price move on lower volume suggests fewer participants are driving the gains.

Additionally, the candles show long upper wicks, indicating selling pressure at higher levels. ARB has been in a downtrend since May 9. To reverse that, it needs a two-day close above $0.119 on volume exceeding February's. If it loses $0.101, the next support is $0.071, which would represent a 36% decline from current levels.

Robinhood Chain just had one of its biggest DEX days since its July launch.

DEX volume hit $874.8M on Aug 30, with ethereum:0x07f5b6823751c2e2cd4560f28af75ff887102241 alone traded for around $67M.

Most of that activity flowed through Uniswap, with v4 recording $432M and v3…

— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) August 31, 2026

• Real Catalyst: $1.49 billion on Robinhood Chain, an all-time high
• Overhead Supply: Long upper wicks on the rally candles
• Line To Beat: A 2-day close above $0.119 with heavier volume