According to @KobeissiLetter, US margin debt rose by $37 billion in August to a record $1.06 trillion, up $139 billion over the last three months and $798 billion year over year (+33%), with inflation-adjusted gains of +3% MoM and +29% YoY (source: @KobeissiLetter, Sep 20, 2025). As a share of GDP, margin debt reached 3.5%, the highest since 2021, highlighting unusually elevated equity leverage exposure near prior cycle peaks (source: @KobeissiLetter, Sep 20, 2025). Elevated margin borrowing increases the risk of forced deleveraging and volatility during equity drawdowns, amplifying market stress when prices fall (source: Federal Reserve Financial Stability Report, May 2023). Because stock–crypto correlations have risen since 2020, higher equity leverage can transmit risk-off moves to BTC and ETH during drawdowns (source: IMF, Crypto Prices Move More in Sync With Stocks, Jan 2022).