Market Highlights
- The total crypto market cap surpassed US$4 trillion for the first time on July 18.
- GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and anti-CBDC Act all passed a US House vote.
- XRP soared to a seven-year high of US$3.66.
- World Liberty Financial is making WLFI tokens tradable by the public after a unanimous vote.
- BlackRock filed with the SEC to include staking in its spot ETH ETF.
Markets Overview
TradFi markets continued their strong run this week, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each reaching new highs. The run comes as markets remain unfazed by President Trump’s latest tariff developments. A strong earnings season is presumably bolstering markets as well. Over 86% of the S&P 500 companies that have reported have beaten expectations.
In macro data, the U.S. core consumer price index for the 12 months to June 30, 2025, came in just above forecast at 2.7% this week. The data supports the Fed’s cautious stance on interest rates for now, but it didn’t stop President Trump from continuing his campaign for interest rates to be cut sooner. He cited the need to reduce interest payments on the country’s $3 trillion deficit, which is nearing a historic US$1 trillion. Despite the diverging views between the President and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, markets are expecting a 50-basis-point cut in the FOMC’s December meeting.
Weekly performance: S&P 500 +0.6%, Dow Jones -.07%, Nasdaq +1.5%.
Looking ahead:
- European Central Bank rate decision - July 24
- U.S., U.K., German & French June Flash & Services PMIs - July 24
- Big tech earnings (Alphabet and Tesla) w/c July 21
- Federal Reserve FOMC meeting – July 30
Crypto Market Sector Performance
It was another strong week across most crypto sectors, presumably due to bitcoin and Ethereum continuing their upward momentum, as well as the passage of key crypto bills in the U.S.
Memecoins saw the most growth as capital rotates into riskier crypto assets, while privacy coins were the only sector to see a decline.
Biggest gainer
- Currency: Conflux (+125%) gained, including a 40% intraday surge on the announcement of major upgrades to Conflux 3.0, including the launch of a stablecoin and a throughput boost to 15,000 transactions per second.
Biggest loser
- Exchange tokens saw the lowest gains, presumably due to investor interest being focused on other altcoin sectors that are driving the recent rally.
Bitcoin (BTC)
- Opened the week at US$119,130, gained to over US$123,000 on July 14, and sold off to a potential support zone around US$116,000 as investors presumably took profit. (-2.3% 7D)
- US$2.2 billion inflows to Bitcoin investment products last week.
“Crypto Week” saw President Trump sign the GENIUS Act into law, spurring further gains across many altcoins. This has seen bitcoin’s dominance decline further to 61% this week, down from 65.5% the prior week. Analysts say further confirmation is needed to determine if a sustained period of altcoin growth is starting.
Bitcoin Standard Treasury Company (BSTR) is going public via a merger with Cantor Equity Partners 1. The deal, set to close in Q4 2025, includes $1.5 billion in PIPE financing and a balance sheet of 30,021 BTC, making BSTR one of the largest public BTC treasuries. It follows an announcement earlier in the week that Cantor Equity Partners 1 is in late-stage talks with Blockstream to form a US$4 billion BTC treasury. South Korean regulators approved a share issuance that enables Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich and Sora Ventures–linked investors to acquire control of SGA Co. It mirrors similar moves to acquire a Thai-listed firm earlier in the month. This strategic acquisition aims to embed Metaplanet’s bitcoin‑treasury models within publicly listed firms across Asia.
Bitcoin Mining firm Bit Origin (BTOG) raised US$500 million to establish a Dogecoin treasury. BTOG shares gained almost 100% on the week.
In bitcoin buying news:
- Trump Media and Technology Group announced that the company has acquired US$2 billion in bitcoin and other digital assets as it transitions into an investment firm.
- Strategy bought 6,220 BTC, worth US$740 million. It comes as Strategy’s stock reached a market cap high of US$128.4 billion on July 16, and “Stretch,” the company’s latest stock offering, debuted.
- Volcom plans to raise US$500 million to start buying BTC. Its shares gained 135% on the news.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Ethereum (ETH)
- Opened the week at US$2,973 and rallied to a weekly high of US$3,860 (+25% 7D).
- Ethereum has gained over 50% throughout July, signalling that “alt season” may be approaching.
- A record US$2.1 billion of inflows went into Ethereum-focused funds last week, almost double its previous record of US$1.2 billion.
Ether Machine is looking to merge with Dynamix to create Ether Machine, US$1.5 billion Ethereum-holding public company. The company’s capital raise was backed by major investors, and it will be listed on the Nasdaq. Once established, the company’s goal is to create the largest yield-bearing Ethereum fund for institutional investors.
SharpLink (SBET) Gaming’s shares fell over 20% on July 17 as the company announced it’s increasing its stock sale from US$1 billion to US$6 billion to continue funding its Ethereum treasury. SBET has gained more than 330% since it began establishing its ETH treasury in May. The firm purchased over US$115 million worth of ETH on July 17, bringing its total ETH holdings to US$1.3 billion.
Peter Thiel-backed BitMine bought another US$500 million worth of ETH this week. The latest buy brings the company’s ETH holdings to 300,657 ETH, valued at over US$1 billion. Thiel and his founders acquired a 9.1% stake in the company, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
Altcoins
The upward momentum continued for altcoins this week as many altcoins and memecoins made significant gains. The altcoin season index rose to 56, up from 32 the previous week, while BTC dominance continued to decline.
Taking care of business
- DIA (DIA) - Grew by 143% due to the broader rise in cryptocurrency prices and the recent launch of mainnet staking, which expanded the oracle grants program.
DeFi domination
- Uma (UMA) - Up 58% this week, presumably due to prosecutors dropping their investigation into Polymarket (more on that below) and the company returning to the U.S. Uma secures Polymarket’s network.
Single chain gains
- Tezos (XTZ) - Saw gains of 55.5% as “OG” tokens, such as XTZ, XRP and Litecoin, rallied on regulatory developments, while whale activity increased on the Tezos network.
I’m lovin’ it
- XRP (XRP) - Gained 21.1%, reaching a seven-year high of $3.66 on July 18 amid regulatory developments and renewed interest in altcoins. This week’s rise also saw XRP’s market cap flip McDonald’s. A sharp sell-off, followed by a rebound after the recent high, indicates potential institutional accumulation.
Crypto ETF News
Digital asset investment products saw a weekly record of almost US$4.4 billion of inflows last week. This brings year-to-date inflows to US$27 billion and brings assets under management to US$220 billion. Much of the week’s flows were buoyed by Ethereum’s record inflows, which have now surpassed 2024 inflows at US$6.2 billion.
Altcoin asset investment products also saw inflows, with Solana, XRP, and Sui receiving US$39 million, US$36 million, and US$9.3 million, respectively.
BlackRock filed with the U.S. SEC to include staking in its spot Ethereum ETF, while Canary Capital filed for a staked Injective ETF as investor interest in altcoin funds continues to grow.
The U.S. SEC delayed its decision on in-kind redemptions for Bitwise’s bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. The agency will make a ruling by September 8.
ProShares introduced two new crypto ETFs to the NYSE Arca this week: the ProShares Ultra Solana ETF and the ProShares Ultra XRP ETFs. The products provide investors with heightened exposure to XRP and Solana (SOL).
Other crypto news
- The total crypto market cap surpassed US$4 trillion for the first time on July 18, driven by surging bitcoin and Ethereum prices, strong institutional inflows via spot ETFs, regulatory progress and upward altcoin momentum.
- “Crypto Week” finished with President Trump signing the GENIUS Act into law on July 18. The legislation establishes the first federal regulatory framework for USD-pegged stablecoins. The bipartisan legislation mandates full asset backing, monthly reserve disclosures, and AML protections. Tether and Circle each outlined their plans following the passage of the bill, while Charles Schwab, J.P. Morgan, and Citibank are each considering launching their own dollar-pegged stablecoins. The CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act also passed the House this week.
- Standard Chartered has launched institutional spot trading for bitcoin and Ethereum via its UK branch, becoming the first global systemically important bank (G‑SIB) to offer direct institutional access to crypto assets. The service is fully integrated with its FX platforms.
- World Liberty Financial’s Ethereum-based governance token, WLFI, will become publicly tradable after an overwhelming community vote with 99.94% approval from ~20,900 participants. No details have been released yet on where the public will be able to trade WLFI tokens.
- Block Inc., parent company of Cash App, will join the S&P 500 before market open on Wednesday, July 23, replacing Hess Corp. It follows Coinbase, which entered the S&P 500 in May, signalling deeper crypto integration into TradFi markets.
- The U.S. Department of Justice and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have officially closed their investigations into crypto-prediction platform Polymarket. The company’s CEO, Shayne Coplan, confirmed both inquiries, which were focused on alleged U.S. user access violations, ended without charges.
New Crypto Listings
Buy & sell these digital assets, or swap them directly with hundreds of other popular assets through your personal broker.
- Centrifuge (CFG)
- Resolv (RESOLV)
- Spark (SPK)
- Solidus AI Tech (AITECH)
To see the full list of available cryptocurrencies, visit the client Portal.
Disclaimer: This assessment does not consider your personal circumstances, and should not be construed as financial, legal or investment advice. These thoughts are ours only and should only be taken as educational by the reader. Under no circumstances do we make recommendation or assurance towards the views expressed in the blog-post. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The Company disclaims all duties and liabilities, including liability for negligence, for any loss or damage which is suffered or incurred by any person acting on any information provided.
from Caleb & Brown Cryptocurrency Brokerage.
