Sovereign networks do not operate on market sentiment. They operate on distribution bounds. Twenty-seven years inside the telecommunications and information technology sectors taught me this reality.
At Digicel Group, we did not evaluate consumer platforms. We built the underlying connectivity frameworks that enabled capital and data transfers to clear regional boundaries. That execution dictated my trajectory at 7 Movil, managing high-volume distribution networks where infrastructure limits define market realities. Most recently, as CEO of Cellpay, I saw what happens when the clearing protocol interfaces directly with mobile payments.
Sovereign design depends on systemic permanence. The systems that survive structural shifts are the ones that treat accessibility as a baseline utility rather than a layer on top of speculative markets.
That is the reason I joined Movement to lead the LATAM Go-To-Market team.
The transaction pipelines inside Latin American emerging markets remain broken because legacy financial players protect the friction points. Stablecoins are not assets for local trading desks. They are the actual digital infrastructure required to settle cross-border economic flows in real time.
Movement built live, licensed payment rails operating today. The imperative now is establishing institutional partnerships and expanding the sovereign distribution network before regional transaction loads demand it. Waiting for network cracks to expose systemic limits is a luxury the market cannot sustain. The primary settlement layer for global emerging markets gets one opportunity to be built correctly.
An individual who leverages the Official Trump (CRYPTO: TRUMP) memecoin to score invitations to events hosted by President Donald Trump found disclosure of his billion-dollar cryptocurrency profits "absurd" and "mind-blowing."
‘In Europe, Something Like This Would Never Happen’Fast forward almost 14 months, and the $1.4 billion fortune Trump made on these cryptocurrency projects is what everyone’s talking about.
“It’s quite absurd to be honest, a president that monetizes his presidency the way he did,” said Mortensen, who is from the Netherlands, in an interview with Benzinga. “In Europe, something like this would never happen.”
Mortensen called it “mind-blowing” that Trump monetizes not only cryptocurrency but also merch, watches, and trading cards.
‘Memecoins Almost Never Last’The TRUMP memecoin was launched just before Trump’s presidential inauguration in January 2025. It reached a market capitalization of nearly $15 billion shortly after the launch, before collapsing by 98% to $368 million at the time of writing.
On-chain analysis revealed that nearly one million investors who bought the TRUMP meme coin collectively lost $3.81 billion. All this while Trump collected more than $635 million in royalties from the project.
But Christensen never really had confidence in the memecoin. He sold all his TRUMP in the first week and only uses a market-neutral strategy—buying the memecoin while shorting the same amount—just to get invited to Trump-hosted events.
“Memecoins almost never last,” he said. “It’s attention economy, and if you’re not out in first week or two weeks, then shame on yourself.”
So, if given the chance, would he use the same market-neutral strategy to attend those fancy events again? Christensen replied, “Absolutely.”
What About WLFI?Christensen revealed that 80% of his World Liberty Financial (WLFI) tokens are locked, but he managed to sell 20% of the unlocked portion.
“I hold a significant amount on paper, but in my mind, it’s kind of worth zero because it’s a two-year lock,” he said. In two years, a project can die easily.”
It’s worth reminding that Trump earned over $520 million from the sale of tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, and over $65 million from equity sales in WLFI’s holding company, WLF Holdco.
The Rise Of The ‘Crypto President’The disclosures have sparked massive backlash and conflict-of-interest concerns, prompting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) to call for ethical safeguards in cryptocurrency legislation to block any opportunities for Trump to profit.
Dylan Dewdney, co-founder and CEO of agentic finance platform Kuvi.ai, said the optics are poor and that the “long-term damage will be to crypto’s credibility” rather than to any one politician.
“This is, unfortunately, a case of crypto making its own bed and now having to lie in it,” he said.
Trump has defended his cryptocurrency income, asserting there was nothing “illegal” or “wrong” about it.
A White House spokesperson told Benzinga that all of the President’s assets are held in “fully discretionary accounts” managed by “independent third-party financial institutions,” while rejecting any allegations of conflicts of interest.
Photo Courtesy: Joey Sussman on Shutterstock.com
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Binance Futures will launch a new perpetual futures product today with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: SPCX). Trading will begin on July 20, 2026, at 09:00 UTC. The new instrument is a USDⓈ-M perpetual contract that uses USD1 as its settlement asset.
Binance Futures Introduces New SpaceX Perp Contract The listing marks Binance’s next move in the expansion of its list of traditional finance (TradFi) tokenized products. The contract is designed to report on SpaceX exposure in the market and it will be subject to SpaceX’s perpetual futures framework, the exchange said. Earlier, before the IPO, Binance had also launched SpaceX pre-IPO perpetual futures.
SPCXUSD1 will be available for trading 24 hours a day, per the latest announcement. Binance has put a minimum order amount of 0.01 SPCX. The lowest notional amount will be USD1. Tick size is now set to 0.01.
Traders can use leverage of up to 25x. The contract will also enable Multi-Assets Mode, where users who are eligible for the mode will be able to utilize various collateral assets under the mode, if supported by the platform.
Payments for funding will be made every 8 hours. Binance put the funding rate at +1.00% and –1.00%. The exchange also gave a 0% interest rate on the product.
Binance stated that this contract will not be based on the contract mechanism that, in some cases, reduces funding times when there are high funding rates.
Moreover, funding rate will not affect settlements as long as it is within its range, even at the top or bottom of the range. Also, the decentralized perpetual trading platform confirmed that the launch is under Binance Exchange Rule 17.
SpaceX Stock Continues Decline Binance’s announcement comes amid Elon Musk-led SpaceX stock being weighed down. SPX ended Thursday at $131 down 3%. The decrease brought the stock down to $135, its IPO price for the first time.
It was the fifth straight ‘red’ session. Another significant blow to investor sentiment came when SpaceX had to cancel its 13th test flight of Starship due to a booster problem. The company hasn’t issued an updated release date.
Houdini Swap has partnered with Terminal, the multichain trading platform acquired by pump.fun, to add private deposits and withdrawals directly into the trading interface. The integration allows Terminal users to fund and withdraw from trading accounts without creating a visible onchain link between their source wallet and destination wallet.
The partnership also introduces Houdini's Multi-Swap feature to Terminal. Traders can fund up to 10 wallets from a single source with a single signature, while avoiding a shared onchain trail among those wallets. According to Houdini, the feature helps traders manage separate strategies without exposing relationships between their accounts.
Addressing Onchain Transparency Onchain trading exposes wallet activity by default. Anyone can monitor wallet balances, trace transactions, and analyze trading strategies using publicly available blockchain data.
"We think private onboarding and offboarding should be table stakes for onchain applications, not a feature you have to go looking for. And this isn't just about trading terminals. Prediction markets, perps platforms, neobanks, DEXs: they should all give users the option to fund their accounts privately. That's the standard we think the industry is heading toward, and this integration with Terminal is a good example of what it looks like in practice." - Michael Hubbard, Chief Executive Officer of SOL Strategies.
"Privacy at the deposit and withdrawal layer is a highly requested feature from our traders. They move fast and they move in size, and the moment they deposit, that wallet gets linked to every other one they've touched. Houdini gives our users a way to fund and move between accounts without handing that information to anyone watching the chain. It's built directly into Terminal, so it doesn't slow anyone down.” - Alon, COO of Baton Corporation, the parent company behind pump.fun and Terminal
This integration follows SOL Strategies' acquisition of Houdini Swap in May 2026. Following the announcement, Terminal posted that users can now fund up to 10 trading wallets simultaneously and described Houdini as the "most private & compliant protocol" available on a trading platform. Houdini promoted the launch with the message, "Protect your trading edge. Fund your trading accounts privately, native inside Terminal."
Community Pushes Back Pump.fun has consistently iterated between new features, initiatives, and acquisitions, such as the launch of PumpSwap AMM, the GO bounty platform, and even going multi-chain, in the quest to provide a better trading experience for its users and stimulate the memecoin trenches. The general consensus on the Houdini integration, though, has been that it is a step in the wrong direction. Despite the privacy benefits described by both companies, the announcement sparked criticism across social media.
Several users warned that private wallet funding could make it easier for large holders or anonymous participants to spread positions across multiple wallets, potentially masking accumulation patterns and reducing visibility for everyday traders trying to understand market activity.
Critics said the move risked adding fuel to frustrations that have already pushed some retail traders away from memecoin markets, where accusations of insider advantages and unfair launches remain common.
The backlash played out loudly in the comments, with some users calling the feature a step in the wrong direction. "Promoting multi wallet bundling is a huge L," one commenter wrote, while another asked, "You guys really wonder why retail doesn't come back?"
A third added, "You are basically promoting bundling," reflecting broader anger from traders who believe transparency is essential for rebuilding trust.
Houdini pushed back against those claims in multiple replies, arguing that the integration was designed to help traders protect their strategies rather than enable bundling or coordinated selling. The company responded directly to critics, saying the feature is "for traders protecting their edge, not for mass extraction" and "for protecting your alpha, not dumping on retail."
Debate Reflects Broader Industry Concerns The discussion arrives as parts of the crypto industry continue to examine the future of memecoin trading. Recently, Syncracy Capital cofounder Ryan Watkins argued that insider trading, bundling, and automated bots helped end the memecoin boom after onboarding millions of users and funding important trading infrastructure. He suggested future growth will likely come from new sectors rather than repeating the previous cycle.
In response, prominent Solana trader and co-founder of Bullpen, Ansem, suggested that fairer token launches should reduce bundling by making token distribution more transparent and rewarding participants through ongoing community contributions, rather than allowing anonymous wallets to accumulate large positions.
The differing reactions to Houdini's Terminal integration highlight this broader tension across onchain markets. Supporters view private funding tools as a necessary evolution for professional traders who want to protect strategies, reduce surveillance, and operate without exposing their positions. Critics worry that the same tools could make it harder to identify coordinated activity, wallet clustering, or practices that have historically raised concerns about fairness and insider advantages.
The debate ultimately reflects a larger challenge facing decentralized markets: finding a balance between user privacy and market transparency. As crypto trading infrastructure becomes more sophisticated, platforms will continue to face pressure to provide stronger privacy protections while also maintaining safeguards that encourage trust and participation.
Read More on SolanaFloor 10 Crypto Hacks in July Already: DeFiTuna Becomes the Latest Victim With $580K Exploit
Zeta Winds Down $ZEX, Cancels Promised 1:1 Migration to $BULLET
Meta is in advanced negotiations to offer private cloud instances of Anthropic’s Claude AI models in a deal estimated at around $10 billion over two years. The arrangement, first reported by SemiAnalysis on July 2, would effectively turn Meta into something resembling a cloud provider, hosting and serving a competitor’s AI models through its own infrastructure.
The structure reportedly mirrors what hyperscalers like Amazon Bedrock already offer: managed access to AI models through a cloud platform.
Meta’s neocloud ambitions and the numbers behind them The context for this deal is Meta’s staggering investment in AI infrastructure. The company has planned capital expenditures in the range of $125 billion to $145 billion for 2026 alone.
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With that kind of spending, you end up with a lot of compute capacity. Meta’s play here is to monetize the excess, entering what industry observers are calling the “neocloud” space. Rather than letting expensive GPUs sit idle between training runs, Meta would rent them out as managed AI hosting environments.
Bitcoin miners are already pivoting to this exact playbook TeraWulf, a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company, signed a 20-year lease with Anthropic on July 6 worth approximately $19 billion. That deal covers an AI data center, meaning a company that built its business on proof-of-work mining is now betting its long-term future on hosting AI workloads.
CoreWeave, which started as a crypto mining operation before pivoting entirely to GPU cloud computing, has secured major partnerships with both Meta and Anthropic totaling $21 billion in 2026.
What this means for investors For crypto-adjacent companies, the implications are concrete. TeraWulf’s $19 billion Anthropic lease dwarfs its Bitcoin mining revenue and represents a fundamental revaluation thesis for the company. If Bitcoin miners can credibly position themselves as AI infrastructure providers, their valuations start reflecting cloud computing multiples rather than commodity mining multiples.
The risk is concentration. These multi-billion-dollar deals create deep dependencies on a handful of AI companies. If Anthropic’s growth stalls, or if the broader AI spending cycle cools, companies that retooled their infrastructure around AI hosting could find themselves with expensive, underutilized facilities.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Foundry Digital, a prominent Bitcoin mining pool operator based in Rochester, New York, announced it will allow its mining clients to determine the pool’s signaling stance on the controversial BIP-110 proposal. Clients will cast their votes using their respective hashrate, directly influencing the pool’s action regarding the upgrade.
BIP-110: Restricting non-monetary dataBIP-110, short for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110, aims to address the rising volume of arbitrary and non-monetary data being stored on the Bitcoin network. If implemented, the proposal would initiate a soft fork, resulting in backward-compatible rule changes that cap the amount of such data included in transactions.
The proposal is also known as the “reduced data temporary soft fork.” Key rules include limiting most new outputs to 34 bytes, reestablishing an 83-byte limit on OP_RETURN outputs, and prohibiting data pushes above 256 bytes.
Mini dictionary: OP_RETURN, a script opcode in Bitcoin transactions, allows users to store small amounts of arbitrary data on the blockchain, often used for metadata or simple messages.
Supporters contend that these measures would reinforce Bitcoin’s design as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Conversely, critics argue the proposal transforms a policy debate into a technical consensus change and could lead to the exclusion of transactions that pay network fees.
“It’s one of the more actively debated proposals in Bitcoin right now, and miners play a direct role in whether it activates,” Foundry stated, stressing the importance of miner participation in network governance.
Among the high-profile opponents are MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back, who have publicly raised concerns about the implications for transaction validation.
How voting will workFoundry outlined that each participating miner’s vote will be weighted according to their average hashrate on the pool over a 10-day period from July 6 to July 15. The company expects the voting window to remain open until the blockchain reaches block 961,632, projected for early August. At this point, the soft fork’s fate is likely to be decided.
Initially, Foundry’s default position is to signal “No” for BIP-110. However, should “Yes” votes exceed 51% of the hashrate during the voting window, Foundry will shift to signaling “Yes” on all of its future blocks. Any accounts that do not participate are automatically considered “No” votes. Meanwhile, miners retain the right to change their vote as long as the window remains open, with individual choices remaining confidential and only overall results shared.
Market observers note the significance of Foundry’s decision, as the company currently controls roughly one-third of the network’s total hashrate. Analysts at BGeometrics have suggested that the combined actions of leading pools like Foundry and Antpool could decisively move daily signaling metrics into a range capable of determining the soft fork’s fate.
Supporters believe BIP-110 can help Bitcoin function as true peer-to-peer money, while critics worry it may introduce contentious network changes and prevent certain fee-paying transactions from confirming.
ProposalMain Rule ChangeAdvocatesOpponentsBIP-110Limits arbitrary data in transactions; caps OP_RETURN at 83 bytesBitcoin developers, some minersMichael Saylor, Adam BackA final signaling window near block 961,632 will require Foundry to declare its majority-supported position before the activation timeline closes. The outcome will depend on where the majority of hashrate-weighted votes fall at the end of the period.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Attention is now shifting from finding a bottom to determining whether a genuine trend reversal is beginning.
Bitcoin’s slide to around $57,700 at the end of June may have completed the worst phase of its 2026 bear market, according to a new market update published by BIT on July 17.
After correctly anticipating much of BTC’s decline in the last few months, the crypto investment firm now says traders should assess whether that low marked the end of the correction or was merely a pause before another leg down.
Market Has Largely Followed Earlier Roadmap BIT’s latest report builds on research it published on June 12, when it argued that Bitcoin had entered the final stage of its bear market. At the time, the firm outlined an Elliott Wave A-B-C correction pattern running from October 2025 that showed an initial selloff into the $60,000 to $69,000 range and a rebound toward $80,000 to $90,000, followed by a final Wave C drop during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is due to end on July 19.
That forecast has mostly played out, with BTC first plunging from around $97,000 to $62,900 in February this year before it recovered to about $82,000 in May, an event that was described in the report as a “counter-trend rally within a bear market.” It then went lower and eventually hit $57,700 at the end of June after geopolitical tensions and changing expectations for US monetary policy weighed heavily on risk assets.
In the July 17 update, BIT acknowledged that it underestimated the impact of the conflict between the United States and Iran, which pushed inflation higher than expected, and the hawkish stance adopted by the new Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh. Even so, the firm said that the broader price structure closely matched its original outlook.
The earlier report had also pointed to several technical signals supporting the possibility of a market bottom, including historically depressed sentiment and oversold stochastic readings. Furthermore, at the time, BTC had been trading well below its weekly moving average. The new update has now shifted attention to the 21-week moving average, which it described as an important gauge for determining whether the market has transitioned back into a longer-term uptrend.
Not Everyone Thinks the Same However, not everyone reading the charts sees a bottom forming. Take, for instance, CryptoQuant contributor IT Tech, who wrote in a note aptly titled “You really think the bottom is already in?” that spot Bitcoin ETF flows, which were one of the biggest drivers behind the OG crypto’s rally in the last two years, have dropped notably in 2026.
You may also like: Will Crypto Markets Move When $1.2B Bitcoin Options Expire Today? The $65.5K Rejection: What Top Analysts Are Saying About Bitcoin’s Next Move Don’t Obsess Over Bitcoin’s Bottom as $38K Low Comes Into Focus: Analyst In 2024, cumulative net inflows were more than 500,000 BTC, with 2025 recording similarly strong inflows of about 250,000 BTC. However, 2026 has seen the funds bleed out roughly 120,000 BTC, leading the analyst to ask:
“If ETF demand drove the rally up, how can you be bullish while that demand reversed completely?”
According to them, what the market is seeing is a headwind and not a tailwind.
Earlier this week, Bitcoin found itself above the $65,000 level after US CPI numbers came back much lower than the market had anticipated, but those gains were quickly taken away by sellers, and at the time of writing, the asset was trading near $63,000, down almost 3% in 24 hours and about 2% across one week. Furthermore, it’s over 50% below its all-time high.
Tesla reports its second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 22 after market close, with Intel following less than 24 hours later on July 23.
Tesla remains one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin on its balance sheet, and any commentary from Elon Musk about digital assets, AI infrastructure, or capital allocation tends to move crypto markets faster than most on-chain catalysts. Intel sits at the center of the semiconductor supply chain that underpins everything from mining hardware to AI compute.
Tesla’s numbers look strong heading in Tesla already tipped its hand on July 2, pre-releasing production and delivery figures for Q2 2026. The company produced over 450,000 vehicles and delivered more than 480,000. Tesla deployed 13.5 GWh of energy storage systems during the quarter.
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Tesla’s Q1 2026 results posted earnings per share of $0.41, beating analyst estimates of $0.30. Revenue came in at $22.39 billion.
The earnings call is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on July 22.
Intel’s recovery story matters for crypto infrastructure Intel reports its Q2 2026 results on July 23 at 2 p.m. PDT. Revenue in Q1 2026 hit $13.6 billion, representing a 7.4% increase year-over-year.
Intel has also been investing heavily in its foundry business, attempting to compete with TSMC for manufacturing contracts, with implications for everyone from Nvidia to the smaller firms designing ASICs for blockchain applications.
The broader earnings picture Tesla and Intel aren’t reporting in isolation. Other major corporations including 3M and General Motors are also disclosing results this week.
What crypto investors should watch Beyond the Musk factor, Tesla’s energy storage growth maps directly onto mining infrastructure trends. The 13.5 GWh deployed in Q2 represents capacity that could theoretically support significant mining operations.
On the Intel side, semiconductor lead times and pricing forecasts will affect hardware procurement costs for mining operations and crypto infrastructure builders throughout 2026 and into 2027.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The Binance founder drew a sharp line between two of the most talked-about investment themes of the decade. The reasoning behind it is worth unpacking.
Changpeng Zhao does not waste words. The Binance founder and Bitcoin bull posted a single line on X that drew 1.3 million views, "AI is great, but it does not protect you against inflation. Bitcoin does."
No elaboration. No thread. Just a clean distinction between two assets that have competed for the same speculative dollars throughout this cycle, and a clear statement about which one he thinks actually solves the problem most investors are trying to solve.
Why the distinction mattersAI is a productivity story. It makes companies more efficient, generates revenue, and builds equity value. But it does not have a fixed supply. The companies building it can dilute shareholders, raise debt, and expand indefinitely.
There is no cap on how many AI tokens, AI company shares, or AI-related products can exist.
Bitcoin has 21 million coins. That number does not change regardless of what central banks do, what governments decide, or how much money gets printed.
The supply is the point. It is the only major asset class where the answer to increased demand is not increased supply.
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Fiat currency debasement runs at roughly 6 to 7 percent annually, a figure CZ has cited before as the baseline that most income assets fail to beat. Money markets do not keep pace. Treasuries have had a negative real return for much of the past decade.
AI stocks have performed, but performance and inflation protection are different things.
Trending on TheStreet RoundtableDonald Trump breaks silence on $1B crypto earningsMichael Saylor reveals why Strategy sold Bitcoin and why critics are wrongBillionaire investor reveals key reasons behind Bitcoin's declineThe $1 million caseCZ's latest post did not come out of nowhere. Earlier this month, in an interview, CZ mapped out a two-cycle path to $1 million Bitcoin by 2033, using historical multipliers of three to five times per cycle, noting the last cycle was unusually weak at roughly 2x due to macro disruption and capital being absorbed by AI companies.
"We're not at a saturation point yet," he said. "The demand for Bitcoin or for crypto in general can be significant."
Bitcoin is currently trading near $63,000, down 50 percent from its all-time high and sitting in what most analysts agree is bear market territory.
CZ is not buying the narrative that the cycle is broken. He is buying Bitcoin instead.
Exchange-traded funds backed by spot Bitcoin show a new sign of stability after several months marked by capital outflows. In the United States, investors recorded a third consecutive session of net inflows, confirming renewed interest in this category of products. This development comes as the market tries to regain better balance after a difficult start to the year. Meanwhile, data show a gradual improvement in flows, despite a context where price performance remains under pressure.
In brief US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded 368 million dollars of net inflows in three consecutive sessions. The cumulative inflows of these funds now reach 51.2 billion dollars, with 77.7 billion dollars in assets under management. Bitcoin briefly crossed 65,000 dollars while July flows returned to positive territory. Despite this improvement, spot ETFs still show a net flow deficit of 5.4 billion dollars since the beginning of 2026. Bitcoin: Spot ETFs Post Three Consecutive Sessions of Inflows US spot ETFs linked to Bitcoin recorded 79.2 million dollars of net inflows on Thursday. This performance extends a positive streak after 181 million dollars recorded on Tuesday, then 108 million dollars on Wednesday. In total, these three sessions represent about 368 million dollars of new capital, according to SoSoValue data.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs record several consecutive sessions of net capital inflows, bringing cumulative flows to over 51.2 billion dollars by mid-July 2026. Source: SoSovalue. Moreover, cumulative net inflows since the launch of these products now reach 51.2 billion dollars. Assets under management also increase to reach 77.7 billion dollars. At the same time, the price of bitcoin briefly exceeded the 65,000 dollars threshold on Wednesday, a first since the end of June. This price movement coincided with flows toward ETFs returning to a more favorable trajectory.
Flows Turn Positive After Several Challenging Months Recent investments have allowed monthly flows of spot Bitcoin ETFs to return to positive territory during July. This improvement follows net outflows of 4.51 billion dollars in June and 2.4 billion dollars in May. If this momentum continues until the end of the month, July will become the first positive month since April, during which ETFs recorded 1.97 billion dollars of net inflows.
However, the annual balance remains negative. On Friday, net flows of US ETFs still showed a deficit of about 5.4 billion dollars since the beginning of 2026. At the same time, Bitcoin was trading around $63,400 at the time of writing, a decrease of about 28% since the start of the year. These figures show that the recovery of flows is not yet accompanied by a sustainable return in market performance.
The next sessions will allow verification of whether this investment resurgence is confirmed. Continued inflows could reinforce the momentum observed in ETFs, while bitcoin’s evolution will remain a key indicator to measure the strength of this trend. Market participants will also monitor the funds’ ability to maintain positive flows in the coming weeks.
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Ghiles A.
Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Iran launched a wave of missiles and drones at US military targets across six Gulf States between July 12 and 17, marking the most significant direct confrontation between the two nations in decades. The attacks struck US assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, and the UAE, and the crypto market responded exactly how you’d expect: with panic selling and a cascade of forced liquidations.
Bitcoin fell more than 2%, sliding to approximately $62,000. Roughly $350 million in liquidations hit the broader digital asset market as traders scrambled to de-risk portfolios in the face of what looks like a genuine regional war.
What happened and why crypto cares The Iranian strikes were retaliatory. The US had previously conducted operations targeting Iranian command centers, missile installations, and coastal defense systems. Iran’s response was broad, hitting American positions across half a dozen countries in quick succession.
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On July 11, one day before the first missile strikes, Iran announced it was re-closing the Strait of Hormuz. The $350 million liquidation wave tells a deeper story. Leveraged long positions got wiped out as the price cascaded through support levels, a familiar pattern whenever a geopolitical shock catches the derivatives market leaning the wrong direction.
The sanctions and crypto enforcement angle US authorities have previously seized or sanctioned Iranian-linked cryptocurrency wallets worth over $344 million. These wallets were tied to Iran’s central bank or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and their seizure reflects a broader reality: Iran has been using crypto as a tool to circumvent economic sanctions for years.
Iran has used Bitcoin mining operations to generate hard currency, routed transactions through mixing services, and leveraged decentralized exchanges to move value outside the traditional banking system that sanctions have largely cut them off from.
For DeFi protocols in particular, the question of whether they can or should block sanctioned addresses becomes urgent again. The Tornado Cash precedent looms large here. If the conflict escalates further, expect OFAC to expand its sanctions list aggressively, and expect compliance teams at major exchanges to get even more conservative about flagging transactions.
What this means for investors The immediate market impact, a 2% Bitcoin drop and $350 million in liquidations, is notable but not catastrophic on its own. A prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz would send oil prices significantly higher, fueling inflation fears and potentially forcing central banks to adopt a more hawkish stance.
Traders should watch two things carefully. First, whether the Strait of Hormuz actually stays closed or whether diplomatic channels reopen it. Second, watch for new OFAC designations targeting Iranian crypto infrastructure. Each new sanctions action creates compliance ripple effects across the entire exchange ecosystem, from Coinbase to Binance to smaller regional platforms.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) options put/call ratio fell to a six-month low near 0.59, with traders cutting downside hedges and rebuilding call exposure at the $64,000-$65,000 range as Glassnode flagged a constructive shift in sentiment.
What Is The Options Market Actually Saying?The put/call ratio dropping to 0.59 marks a decisive shift in how traders are positioned.
A ratio below 1.0 means more calls than puts are outstanding, and at a six-month low, the positioning reflects growing confidence that Bitcoin holds and pushes higher from current levels.
Implied volatility also declined, with Bitcoin’s DVOL falling from 48 to 40 as price recovered from June lows.
Glassnode noted this reflects the options market unwinding part of June’s fear premium, though volatility remaining above May lows means uncertainty has eased rather than disappeared.
The $68,000 To $70,000 Zone Is The One To WatchBitcoin is consolidating near $63,000, sitting below a dense negative-gamma cluster between $68,000 and $70,000.
Glassnode flagged that a move into that zone could trigger pro-cyclical dealer hedging and amplify volatility in either direction.
That level aligns with what analyst Michaël van de Poppe has been watching all week.
He said Bitcoin’s structure still favors upside and a clean break above $65,000 sets up a strong run, a call he maintained even after two failed attempts to hold that level following Tuesday’s CPI-driven spike to $65,235.
Can Bitcoin Reclaim $65,000 After This Week’s Rejection?The longer-term trend still leans bearish. The 20-day SMA at $62,595 sits below the 50-day at $63,686, and the 50-day sits well below the 200-day at $73,274, keeping the death cross from November 2025 as the dominant backdrop.
RSI sits at 47.24, neutral and not yet showing the kind of momentum that confirms a trend change. Buyers need to reclaim the 20-day EMA at $63,251 to shift the path of least resistance away from sideways-to-lower.
Key levels for Bitcoin:
$63,251 — 20-day EMA, immediate level bulls need to reclaim $65,000 — breakout trigger van de Poppe is watching $68,000 to $70,000 — negative-gamma cluster where volatility could amplify $73,274 — 200-day SMA, longer-term overhead supply Photo via Shutterstock
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Bitcoin slipped below $63,000 as the wider risk trade came under pressure, with weakness in technology stocks spilling into crypto and pulling traders back toward a more defensive posture.
The move is not happening in isolation. Bitcoin has been trading as both a crypto-native asset and a macro-sensitive risk asset, which means it can react to liquidity conditions, equity-market stress, ETF flows, and leverage in the derivatives market at the same time. When technology stocks sell off sharply, crypto often feels it quickly.
That does not mean Bitcoin’s structure has suddenly broken. It does mean traders are watching nearby support more closely, especially around the areas where buyers previously stepped in.
The next zone in focus is around the $61,500 region, where demand could decide whether this is a contained pullback or the start of a deeper reset.
TL;DR Bitcoin has fallen below $63,000 as risk appetite weakens across technology stocks and crypto. Traders are watching whether demand appears near the $61,500 area. The move looks more like a macro-led pressure test than a crypto-specific collapse, but follow-through now matters. Bitcoin Is Still Trading With The Risk Market One of the more important lessons of the ETF era is that Bitcoin has not stopped being volatile just because more institutional products exist around it.
If anything, the asset now sits in more portfolios, more macro models, and more cross-asset trading strategies. That can support demand during strong periods, but it also means Bitcoin is exposed when investors reduce risk broadly.
A tech-led selloff can hit Bitcoin through several channels. Some traders sell crypto to reduce overall portfolio volatility. Others unwind leveraged positions. Funds may rebalance. Short-term traders may simply step away until the market finds a clearer level.
That is why the break below $63,000 matters. The level itself is not magical, but it marks a shift in short-term tone. Buyers who were comfortable above that level now have to prove they are willing to defend the next area lower.
If they do, the move may be remembered as another dip inside a broader range. If they do not, momentum traders could start pressing for a move closer to the next major support cluster.
Why $61,500 Is Getting Attention Support zones become important because they show where traders expect demand to return. Around $61,500, the market is looking for signs of spot buying, reduced selling pressure, or a slowdown in forced liquidations.
The quality of the bounce matters more than the first reaction.
A quick wick into support followed by strong buying would suggest dip demand is still active. A slow grind into the level with weak volume would be less convincing. A clean break below it could force traders to look toward lower liquidity pockets.
This is where Bitcoin’s short-term setup becomes more fragile. When price is moving with broader macro pressure, crypto-specific headlines may not be enough to reverse it. Traders often need to see risk appetite improve across equities, funding stabilise, and open interest reset before confidence returns.
That makes the next few sessions important. Bitcoin does not need a huge rally to repair the tone. It needs to stop falling, hold a credible support area, and avoid a leverage-driven flush.
The ETF Backdrop Still Matters The longer-term Bitcoin story has not disappeared. Spot ETF access, institutional allocations, and the broader shift toward regulated crypto exposure remain important. But those forces do not move in a straight line.
ETF demand can absorb supply over time while the market still suffers sharp short-term corrections. That is especially true when macro conditions turn against risk assets. Even strong structural demand can be overwhelmed temporarily by liquidations or a broad move into cash.
For readers, the distinction matters. A drop below $63,000 does not automatically cancel the institutional Bitcoin thesis. It does, however, show that the market is still sensitive to the same forces that move growth stocks, high-beta assets, and speculative liquidity.
That is why the current move should be treated as a test of demand, not a final verdict.
If Bitcoin stabilises near support, traders will likely shift back toward ETF flows, exchange balances, and whether spot buyers are accumulating into weakness. If the level fails, the conversation changes quickly toward downside liquidity and where the next serious bid may appear.
For now, the market is asking a simple question: are buyers still confident enough to step in while broader risk sentiment is shaky?
The answer will come from price action, not from slogans. Bitcoin has survived many risk-off moves before, but each one still has to be absorbed in real time. The break below $63,000 puts that absorption test back at the centre of the market.
This article is based on information from Arkham Intelligence.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Digital asset investment products have begun to attract renewed investor interest after a record-breaking outflow streak that lasted eight weeks and totaled $8 billion. According to an assessment published by CoinShares, a net inflow of $287 million was recorded across all issuers last week.
The company stated that it expects the current week to also end positively. Although the week started with fund outflows, the lower-than-expected consumer and producer inflation data released in the US changed investor sentiment in the middle of the week.
The US Consumer Price Index, released on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, fell 0.4% on a monthly basis, exceeding expectations of a 0.2% decrease. CoinShares reported a limited rise in Bitcoin following the data release, a repricing of interest rate expectations, and approximately $250 million in inflows into digital asset funds.
On Tuesday, net daily inflows across all digital assets and issuers were recorded at $218 million. This was followed by an additional $197 million in inflows on Wednesday, after the Producer Price Index, released on Wednesday, fell by 0.3%, contrary to expectations of flat performance. Thus, total inflows for Tuesday and Wednesday reached $415 million.
CoinShares noted that the majority of these inflows were directed towards Bitcoin-focused products. It stated that prior to the inflation data, markets were pricing in more than a full interest rate hike for September, but this expectation was roughly halved following the weak data.
According to the company, individual sales coming in line with expectations also points to a limited weakening in economic activity. CoinShares assessed that a weaker economic outlook could provide support for Bitcoin if it leads to a new shift in interest rate expectations.
However, the company remains cautious about Bitcoin’s short-term upside potential. CoinShares stated that Bitcoin has likely reached or is very close to its bottom, and that it does not see significant upside potential under current conditions.
According to CoinShares, a single weak employment data point and a single low inflation data point may not be enough to prompt the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. It was also noted that the renewed rise in oil prices following developments in Iran could negatively impact the inflation data to be released next month.
The company expects Bitcoin to trade in a horizontal range unless there is a significant change in monetary policy expectations. CoinShares stated that it is unlikely for the BTC price to rise above the $80,000 level under current conditions.
CoinShares noted that investor behavior also supported the cautious outlook in the market, pointing out that investor interest peaked when Bitcoin traded around $120,000 and decreased significantly when the price fell to the $60,000 level.
According to the company, while current price levels are prompting some investors to increase their positions, a cautious approach is maintained due to the overall negative market sentiment.
*This is not investment advice.
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SBI Holdings has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Coinhako, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform, after securing approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The Japanese financial group made the purchase through its subsidiary SBI Ventures Asset Pte. Ltd., which injected capital into Coinhako parent Holdbuild Pte. Ltd. and bought shares from existing shareholders. The transaction closed July 16, making Coinhako a consolidated subsidiary.
Coinhako operates through Hako Technology Pte. Ltd., holder of a Major Payment Institution license from MAS, and Alpha Hako Ltd., a crypto asset service provider registered with the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission.
The platform spent a decade building a customer base across Southeast Asia, a region SBI now positions as a base for its digital asset strategy.
SBI plans to combine Coinhako’s customer base, operational expertise, and regional network with its own financial services, technology, and global footprint. The company intends to expand a digital asset corridor that starts with Japan and Southeast Asia, and to develop services tied to its JPYSC yen-denominated stablecoin. SBI also flagged opportunities in tokenization, on-chain finance, and cross-border trading.
“Our group aims to create a global corridor for digital assets by connecting exchanges around the world, enabling investors worldwide to make optimal investments without being hindered by national borders or currency barriers,” Chairman Yoshitaka Kitao said. He described Singapore as a crucial region because its digital asset regulations are ahead of the curve.
Coinhako co-founder and CEO Yusho Liu called the deal a natural step. “For the past 10 years, we have built from the ground up Southeast Asia’s most trusted and legally compliant cryptocurrency platform in the world’s most advanced regulatory environment,” he said, adding that SBI’s backing gives the firm a stronger foundation.
SBI Holding’s crypto moves The acquisition caps a run of crypto moves by the conglomerate, which holds more than 14 million users and $308 billion in assets under custody. In the past month, SBI led EDX Markets’ $76 million Series C, backed risk manager Gauntlet, launched JPYSC, and partnered with the Solana Foundation on an on-chain financial market in Japan.
In June, the group agreed to buy Tokyo exchange Bitbank for about $289 million, and this week it teamed with Ondo Finance to tokenize Japanese equities.
One limit remains: JPYSC does not yet support withdrawals to external wallets, which confines its use to SBI’s own platform.
Micah Zimmerman
Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.
BIP-110 – My Notes to Miners Let me start off by saying I’m not pro BIP110, and I’m not anti-BIP110. If it actually succeeds as something that gains true consensus within the network and ends up being enforced by a majority of the network… cool. If so, then we’ll go with it because the network has spoken and accepted it, and all nodes, including non-BIP110 nodes, will be pulled along for the ride. Unfortunately for proponents of the proposal, that simply isn’t currently the case by any measurable metric, nor does it appear to have a trajectory suggesting that will change, either.
There’s been a lot of misleading information about this whole thing, especially in the context of mining. A few quick key bullet points to briefly counter some hyperbole from proponents: BIP110 is NOT inevitable. It CAN fail. BIP110 can and will cause a chain split/fork in a minority hashrate situation. BIP110 is NOT without risk to miners choosing to adopt it. Miners not supporting BIP110 are not suddenly mining “invalid” blocks just because a proposal that isn’t yet adopted simply exists. You’re not a bad person or evil simply because you don’t like or support BIP110. (The fact that I feel the need to point out that last part is actually kind of sad…)
I was going to write a long post to help keep miners informed about things they need to remain aware of as this all plays out… before realizing I already did so months ago, as a document I authored that I had hoped could be put out as a miner education piece at OCEAN. Sadly, it never got published. So I went ahead and updated it, and well, here it is.
Again, keep in mind this was written months ago, intended to be as agnostic as possible in an effort to make it acceptable as a corporate post. That effort failed, so I’m posting it as a personal document today instead. As a miner making important decisions about your operations, you need to be aware of all of this without the sugarcoating and, frankly, outright misleading information coming from some of the BIP110 proponents. You must be vigilant and decide what’s right for you.
While there is certainly some misleading information from the opposition as well, nothing I’ve seen is nearly as egregious as the extremely premature claims of victory and accompanying hyperbole pushed by the BIP110 side. Summarizing my doc a bit, my personal suggestion to miners is this: Signal if you support BIP110. Do not signal if you don’t support BIP110 or don’t care. Either way, monitor the network on/around/before block 961632.
If you continue to see non-signaling blocks from major pools, you can be reasonably certain they’re not going to suddenly decide later to throw away millions of dollars’ worth of revenue to backtrack and signal for BIP110. If they do, by some chance, start to signal for BIP110, you should monitor that and consider switching as required to stay on the heaviest chain. The key point is that, realistically, only one side can win. It’s either BIP110 succeeds, and miners not on the BIP110 side fail, or BIP110 fails, and miners on the non-BIP110 side succeed.
Moving on, let’s dive into a small fraction of my rationale.
QUICK FACT: Between 7 and 15% of Bitcoin Nodes are signaling support for BIP110. Depending on which centralized crawler you look at… no way to know for sure [how many BIP110 nodes are signaling support]. My personal private crawler puts this number much lower, but that’s a discussion for another day. Suffice it to say, I think it’s logical and correct to say that even 15% is not a majority.
“But Jason! UASF got Segwit activated with fewer nodes!” Yep, because many miners, merchants, users, etc., all actually wanted Segwit. There was tremendous economic and community weight behind it. Without rehashing that whole thing, as plenty of resources on the topic from before BIP110 are worth a read, suffice it to say that BIP110 and Segwit activations are not quite comparable, as many have already pointed out. Segwit, for example, went into its UASF territory with around 1/3rd of the network’s hashrate already signaling support. With that kind of backing, the UASF to help push the MASF over the tipping point made a lot of sense. It doesn’t make sense here for BIP110.
QUICK FACT: 0.6% of blocks over the past 60 days have signaled support for BIP110. [0.6% is a] pretty stark contrast to even Segwit’s low baseline support. Yes, I know it’s increased slightly in the past couple of weeks, but no new entrants. Just more clearly rented hashrate from one of the same small proponents.
Something to keep in mind is that mining BIP110 signaling blocks via DATUM on OCEAN carries virtually no risk to the miner up until the fork point at block 961632. The cost is negligible, as you’re effectively guaranteed to recoup rental costs, etc.
It’s awesome that the ability to do so exists, and I wouldn’t have it any other way… but just something to keep in mind when weighing signaling from such blocks in the grand scheme of things from a risk-reward, money-on-the-table perspective.
“But Jason! Miners have no incentive to signal until the last minute!” I also see no evidence to suggest that this could be the case. Subjectively, I disagree with the premise, as it’s not in a mining pool’s best interest to destabilize the network in such a way. Part of the reason for early signaling and lock-in periods is to help coordinate upgrades in a smooth fashion. Waiting until the last minute negates that benefit entirely. I see no compelling rationale or upside to doing so.
Continuing on this, as part of my personal node monitoring setup, I specifically monitor nodes known to belong to various entities, such as other mining pools, exchanges, large lightning nodes, merchants, etc. A supermajority of which are monitored with explicit permission and confirmation/coordination.
QUICK FACT: All major mining pools I monitor are currently running some variant of Bitcoin Core v30 or v31 (except OCEAN). Expanding on that, most [mining pools] have updated their nodes since the proliferation of BIP110’s release, even since the release of Knots 29.3. Additionally, it is known that many mining pools run modified versions of their node software to facilitate various requirements of their specific infrastructure. Such changes would need to be ported to a BIP110-compatible client, tested, evaluated, and deployed ahead of time. I currently see no evidence that this is the case currently.
As far as I can tell, the pools are aware but ignoring.
“But Jason! Miners don’t determine consensus! Nodes do! Otherwise, they’ll just cancel halvings!” This is one of the funniest and most ridiculous arguments I’ve heard from the pro-BIP110 crowd. Comparing a consensus change that can be unilaterally enforced upon the network by miners and accepted by 100% of existing nodes (a soft fork), with a hard fork which no existing node will accept… is disingenuous at best. T
ightening rules (like BIP110): Soft fork, can be enforced by miners if they choose to do so. Loosening rules (like canceling a halving): Hard fork, can not be enforced by miners without effectively 100% buy-in from the entire network… which isn’t likely to happen. Comparing the two is, bluntly, just stupid.
“But Jason! If you don’t upgrade to the latest consensus rules, you’re insecure! You’ll lose funds! You’ll mine invalid blocks! You’ll [insert additional hyperbole here]!” This would be true of a consensus change that has, well, consensus. While BIP110 has made a valiant effort to gain that consensus, it has yet to have any measurable majority at what is now arguably the 11th hour. Not in nodes, not in hashrate, not in the social layers (consensus.health has a cool visual there where you’ll find me in the middle).
If somehow BIP110 gains 51%+ of the network hashrate on/before block 961632… then, alright. It’s enforced, since as a soft fork a majority of miners can unilaterally enforce it in the absence of a fully adopted URSF (effectively a misnomer, as this would kind of be a hard fork).
“But Jason! It can’t gain consensus by already having consensus! You have to give it a chance!” Firstly… no I don’t, even though I have. Second, it’s a rushed proposal that never had the time to even try and gain real consensus. It’s been 7 months since the release of the first BIP110 client. There’s ~3 weeks to go before “mandatory” signaling starts as of now (less by the time you read this). 90% of the time available has passed with no change in overall sentiment from any relevant players. If it hasn’t gained sufficient adoption in the past 7 months, it’s not likely to do so in the next 3 weeks.
“But Jason! CSAM! CSAM! Pedophiles! CSAM!” I’ll be the first to say, even I personally overstated the risk here early on when Core proposed its OP_RETURN change. I personally expected something particularly egregious to hit the chain almost immediately, and to the best of my knowledge, that’s not yet happened. Could it still happen? Yeah, I suppose.
But considering from a technical perspective, byte-for-byte the same contiguous arbitrary data can provably end up stored in the current chain or the BIP-110 chain without much issue… this particular argument for BIP-110 falls pretty flat to me at this point.
Do I want CSAM in the chain? Of course not. Am I a pedophile if I don’t support BIP110? Also not.
Concluding Thoughts I could continue to go on and on and on, but I’ll stop here. I’ve wasted enough time on this. I’m sure I’ve done plenty to annoy both sides of the BIP110 debate at this point, as I don’t adopt either stance. I’m sure I’ll catch flak from all angles simply for daring to speak my mind on it.
Overall, I mostly think it was silly to approach addressing a real problem (the OP_RETURN default change in Bitcoin Core) with the maximum anti-spam manifesto based soft fork proposal… which provably cannot stop spam, arbitrary data, etc. 🤦♂️ (Yes, I know, proponents will claim it’s not about spam… and will also make semantic arguments that it does stop data as well… neither of which appears to be correct.)
I’ll close with the concession that I could be wrong. I’m not Nostradamus, and I can’t accurately predict the outcome with 100% certainty. I can only go by what the data tells me, and so I give BIP110’s success less than a 5% chance of actually succeeding… and I consider that generous. You can take my opinions on this however you wish, but I highly recommend you don’t discount the actual data points, remain vigilant, and do what’s best for you and your mining revenue. Don’t be gaslit by either side of the debate, and make your own decisions.
Here’s a link to the same document linked above for ease of access.
War is bad for risk assets. That’s not a new insight, but the US-Iran conflict that escalated sharply in July 2026 gave crypto markets a live demonstration of just how fast the lesson gets relearned.
US Central Command launched strikes against more than 80 Iranian military targets on July 7, 2026, in direct response to Iranian attacks on commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz.
What happened in the market Bitcoin had been trading near a monthly high of $65,500 before the strikes. Within hours of the escalation becoming public, it fell below $64,000. That’s a move of roughly 2%, which sounds modest until you account for the speed and the leverage sitting underneath it.
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Liquidations across the crypto market exceeded $350 million as the sell-off cascaded through leveraged positions. In English: traders who had borrowed money to bet on higher prices got automatically wiped out when prices fell, which then pushed prices lower, which wiped out more traders. The cycle is mechanical and brutal.
Oil prices surged simultaneously.
US forces conducted additional strikes on July 14 and 15, targeting sites including Bushehr and Bandar Abbas. Iran responded with drone and missile attacks aimed at US interests across the region.
Why the Strait of Hormuz matters so much The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the broader ocean. A significant portion of the world’s seaborne oil passes through it.
The February 2026 US-Israeli strikes on Iran had already put the region on edge before July’s escalation. By the time CENTCOM was striking 80-plus targets, the market was not dealing with a fresh surprise. It was dealing with a confirmed escalation of something traders had been watching for months.
That context explains some of the activity on Polymarket, the prediction market platform. Trading volume around US-Iran conflict outcomes had been building for months before July, with hundreds of millions moving through the platform as traders assigned probabilities to various escalation scenarios.
What this means for crypto investors The $350 million in liquidations points to something specific about market structure. Leverage in crypto markets amplifies both gains and losses, and when external shocks arrive without warning, the deleveraging process is faster and more violent than in traditional markets.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
While federal lawmakers continue to argue over the finer points of digital asset legislation, US states have quietly started putting real money into Bitcoin. Texas executed its first purchase of roughly $5 million in Bitcoin through the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ETF in late November 2025, making it the first state to actually fund and buy Bitcoin for a strategic reserve.
The purchase came from a $10 million allocation approved under SB 21, which Governor Greg Abbott signed into law in June 2025. Texas acquired its Bitcoin at prices ranging between roughly $87,000 and $91,000 per coin. New Hampshire and Arizona both enacted their own strategic reserve laws months earlier, and over 30 additional states have introduced similar bills as of mid-2026.
The state-level Bitcoin land grab New Hampshire got its law on the books first. HB 302, signed in May 2025, authorized investments in Bitcoin and qualifying digital assets up to certain portfolio limits. Arizona followed almost immediately with HB 2749, also signed in May 2025, which took a slightly different approach by leveraging unclaimed property and seized assets to build its digital holdings.
Texas’s approach of routing the purchase through BlackRock’s IBIT ETF is notable. Rather than setting up custodial infrastructure from scratch, Texas went with the most liquid and institutionally familiar wrapper available.
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More than 30 states have introduced Bitcoin reserve-style bills, reflecting bipartisan interest in treating Bitcoin as a reserve asset alongside traditional holdings like gold and bonds.
California’s Digital Financial Assets Law became operative on July 1, 2026, imposing licensing requirements on crypto businesses operating in the state. New York continues refining its BitLicense standards.
Washington’s half-finished homework In March 2025, the Trump administration established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve through executive order, funded with forfeited Bitcoin already held by government agencies.
In July 2025, the GENIUS Act was signed into law, creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. The legislation included reserve requirements, audit mandates, and supervisory guidelines.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, commonly called the CLARITY Act, has advanced through various stages but still hasn’t become law as of mid-2026.
What this means for investors When state treasuries start buying Bitcoin, it changes the asset’s narrative in ways that matter for every market participant. These aren’t hedge funds chasing alpha or retail traders following social media hype. These are government entities making deliberate allocations through regulated vehicles, framed as fiduciary decisions about public funds.
Texas’s $10 million is a rounding error in a state budget that runs into the hundreds of billions. These are test cases, designed to establish legal precedent and operational frameworks that can scale.
Investors watching this space should pay attention to three things: which states move from legislation to actual purchases, whether the CLARITY Act reaches the president’s desk before year-end, and how state-level reserves perform relative to traditional holdings in their first full reporting cycles.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Explosions ripped through Bandar Abbas, Iran’s most strategically vital port city, with state-affiliated Nour News confirming the blasts along the Gulf Coast. The incidents, tied to ongoing US military strikes targeting Iranian naval and missile installations, mark another chapter in a rapidly escalating confrontation between Washington and Tehran that has rattled energy markets but left crypto surprisingly unfazed.
Bitcoin was trading near $63,800 during the latest round of strikes, registering an intraday move of roughly 0.3%.
What’s happening in Bandar Abbas The explosions, reported between July 12 and 14, targeted areas east of Bandar Abbas, a city that serves as Iran’s primary naval base and handles approximately 80 million tons of goods annually. US Central Command confirmed it was striking coastal defense and maritime facilities, a pointed response to what Washington described as Tehran’s aggression toward commercial shipping in the region.
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Bandar Abbas sits right on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which roughly 20% of the world’s seaborne oil passes.
Iran responded by announcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz “until further notice,” a move that sent oil futures into a frenzy and immediately raised the specter of a global energy supply shock.
This wasn’t the first time Bandar Abbas made headlines this year. Prior explosions near the city in January and May 2026 had already rattled both energy and crypto markets, though each successive event seems to produce a slightly smaller reaction in digital asset prices.
Crypto’s strange calm Earlier incidents in July had actually followed that script, with Bitcoin dipping below $73,000 during a broader risk-off wave across markets. But the latest round of strikes saw Bitcoin at $63,800 and Ether around $1,800 with similarly limited volatility.
The regulatory war running parallel While missiles fly in the Gulf, the US Treasury has been waging its own campaign against Iranian-linked crypto activity. Authorities seized approximately $450 million in digital assets connected to Iranian entities. The Treasury also slapped sanctions on Nobitex, an exchange tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, making it one of the most prominent exchanges to be directly sanctioned for links to a designated military organization.
What this means for investors The $450 million asset seizure sets a precedent that investors should watch carefully. If US authorities can identify and freeze that volume of Iranian-linked crypto, the surveillance and enforcement infrastructure is clearly more advanced than many market participants assumed.
The pattern from 2026 so far is instructive. The initial shock from the January Bandar Abbas incidents produced meaningful crypto drawdowns. By May, the reaction was smaller. By July, it was nearly imperceptible.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has suggested that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could follow market cycles similar to those seen in gold ETFs over the last two decades. Balchunas, who closely tracks ETF market dynamics, pointed to the history of the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) as a possible roadmap for how BTC ETFs might evolve as institutional investment vehicles.
Gold ETF performance offers roadmap for Bitcoin fundsBalchunas observed that both gold ETFs and BTC ETFs are structured as investment products around assets that do not produce cash flow. Unlike equities or fixed-income instruments, their value relies heavily on investor sentiment and demand rather than dividends, interest payments, or government backing.
He commented that Bitcoin ETFs may be replicating a familiar pattern: periods of major price appreciation are followed by sharp declines and gradual recoveries. Balchunas further noted that prolonged downturns in gold ETFs have historically paved the way for new all-time highs in assets under management, supporting the idea that patient investors may see higher peaks over time.
Bitcoin ETFs may be following the same script: spectacular gains, painful drawdowns and recoveries that may test investors’ patience. Despite extended bear markets for gold ETFs, each major cycle has ultimately resulted in a higher peak.
Mini dictionary: SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), launched in 2004, is the world’s largest physically backed gold ETF, providing investors direct exposure to gold prices through a regulated, liquid vehicle.
GLD sets precedent for market fluctuationsBalchunas referred to Bloomberg Intelligence data showing that GLD has weathered notable cycles in assets under management throughout its history. Assets once reached $76 billion, declined to about $22 billion, recovered to $84 billion, then fell again to $48 billion, and recently surged to around $190 billion.
He also pointed to milestones in ETF rankings, highlighting that GLD briefly became the world’s largest ETF in 2011 before experiencing several years of reduced momentum. In a similar vein, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recently surpassed $100 billion in assets, then saw growth slow as market conditions consolidated.
ETFPrevious Asset PeakLowest PointRecent Asset LevelGLD$76B$22B$190BIBIT$100BN/AN/AInstitutional demand drives ETF cyclesBalchunas explained that, unlike traditional stocks or bonds, the value of Bitcoin ETFs depends on both the underlying asset and investor inflows. Because the supply growth for both gold and Bitcoin is relatively limited, significant inflows can rapidly boost prices when market appetite rises.
He cautioned, however, that institutional demand is characteristically unpredictable. Demand often comes in waves rather than maintaining a steady pace, which can trigger fluctuations in both price and fund asset levels.
Demand can be fickle and come in waves versus steady, so investors should expect volatility even as long-term adoption rises.
Early phase for Bitcoin ETF adoptionAlthough Bitcoin ETFs have drawn growing interest, they remain at an early stage of institutional adoption compared to gold ETFs. Major investors, including pension funds and wealth managers, continue assessing the role of Bitcoin ETFs within diversified portfolios and regulated investment strategies.
While Balchunas cautioned that historical parallels do not ensure future outcomes, he emphasized that tracking the cyclical nature of ETF flows can help investors form more realistic expectations. As global ETF adoption expands, inflows, regulatory decisions, and institutional involvement are set to play key roles in shaping Bitcoin ETF growth.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
BTC tends to move south after such reports come out, but there's more to the story now.
Bitcoin recovered most of the losses seen during the day after dipping to $62,400 and is now back above $64,000. What’s intriguing about this rebound is that it came after some unfavorable reports for risk-on assets.
The first one focused on more threatening developments on the US/Israel-Iran war front, while the second was on the continuously growing US margin debt.
Two Major Signals The tension in the Middle East skyrocketed a couple of weeks ago when the US and Iran broke the ceasefire with new attacks. There’s been little to no reporting on potential peace talks since then. In contrast, Trump’s new attack plan was recently leaked, while a new report from Axios outlined the next possible steps.
The Trump Administration has reportedly conveyed to Israel that it will send ‘dozens more’ refueling planes ahead of a potential ‘massive offense’ against Iran. Some of the more threatening details include possible bombing against key Iranian infrastructure like power plants and nuclear sites.
The report added that the POTUS is expected to order the escalation ‘in the coming days.’ As expected, oil prices reacted with an immediate increase, as USOIL is up by over 20% since the war restarted.
Separately, the Kobeissi Letter noted that the US margin debt has risen by over $86 billion in June to a new record of $1.5 trillion. This marked the third monthly increase in a row. Moreover, the margin debt has skyrocketed by nearly $500 billion in the past year.
The analysts concluded that “US investors have never been more leveraged,” as the broader measure of such positions is up to approximately 1.4% of the S&P’s total market cap. This is close to the 2018 peak and far exceeds the 2000 Dot-Com bubble of 1.1%.
You may also like: Will Crypto Markets Move When $1.2B Bitcoin Options Expire Today? The $65.5K Rejection: What Top Analysts Are Saying About Bitcoin’s Next Move Don’t Obsess Over Bitcoin’s Bottom as $38K Low Comes Into Focus: Analyst BTC Rebounds The primary cryptocurrency tends to slip following similar reports, especially escalations in the Middle East. However, the past few hours have shown a very different reaction. The asset had fallen to a multi-day low of $62,400 before the bulls took charge and helped it recover nearly $2,000.
Nevertheless, bitcoin remains below the recent local peak of $65,600 reached after the US CPI numbers for June came out on Tuesday. The market is still in a fragile place, and it’s unlikely that new attacks between the US and Iran will have a longer-term beneficial effect.
The Bitcoin bottom may be in — but don’t get your hopes up: It might struggle to go up anytime soon, according to one investment firm.
A Friday report from European asset management firm CoinShares said that investors last week threw fresh cash at Bitcoin — and other crypto — exchange-traded products, indicating a change in sentiment.
But other factors may hold digital asset markets from going higher, James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote.
“We have said for some time that Bitcoin has probably reached, or is close to, its floor,” the report read. “But we see no significant upside potential from here.”
The report added that current macroeconomic headwinds, such as the US bombing Iran and rising oil prices, could see inflation go up again.
Bitcoin’s price was up earlier this week, hitting a seven-day high of $65,501 on news that inflation in the US was softer than expected. It has since erased those gains and was recently trading for $64,010.
The price of Bitcoin has typically done well on news that inflation is coming down because investors expect interest rates to come down. But Butterfill said that “a rate cut does not look probable at this stage.”
Bitcoin’s worst run on record CoinShares’ data showed that investors pulled a total of $8 billion out of funds giving crypto exposure — “the worst run on record.”
Last week, though, things reversed when $287 million hit crypto funds, CoinShares said, with the data so far showing that this week looks likely to be another positive streak.
The price of Bitcoin has typically done well when US investors — previously excluded from crypto investing — have bought shares in exchange-traded funds approved in 2024.
The products — handled by the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale — allow more traditional investors or Wall Street institutions to buy positions in Bitcoin via shares that trade on stock exchanges.
Since BTC’s October all-time high of $126,080, crypto markets have faced a battering as those investors have fast cashed out of the funds. Bitcoin has struggled to make gains, especially after the US and Israel started bombing Iran, leading to a surge in the price of oil.
The leading cryptocurrency is now nearly 50% below its record.
“The dominant picture is that the current setup is prompting interest in adding positions, but caution prevails while sentiment remains broadly negative,” CoinShares added.
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
SBI Group, a major Japanese financial conglomerate and long-standing Ripple partner, has announced a strategic partnership with Ondo Finance to introduce tokenized Japanese equities for both domestic and international markets.
Strategic partnership taps blockchain for Japanese equitiesUnder the new agreement, Ondo Finance, recognized for its expertise in tokenizing real-world assets, plans to issue digital representations of Japanese stocks through its affiliate, Ondo Global Markets (BVI) Limited. SBI Group will leverage its extensive financial network in Japan to distribute these tokenized equity products, aiming to provide broader access to one of the world’s largest capital markets.
A key element of the collaboration is the use of SBI’s JPYSC stablecoin for settlement and as collateral within the platform. This approach enables blockchain-based trading of Japanese equities, connecting traditional markets with the expanding global ecosystem of tokenized assets.
Both companies emphasized that the partnership will involve wider cooperation beyond mere distribution. They have agreed to promote each other’s products and services, seeking to accelerate institutional and retail adoption of tokenized financial instruments in and outside Japan.
Ian De Bode, CEO of Ondo Finance, highlighted Japan’s advanced capital markets and pointed to SBI’s reach as instrumental in bringing Japanese assets onchain for both domestic and international investors.
De Bode described the alliance as a way to bridge Japan’s sophisticated finance sector with the global tokenized economy, while enabling blockchain-based yen settlements.
Mini dictionary: SBI Group is one of Japan’s largest financial services companies, involved in banking, securities, asset management, and fintech solutions.
SBI-Ripple ties boost the tokenization landscapeThis partnership comes immediately after another milestone for Ondo Finance. In the previous month, the XRP Ledger (XRPL) surpassed Ethereum and Solana to become the leading blockchain for Ondo’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund, hosting approximately $274 million in on-chain assets. This development marks a significant step in establishing XRPL as a preferred network for institutional-grade tokenized products.
Ripple is not directly involved in the latest SBI-Ondo initiative. However, the move draws attention due to SBI Group’s influential relationship with Ripple, which began in 2016. SBI is now among Ripple’s largest shareholders and one of the main proponents of XRP and blockchain adoption throughout Asia.
The two companies established SBI Ripple Asia, facilitating modernization of cross-border payments for regional banks and supporting broader enterprise integration of blockchain technology through the XRP ecosystem.
SBI Group’s involvement in digital asset initiatives extends into regulated exchanges, asset custody, and the creation of stablecoins. Recently, SBI VC Trade became the first regulated entity in Japan to support Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, underscoring its commitment to Ripple’s ecosystem.
As blockchain-based tokenization changes the global financial landscape, SBI’s alliance with Ondo Finance enhances its leadership in this emerging sector. The collaboration also expands the institutional ecosystem around the XRP Ledger, highlighting its rising prominence in the growing market for tokenized real-world assets.
Beyond digital equities, SBI’s expanded tokenization strategy positions it strongly within next-generation blockchain finance and reinforces the XRPL’s role as a core infrastructure provider for asset tokenization.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
XRP remains under pressure across both its USDT and BTC trading pairs, with the broader market structure still favoring sellers. While the token has managed to stabilize above nearby support on the dollar chart, its Bitcoin pair continues to print lower highs and lower lows, highlighting persistent relative weakness.
Ripple Price Analysis: The USDT Pair The daily chart shows XRP trading around $1.08 after an extended decline within a well-defined descending channel. Although the asset has recently moved sideways instead of extending its losses, the broader trend remains bearish as it continues to trade below both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages. These levels are also sloping downward, reinforcing the prevailing negative momentum.
Following the sharp breakdown in June, XRP has established a consolidation range between the $1 support zone and the $1.25 resistance area. Buyers have repeatedly defended the lower boundary, but every recovery attempt has been rejected before reclaiming the declining 100-day moving average or breaking above the channel’s higher boundary, indicating that bullish momentum remains limited.
A breakout above the $1.25 resistance would be the first sign that buyers are regaining control and could expose the descending channel’s upper boundary as the next major hurdle. Until then, the broader structure continues to favor further downside, with a loss of the $1 support opening the door toward significantly lower demand zones.
The RSI is hovering near the neutral 50 level, reflecting the current balance between buyers and sellers after weeks of heavy selling pressure. However, without a decisive bullish breakout, the indicator does not yet suggest a meaningful shift in trend.
The BTC Pair The XRP/BTC daily chart paints an even weaker picture. The pair has remained inside a long-term descending channel for nearly a year while consistently trading beneath both the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, highlighting sustained underperformance against Bitcoin.
After several failed recovery attempts during May and June, XRP/BTC has finally dropped below the key horizontal support around 1,720 sats. This level has repeatedly attracted buyers over the past few months, but each rebound has produced another lower high, signaling that selling pressure continues to dominate.
On the upside, the next important resistance sits around the 1,850 sats region, where previous support has turned into resistance. A move above this area would improve the short-term outlook, but the descending channel and the 200-day moving average near 2,000 sats remain the primary barriers to a broader trend reversal.
Meanwhile, the RSI remains below the midpoint, suggesting that momentum still favors the sellers. Unless XRP/BTC can reclaim key resistance levels and break its long-term bearish structure, the pair appears vulnerable to another test of the channel’s lower boundary, which is now located around 1,500 sats.
Polymarket odds of the Crypto Clarity Act being signed into law in 2026 fell to 35% Thursday after Senate Democrats said they would not support the current version of the bill over unresolved ethics provisions.
Why Are Democrats Walking Away?Democrats want stronger guardrails on Donald Trump’s crypto dealings and said the Republican version of the ethics language falls short on both conflict-of-interest protections and consumer safeguards, Politico reported Thursday.
Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a key negotiator on the bill, said the version heading to the White House gives the president too much room to continue what he called his “grift” in crypto.
“At the end of the day, we don’t have strong ethics. I don’t care what the president says. You’re not going to have the Democratic votes,” Gallego said.
A Democratic Senate aide added that Republicans were presenting something to the White House that Democrats had never seen or agreed to.
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), who has been working on the CFTC portion of the bill, urged Republicans not to release text before ongoing negotiations wrapped up.
Moreover, Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) pushed back directly, calling the bill’s ethics provision “the strongest of any piece of legislation ever passed by any Congress” and said the time for a vote has arrived regardless of where Democrats stand.
What Happens If Democrats Don’t Show Up?The bill needs 60 votes to advance in the Senate, which means Republican support alone is not enough.
Without at least some Democratic crossover, the Clarity Act cannot clear the chamber before the August 7 recess deadline.
The House is holding a hearing on the crypto market structure bill Thursday, one of the most closely watched crypto policy events of the year.
The White House is pushing lawmakers to advance the legislation before recess, but the Senate math does not work without bipartisan support.
Meanwhile, Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty framed the stakes from the industry side. “A vote against the Clarity Act is a vote to leave the same unregulated conditions in place to be exploited by bad actors,” Alderoty wrote.
What Does This Mean For Crypto Markets?Regulatory uncertainty has been one of the key overhangs on institutional crypto adoption all year.
Lawmakers designed the Clarity Act to remove years of uncertainty over whether the SEC or the CFTC regulates digital tokens, giving exchanges, token issuers, and institutional participants clearer rules.
With Polymarket odds dropping to 35% and Democrats signaling they will not vote for the current text, the timeline for that clarity has moved further out, keeping the regulatory risk premium in crypto prices intact heading into the second half of 2026.
Photo via Shutterstock
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XRP is showing deleveraging signs that resemble the conditions before its sharp rally in late 2024.
Recent market data shows a decline in speculative trading, with Binance’s estimated leverage ratio (ELR) dropping to 0.16, one of its lowest readings since November 2024.
For the uninitiated, the estimated leverage rating metric compares open interest with exchange reserves to show how much leverage traders are using.
The current figure is also close to the April 2026 low of 0.15, which appeared during XRP’s earlier correction. Meanwhile, amid these conditions, XRP has dropped about 70% from its 2025 high of $3.6 and now trades around $1.10.
What Lower Leverage Means for XRP The decline in the ELR mainly indicates a drop in leveraged futures positions, not necessarily changes in spot holdings.
As the market corrected, many leveraged trades were closed, causing open interest to fall. Binance’s XRP open interest now stands at about $375 million, below the highs seen over the past year.
This sort of deleveraging often leaves the market in a healthier position. Notably, high leverage increases the risk of forced liquidations, where one liquidation triggers another and causes sharp price swings.
However, when leverage falls, that risk becomes smaller. As a result, the market tends to become more stable, giving future price moves a stronger foundation. Current derivatives data suggests speculative trading has cooled, leaving the market far less overheated than it was before.
The Current Situation Looks Similar to 2024 The present market structure shares several similarities with the period before XRP’s late-2024 rally. During the middle of 2024, XRP traded near $0.40 while the estimated leverage ratio gradually dropped to around 0.05, the lowest point of that cycle.
While the price moved within a narrow range for months, the derivatives market quietly reset before buying momentum returned.
XRP Estimated Leverage Ratio | CryptoQuant This reset eventually led to a rally of more than 790%, lifting XRP above $3.6 as leverage gradually increased alongside the price.
If XRP were to repeat the same percentage gain from its current price of about $1.10, it would reach roughly $9.80. However, this figure only represents a mathematical comparison with the previous rally and should not be viewed as a price prediction.
Institutional forecasts remain much more cautious. Standard Chartered recently lowered its year-end 2026 XRP target from $8 to $2.8, but the bank maintained its 2030 target at $28.
XRP Sees Bullish Whale Activity On-chain activity also points to growing confidence among large investors. Whale wallets holding between 100 million and 1 billion XRP added about 1.3 billion XRP within a 48-hour period in early March 2026.
Large amounts of XRP also continued leaving exchanges. On March 10, investors moved roughly $738 million worth of XRP into cold wallets in a single day, making it one of the largest exchange outflows of the year.
Whale buying remained strong through April, when the biggest holders purchased more than 11 million XRP each day, marking the fastest pace of accumulation in around 10 months.
The trend continued into July. Transfers of more than 1 million XRP on Coinbase increased from about 10% of all withdrawals on June 16 to 25.7% by July 1. Data also shows that more than 90% of XRP leaving exchanges now goes into private wallets controlled by large holders instead of returning to trading platforms.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
XRP-associated blockchain payment firm Ripple has been officially listed on Europe's MiCA register by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) following its recent licensing in the region.
The listing comes amid the addition of 14 new crypto firms that have now become fully authorized to operate as licensed crypto asset service providers in Europe.
Ripple Payments Europe gains full CASP authorization Following this development, the European payment arm of the renowned blockchain firm, Ripple Payments Europe SA, has gained full authorization to operate in Europe.
Coupled with its recent licensing in Luxembourg, Ripple can now deliver its crypto services to financial institutions and businesses across all 30 countries of the European Economic Area.
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With Ripple Payments Europe now added to the MiCA register alongside 14 other crypto firms, the total number of licensed crypto asset service providers (CASPs) in Europe has increased to 294.
XRP in spotlight While this marks a major milestone for Ripple, it has also put its associated crypto assets, including XRP, in the spotlight, as it positions them for broader adoption.
With Ripple fully eligible to deliver its crypto payment services in Europe, Ripple-based token projects XRP, XRPL, and RLUSD are set for stronger real-world use cases.
Large holders of XRP have acquired a combined 70 million tokens over a recent five-day stretch, according to on-chain metrics shared by crypto analyst Ali Martinez. Data provided by blockchain analytics platform Santiment tracks the movement of XRP by measuring the balances held in wallets identified as controlled by whales, a term widely used for entities holding substantial amounts of cryptocurrency.
Whale accumulation gathers paceSantiment’s data reveals that on July 11, whale wallets controlled about 3.77 billion XRP. The next few days saw a notable upward trend, as these wallets steadily increased their holdings. By July 14, the collective balance had reached 3.83 billion XRP, maintaining that level through July 15. This jump of 70 million tokens into whale-controlled wallets points to a phase of concentrated buying activity over a relatively brief period.
The swift increase is unusual compared to previous trading patterns, where holdings by these large accounts remained stable. The period between July 12 and July 14 recorded the most significant buying, accounting for the majority of the gains during these five days. Despite a slight dip on July 15, whale holdings remained within close range of the recent peak.
Institutional interest suspectedSuch accumulation at scale is rarely associated with typical retail investors, who generally lack the capacity for transactions of this size. Instead, analysts point to likely participation by institutional players or high-net-worth individuals actively building positions. Wallet-level data from Santiment indicates the tokens were not simply transferred between existing wallets but acquired as part of direct purchasing in the open market.
This behavior reflects a broader institutional trend, as some investors seek to gain significant exposure to XRP at current price levels.
Mini dictionary: Santiment, a blockchain analytics company that provides on-chain and social media data for cryptocurrencies, enabling investors to monitor large wallet activity, market trends, and other real-time blockchain movements.
Analyst reaction highlights new trendThe accumulation by whales has drawn attention from the analyst community. CryptoSensei, an established market observer, noted the connection between rising whale wallet balances and a parallel drop in exchange-based XRP supply. The ongoing reduction in the number of XRP tokens held on trading platforms indicates that fewer assets are readily available for sale. Meanwhile, whale wallets are absorbing large portions of the remaining supply.
The combination of increased whale accumulation and falling XRP balances on exchanges marks a shift that analysts believe may affect liquidity and potentially alter market dynamics.
At present, XRP’s supply on major exchanges stands at a multi-year low in 2026. This decreasing availability intensifies the impact of new purchases, as each buy order represents a higher proportion of the remaining liquid supply.
DateXRP Whale Holdings (Billion)XRP on Exchanges (Trend)July 11, 20263.77FallingJuly 12, 20263.78FallingJuly 14, 20263.83FallingJuly 15, 20263.82FallingSupply dynamics and price landscapeA combination of intensive buying by large investors and shrinking exchange reserves creates tighter conditions on the sell side of the market. In such scenarios, any increase in demand can have outsized effects, as the pool of immediately available tokens continues to shrink. However, analysts emphasize that constrained supply on its own does not ensure a price increase, but it does set the stage for potential market movement.
XRP is currently trading near $1.09, still significantly below its July 2025 high of $3.65. Recent whale activity suggests that these participants view present valuations as favorable for accumulation rather than distribution.
Whale accumulation and declining exchange balances are two factors that traders and market observers are monitoring closely as possible precursors to changes in market momentum.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ripple Payments Europe SA, the European arm of blockchain technology company Ripple, has received full authorization as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) in Europe. The new approval enables the company to operate legally throughout the 30 countries forming the European Economic Area, significantly broadening its capacity to offer crypto payment and asset services to both businesses and institutions.
European expansion for RippleThis authorization follows Ripple’s recent licensing in Luxembourg, which has positioned Ripple Payments Europe for comprehensive service delivery across the region. Ripple’s European entity now joins 14 other newly listed crypto firms to become officially registered under Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation framework.
According to the latest update, the total number of crypto firms holding CASP licenses in Europe has reached 294. The regulatory move aims to enhance oversight and establish common standards for crypto companies, facilitating safer and more transparent digital asset operations within the EEA.
Ripple is a global blockchain company best known for developing payment solutions and supporting digital asset projects such as XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL). Its newest stablecoin, RLUSD, and existing projects are now positioned for broader adoption across the European financial sector.
With the newly acquired CASP license, Ripple can expand partnerships with European financial institutions and provide licensed crypto payments and services. The move is expected to offer businesses improved access to blockchain-based remittance, settlement, and tokenization services.
Mini dictionary: CASP (Crypto Asset Service Provider): A regulatory classification under the EU’s MiCA framework, granting firms the legal right to offer crypto-related services, including custody, exchange, and transfer of crypto assets within participating countries.
Spotlight on Ripple and its assetsMarket observers note that Ripple’s expanded regulatory compliance could drive further institutional and commercial adoption of its digital assets. This includes the XRP token—used for real-time cross-border payments—and the XRPL decentralized ledger network, as well as RLUSD, Ripple’s upcoming stablecoin project.
By meeting EU regulatory standards, Ripple and its associated assets may see improved integration into the region’s financial infrastructure. The expansion is seen as an important step for Ripple, which is seeking to grow its presence beyond its established footprint in the US and Asia-Pacific regions.
Ripple has become fully eligible to deliver crypto payment services in Europe, positioning XRP, XRPL, and RLUSD for stronger real-world use cases as the adoption of regulated blockchain payments increases among European institutions.
The listing comes amid a broader push by European regulators to strengthen oversight of digital asset firms operating in the region. Ripple Payments Europe’s registration alongside additional crypto companies underscores growing regulatory acceptance of blockchain and crypto services throughout Europe.
ProviderRegion CoveredCASP ApprovedRipple Payments Europe SAEuropean Economic Area (30 countries)YesOther crypto firms (14 newly added)European Economic AreaYesTotal CASP-licensed providersEurope294Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Evernorth, a crypto treasury company, has assembled more than 470 million XRP as part of an ambitious plan to list on the Nasdaq under the ticker “XRPN” through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. Dr. Kamilah Stevenson, a wealth educator with expertise in digital assets, highlighted the company’s growing XRP holdings as a signal of increasing institutional conviction in the cryptocurrency.
Institutional strategy behind EvernorthEvernorth’s core model centers on holding XRP on its balance sheet for shareholders, essentially transforming the company into a corporate vault for the digital asset. Once the company is publicly listed, purchasing its shares would give investors indirect exposure to the XRP pool, similar to how some public companies have structured their balance sheets around Bitcoin holdings.
Unlike firms that simply speculate on crypto prices, Evernorth’s stated mission is to remove XRP from circulation and warehouse it for the long term. Dr. Stevenson emphasized that this is a balance-sheet allocation, not a short-term trading play, with all transactions and holdings disclosed in public regulatory filings.
Stevenson noted the distinctive nature of Evernorth’s approach, drawing a comparison to similar strategies used by companies that focus exclusively on Bitcoin. Her analysis pointed out that Evernorth’s model offers institutional investors a new avenue to gain exposure to XRP through equity markets.
Backing and regulatory processMajor industry names have committed to Evernorth, including Ripple—the company behind the XRP Ledger—SBI, Pantera Capital, Kraken, and Arrington Capital. These backers have reportedly pledged more than $1 billion in capital to support the corporate structure.
Evernorth’s proposed Nasdaq listing remains incomplete, as the process still requires regulatory approval and consent from shareholders. Stevenson underlined that the plans are currently in the filing stage with relevant authorities and that no trading of XRPN shares can take place until permissions are secured.
Publicly available filings are being used to transparently document Evernorth’s operations, a process designed to provide both investors and regulators with confidence in the company’s strategy.
Mini dictionary: Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) – A SPAC is a publicly listed company created for the purpose of acquiring or merging with another company to facilitate taking that company public without a traditional initial public offering (IPO).
Company/BackerRole/ContributionRippleStrategy backer, technology providerSBI (Japan)Strategic investment, capital providerPantera CapitalInstitutional investorKrakenExchange support, possible liquidity partnerArrington CapitalVenture backer, capital commitmentImplications for individual investorsDr. Stevenson, who has significant experience educating on wealth strategies in crypto markets, cautions that Evernorth’s strategy is not directly instructive for retail investors. She distinguishes between the financial engineering available to corporations and the personal risk that comes from borrowing heavily to invest in volatile assets like XRP.
She urges smaller investors to focus on tax-efficient structures, such as maintaining digital assets in tax-advantaged accounts like Roth IRAs. This approach, Stevenson argues, enhances wealth preservation and asset protection without resorting to high leverage or risky borrowing practices.
The goal for individuals, according to Stevenson, should be disciplined asset accumulation and risk management, rather than attempts to mimic sophisticated corporate treasury operations. She also highlights the importance of regulatory compliance and prudent financial planning in the context of crypto wealth management.
Evernorth’s approach to XRP is structured for long-term balance-sheet strength rather than speculative trading, reflecting a conviction-based corporate strategy that public investors will soon be able to access if the listing moves forward.
In summary, while Evernorth’s trajectory may offer institutions and investors a unique channel into XRP exposure, Stevenson makes clear that regulatory processes remain ongoing and retail strategies should prioritize sustainable wealth management over aggressive financial engineering.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Ripple (XRP) edges toward $1.00 at the time of writing on Friday, weighed down by broader risk-off sentiment in the cryptocurrency market. The decline comes after a short-lived macro-driven rally as inflation in the United States (US) showed signs of easing.
However, pressure has remained apparent as market participants continue to assess the impact of the persistent war between the United States (US) and Iran.
“If both parties fail to return to the negotiation table, the risk of further structural damage to energy infrastructure across the region remains high, threatening a prolonged Crude and distillate supply crunch and higher inflation,” Simon-Peter Massabni, Head of Business Development at XS.com, said.
XRP attracts modest capital inflows The crypto Fear & Greed Index is embedded in the Fear territory at 27 on Friday, marking a marginal improvement from 25 in the Extreme Fear territory the day before. This outlook indicates that appetite for risk assets is improving, albeit gradually, as evidenced by inflows into XRP digital investment products.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index | Source: AlternativeDemand for XRP derivatives has gradually increased this week, with the perpetual futures Open Interest (OI) averaging 2.23 billion XRP on Friday, up from 2.19 billion XRP the previous day. A broader scope shows OI averaged 2.1 billion XRP on Monday, underscoring steady growth in risk-on sentiment.
XRP Futures OI | Source: CoinGlassMeanwhile, demand for XRP spot ETFs returned on Thursday, attracting nearly $7 million in inflows, according to SoSoValue data. This positive turnaround comes after three days where activity remains muted.
Still, cumulative inflows edged higher to $1.49 billion, with net assets averaging $997 million. Sustained appetite for US-listed ETFs is needed to absorb the selling pressure in the spot market and support a steady rebound.
XRP ETF flows | Source: SoSoValue Price analysis: XRP remains pressured toward $1.00XRP trades at $1.08, keeping a bearish near-term tone. The spot price holds below the 50-day, 100-day and 200-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs) at $1.15, $1.25 and $1.45, respectively. The pair also trades under the Bollinger Bands middle layer at $1.09, highlighting persistent overhead supply.
Moreover, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) histogram remains marginally positive, hinting at only modest recovery attempts against a capped structure. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) near 44 stays below the midline, reinforcing a subdued bias and suggesting rallies could struggle to sustain beyond nearby resistance.
XRP/USDT daily chartInitial resistance emerges at the Bollinger middle layer near $1.10, followed by the 50-day EMA at $1.15, with a stronger barrier at the Bollinger upper layer around $1.16. Above there, the 100-day EMA at $1.25 and the 200-day EMA at $1.45 outline a broader bearish framework and would need to be reclaimed to ease downside pressure.
Looking down, immediate support is provided by the Bollinger lower boundary at $1.03. A decisive break below this floor would open room for a deeper slide, whereas holding above it keeps scope for short-covering bounces back toward the $1.10 area.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Crypto ETF FAQs An Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) is an investment vehicle or an index that tracks the price of an underlying asset. ETFs can not only track a single asset, but a group of assets and sectors. For example, a Bitcoin ETF tracks Bitcoin’s price. ETF is a tool used by investors to gain exposure to a certain asset.
Yes. The first Bitcoin futures ETF in the US was approved by the US Securities & Exchange Commission in October 2021. A total of seven Bitcoin futures ETFs have been approved, with more than 20 still waiting for the regulator’s permission. The SEC says that the cryptocurrency industry is new and subject to manipulation, which is why it has been delaying crypto-related futures ETFs for the last few years.
Yes. The SEC approved in January 2024 the listing and trading of several Bitcoin spot Exchange-Traded Funds, opening the door to institutional capital and mainstream investors to trade the main crypto currency. The decision was hailed by the industry as a game changer.
The main advantage of crypto ETFs is the possibility of gaining exposure to a cryptocurrency without ownership, reducing the risk and cost of holding the asset. Other pros are a lower learning curve and higher security for investors since ETFs take charge of securing the underlying asset holdings. As for the main drawbacks, the main one is that as an investor you can’t have direct ownership of the asset, or, as they say in crypto, “not your keys, not your coins.” Other disadvantages are higher costs associated with holding crypto since ETFs charge fees for active management. Finally, even though investing in ETFs reduces the risk of holding an asset, price swings in the underlying cryptocurrency are likely to be reflected in the investment vehicle too.
XRP withdrawals from Binance have surged this week, reaching their largest share of transaction activity since 2024. According to research from CryptoQuant contributor Amr Taha, XRP withdrawal transactions on Binance climbed to 54.5% on July 17, outpacing deposit transactions by the widest gap seen in nearly two years.
Deposit transactions hit new lowsMeanwhile, XRP deposit transactions on Binance fell to 45.4%, marking a new low compared to the previous record of 46.7% recorded in June 2025. This widened the gap between withdrawals and deposits to 9.1 percentage points, up from 6.5 points a year prior. CryptoQuant calculated this increase as roughly 40% wider than the previous year’s gap.
The shift in transaction dynamics is not unique to Binance. Across all centralized exchanges, XRP withdrawal transactions reached 53.01%, nearly equaling the 53.09% seen in June 2025. Deposit activity across these platforms generally hovered near 46.9%, reflecting a similar imbalance to Binance’s trend.
Binance’s specific numbers stand out, with its withdrawal share running around 1.49 percentage points above the all-exchange average. The exchange’s 9.1-point withdrawal-deposit gap is nearly 49% wider than the 6.1-point spread observed on centralized exchanges overall, positioning Binance as a leader in this shift.
ExchangeWithdrawal Share (%)Deposit Share (%)Withdrawal-Deposit Gap (%)Binance54.545.49.1All Centralized Exchanges53.0146.96.1Mini dictionary: Binance is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume, enabling users to buy, sell, and store a wide range of digital assets globally.
Historical context and the 66% rallyThe transaction pattern is reminiscent of the situation in June 2025, when a similar withdrawal surge preceded a significant price rally in XRP. At that time, the token climbed from around $2.11 to $3.50 by July 21, representing an increase of nearly 66% within one month.
XRP’s previous rally followed a comparable transaction imbalance, but the current price environment differs sharply from last year. The token now trades near $1.09, about 48% below its June 2025 level and roughly 69% less than the $3.50 peak seen after the withdrawal surge.
Limitations and other market signalsDespite the parallels, analysts caution against reading too much into the current data. CryptoQuant highlighted that these metrics reflect the number of deposit and withdrawal transactions rather than representing the total volume or net flow of funds. As a result, this data shows a shift in transaction composition rather than providing evidence of capital outflows from exchanges.
Recent order book data from CryptoQuant, referenced by Live Bitcoin News, indicated persistent selling pressure in XRP/Binance trading pairs last week, an apparent contrast to the surge in withdrawal activity observed now.
Additional reserve figures from Binance have also alternated between bullish and bearish signals throughout the current cycle. For the moment, withdrawal activity appears to outpace deposits, but broader order flow and reserve data present a more mixed picture regarding market sentiment.
CryptoQuant emphasized that while withdrawal transaction counts are high, they are not direct proof that large amounts of capital are leaving exchanges or that a price rally is imminent.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
17 July 2026 | 19:47 XRP is trading near $1.08 on July 17, compressed between the repeatedly defended support area at $1.03–$1.05 and a declining 50-day simple moving average at $1.13.
Key Takeaways XRP trades at $1.08 below all three major moving averages, which remain in bearish alignment. The $1.03–$1.05 shelf is the main support separating the current range from another test of the cycle low. Binance’s estimated leverage ratio is approaching its lowest level since November 2024. Falling open interest confirms that traders are reducing derivatives exposure rather than building new positions. The chart remains bearish. Price sits below its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day moving averages, every recovery since April has produced a lower high, and the latest bounce ended beneath the nearest moving-average resistance.
Derivatives positioning has become less aggressive during the decline. Both Binance’s estimated leverage ratio and all-exchange open interest have fallen sharply, showing that futures exposure is being removed. That reduces leverage-related fragility but does not provide the demand needed to reverse the price trend.
XRP Remains Below a Fully Bearish Moving-Average Stack Daily XRP price chart / Source: TradingView The three major daily moving averages are aligned above the current price:
Moving Average Resistance $1.1355
100-day SMA
$1.2657
200-day SMA
$1.4317
All three are declining. The 50-day SMA approached the 100-day average in late May but failed to complete a bullish crossover, with the two lines separating again as price weakened.
The sequence of lower highs reinforces that structure. XRP peaked near $1.55 in April, failed around $1.50 on the following recovery, reached approximately $1.3 on June 15, and then stalled near $1.18 in early July.
Daily RSI has fallen to 44 after reaching approximately 58 during the latest bounce. It is now below its moving average at 47, showing that momentum weakened before reaching overbought conditions.
The two oversold readings recorded in early and late June produced only temporary recoveries. Volume has also faded to approximately 24.39 million, with no clear accumulation pattern behind the July advance and the more prominent recent spikes occurring during selling.
The $1.03-$1.05 Shelf Defines the Next Break Buyers defended the $1.03-$1.05 area around June 5, again between June 25 and 27, and during the early-July decline. Below it, the cycle-low wick sits between $1.01 and $1.02, followed by the untested psychological level at $1.
Immediate resistance begins at the July 17 high near $1.09 and the July 14-15 wick area between $1.11 and $1.12. The declining 50-day SMA at $1.13 remains the more important ceiling because it stopped the latest recovery.
The narrowing range creates three measurable outcomes:
Bullish shift
A daily close above $1.10 would improve the short-term structure, but XRP would still need to reclaim the 50-day SMA to break the sequence of lower highs. The July swing high near $1.2 would then become the next test.
Continued compression
Price remains between the $1.03–$1.05 shelf and the falling 50-day SMA while momentum and derivatives exposure continue resetting.
Bearish continuation
Losing $1.05 would expose $1.03 and the $1.01–$1.02 cycle-low area. A daily close below $1.01 would put $1 and sub-dollar price discovery in play.
The prevailing trend, weakening RSI, and fading volume currently favor a bearish drift unless buyers recover the upper boundary.
Binance Leverage Is Approaching Its April Low CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost highlighted a renewed decline in XRP’s estimated leverage ratio on Binance.
XRP Ledger estimated leverage ratio on Binance. The metric compares derivatives open interest with the XRP reserves held on the exchange. A higher reading indicates that futures exposure is large relative to those reserves, while a lower reading points to reduced leveraged positioning.
XRP’s ratio currently stands at approximately 0.16, one of its lowest readings since November 2024 and close to the April 2026 low of 0.15.
The decline developed alongside a price correction of roughly 70%. Some futures positions were liquidated during the fall, while other traders closed exposure voluntarily, mechanically reducing open interest.
The all-exchange chart confirms that the reset extends beyond Binance. Total XRP open interest has fallen from approximately $3.8 billion earlier in the visible period to roughly $0.8 billion in the latest readings.
XRP Ledger open interest trends across all exchanges. The derivatives market is therefore dominated by position reduction rather than sustained new leverage. Fewer outstanding positions reduce the fuel available for a liquidation cascade, although sharp price moves remain possible if support breaks or traders begin rebuilding exposure aggressively.
The contraction may also reflect weaker conviction and declining risk appetite. Deleveraging removes crowded positions; it does not reveal whether the next group of participants will be buyers or sellers.
The 2024 Reset Is a Precedent, Not a Forecast Darkfost compared the current conditions with the deleveraging phase that developed in 2024.
XRP was then consolidating around $0.40 while Binance’s estimated leverage ratio approached 0.05. That cleanup preceded a rally of more than 790%, during which futures exposure returned and the leverage ratio climbed again.
The relevant similarity is the order of events: leveraged positions were removed before the next large directional move began.
The differences are equally important. The current ratio of 0.16 remains more than three times the 2024 low, while XRP is trading below a fully bearish moving-average structure with weakening momentum and no clear volume-based accumulation signal.
The earlier rally therefore demonstrates what can happen after a derivatives reset, not what must happen. A similar result would require renewed demand strong enough to reverse the lower-high sequence and rebuild participation without immediately recreating excessive leverage.
What the Derivatives Data Needs to Show Next The behavior of open interest during the eventual range break will help determine the quality of the move.
Stronger recovery
XRP breaks upward as volume improves and open interest rises gradually, indicating that new derivatives positions are entering alongside the move. The signal becomes more convincingly bullish if price continues higher without funding or leverage becoming excessive.
Possible position-driven bounce:
XRP rises while open interest falls, a pattern consistent with position closures or short covering rather than fresh derivatives participation. Spot-flow and liquidation data would be needed to confirm the cause.
Potential bearish confirmation
Price breaks support while open interest rises, showing that traders are adding fresh leveraged exposure during the decline. The signal becomes more clearly bearish if funding turns negative or price continues lower as open interest expands.
If open interest continues drifting lower, the deleveraging process remains the dominant force regardless of short-term price fluctuations.
XRP now has a cleaner derivatives structure but an unresolved technical problem. The leverage reset becomes constructive only if price converts it into a break above the falling 50-day SMA; until then, the $1.03–$1.05 shelf remains the level preventing the bearish trend from extending toward $1.
The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice.
Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
Gallagher Capital Management LLC has disclosed a significant holding in the Canary XRP ETF, according to its recent regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The investment manager reported ownership of 86,744 shares of the ETF, valued at $961,126 as of the end of the second quarter of 2026.
Institutional interest in XRP investment products growsInstitutional involvement in digital asset investment products has been a point of increased attention within the cryptocurrency sector, and Gallagher Capital’s reported position signals rising professional interest in XRP-linked funds. The presence of institutional investors is often seen as a barometer of market maturity and can influence broader sentiment among individual investors.
Form 13F filings, required by the SEC from investment firms with assets under management above a specified threshold, allow the public to track which funds are engaging with specific securities. Gallagher Capital Management’s inclusion of the Canary XRP ETF provides another reference point for those monitoring the institutional adoption of alternative cryptocurrencies.
Assets like XRP have drawn particular scrutiny from U.S. regulators, but the emergence of regulated investment vehicles such as ETFs has enhanced accessibility for institutional buyers. Investors continue to watch whether other managers will declare similar positions as market infrastructure matures.
ETF sector expansion underscores changing digital asset landscapeThe launch and growth of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), especially in the U.S., have transformed how institutions access the digital asset market. Approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs has triggered an influx of capital, prompting asset managers to evaluate an expanding range of crypto-backed offerings. The Canary XRP ETF, introduced as a way to provide regulated exposure to XRP’s price movements, represents a further step in this evolution.
Although the Canary XRP ETF does not offer direct spot exposure, it serves as an alternative for institutional portfolios seeking crypto correlation without holding the underlying asset. Broader adoption of such products will likely follow ongoing regulatory developments and persistently high demand among both retail and institutional clients.
Mini dictionary: Canary XRP ETF, an exchange-traded fund designed to offer regulated investment exposure specifically to XRP, the digital asset developed for fast and cost-effective cross-border payments. ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are pooled investment vehicles that track the price of an underlying asset or portfolio and are traded on public exchanges.
ETF NameUnderlying AssetShares Held by GallagherReported Market Value (Q2 2026)Canary XRP ETFXRP86,744$961,126Gallagher Capital Management, an established investment manager, is among the firms now exploring digital asset products as part of diversified strategies.
SEC filings shed light on institutional portfolio shiftsEach disclosure in Form 13F offers additional transparency for observers interested in how institutional capital allocates resources to crypto-related securities. Market participants are expected to keep a close watch on future regulatory filings for signs that broader professional adoption of XRP-related ETFs is underway.
Regular SEC filings by institutional investors help clarify which digital assets are gaining traction among professional money managers, offering rare insights into sentiment shifts and emerging trends within this market.
While a single investment manager’s disclosure does not determine the direction of crypto markets, it highlights the continued expansion of regulated products and their appeal to professional investors looking beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Assets Slip as Price Drags on Fund ValuesUS spot $XRP exchange-traded funds slipped below the $1 billion mark on July 16, with total net assets settling at $997.18 million, according to SoSoValue data. The move underlines a persistent gap between investor demand and the underlying token's performance.
The dip in assets was not driven by outflows. US spot XRP ETFs attracted $6.78 million in net inflows on July 16, their largest single-day intake of July. The Bitwise XRP ETF led with $4.41 million in net inflows, followed by Franklin's XRPZ with $2.38 million, while Canary's XRPC, 21Shares' TOXR, and Grayscale's GXRP recorded no net inflows during the session.
The latest inflows pushed cumulative net inflows across US spot XRP ETFs to $1.49 billion, while total net assets climbed to $997.18 million, representing around 1.45% of XRP's market capitalisation.
Price Weakness Overwhelms Steady BuyingThe core tension is straightforward: buyers have remained consistent, but the price has not cooperated. XRP traded around $1.08 on July 16, down roughly 2.5% over the prior 24 hours and about 10% over the past month. For context, total net assets stood at $1.18 billion in mid-May, with cumulative inflows at $1.35 billion at that point. Since then, roughly $100 million in fresh capital has arrived, yet assets have fallen by around $180 million, purely on price movement.
July has been choppy for ETF flows overall, with six days recording zero activity. Two days saw outflows: July 1 at minus $1.86 million and July 8 at minus $7.29 million. The July 16 print was the strongest positive day of the month, but it still fell well short of the peak daily flows seen earlier in the year.
Bitwise remains the largest XRP ETF by assets under management at $312.82 million, followed by Canary's XRPC with $253.20 million and Franklin's XRPZ with $252.15 million.
The broader picture remains one of structural institutional interest running ahead of price momentum. Flow persistence, with inflows holding steady even as XRP's price experiences volatility, suggests institutions are making considered allocation decisions rather than chasing short-term momentum. Whether that patience is rewarded depends on whether the token can recover enough ground for assets to reclaim the billion-dollar threshold on a sustained basis.
Sources
Crypto Times: XRP ETF Inflows Reach July High After $6.78M Addition
CoinDesk: Spot XRP ETFs Attract Biggest Inflows Since January
Ripple: XRP ETFs: The Institutional Era Has Begun
Crypto analyst Ali Martinez has directed attention to XRP, highlighting two key technical signals that may indicate a significant price movement is imminent. Martinez, a widely followed market commentator, combined observations from the monthly and hourly charts to underline growing momentum in the digital asset’s price action.
Monthly TD Sequential buy signal formsOn the monthly timeframe, Martinez identified a TD Sequential buy signal for XRP. A TD Sequential is a technical indicator designed to detect potential trend exhaustion and forecast price reversals, with signals on longer timeframes generally regarded as more robust by traders.
The appearance of a buy signal on the monthly chart often points to stronger and longer-lasting reversals. Martinez paired this observation with analysis of the shorter-term hourly price structure, suggesting that building price pressure could soon lead to a substantial move.
Martinez indicated that with these two timeframes both supporting a bullish outlook, XRP may be approaching a decisive breakout phase in the market.
Symmetrical triangle on hourly chartTurning to the hourly chart, Martinez observed that XRP has been consolidating within a symmetrical triangle pattern since late June. This formation is defined by lower highs and higher lows, compressing price action into a narrowing range. The pattern’s upper boundary descends from just below $1.30, while the lower boundary ascends from $1.03. Currently, XRP sits near $1.106, edging closer to the triangle’s apex.
Technical analysts view symmetrical triangles as neutral, with the next decisive move likely to set the tone for the trend’s direction. Martinez specifically identified $1.13 as the critical resistance level for traders to monitor.
Mini dictionary: TD Sequential, a technical indicator used in financial markets to identify potential reversal points by analyzing a series of price candles, commonly favored for its trend exhaustion signals.
TimeframeSignal/PatternKey LevelMonthlyTD Sequential buy signalNot specifiedHourlySymmetrical triangleResistance at $1.13A confirmed breakout above $1.13 would see XRP move past the triangle’s descending upper boundary. According to Martinez, such an event could open a path to a 20% increase in price, targeting $1.35. This would represent a return to levels not seen since early June, when XRP last traded near $1.30 before its most recent decline.
In a recent post, Martinez shared, “A breakout above $1.13 could open the door to a 20% rally toward $1.35,” pairing this projection with both the monthly and hourly technical signals.
Price consolidation continuesIn recent weeks, XRP’s price has fluctuated within increasingly tight bounds defined by the triangle, each move shrinking the trading range. With the price settling just beneath the $1.13 resistance and the pattern nearing completion, traders are watching closely for the next decisive shift.
As both monthly and intraday signals point to a potential breakout, market participants are monitoring whether XRP can achieve a sustained move above $1.13. If that occurs, technical outlooks suggest a rapid climb toward $1.35 could follow, contingent on continued demand and broader market conditions.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
A Colorado-based wealth manager has disclosed a new investment in the Canary XRP ETF.
It is yet another institutional firm that has gained exposure to XRP through recently launched exchange-traded funds.
According to a Form 13F-HR filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on July 17, Gallacher Capital Management LLC reported holding 86,744 shares of the Canary XRP ETF ($961,126 as of June 30).
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Institutional XRP ETF holdings keep growingGallacher's disclosure follows several other recent 13F filings showing fresh institutional exposure to XRP-linked investment products.
On July 16, registered financial advisor Vista Finance reported owning 129,958 shares of the Franklin XRP Trust ETF, with a market value of roughly $11.45 million at the end of the second quarter.
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A day earlier, CPR Investments, a Michigan-based registered investment adviser, disclosed a new position in the ProShares Ultra XRP ETF. According to its SEC filing, the firm held 36,619 shares valued at approximately $363,627.
T. Rowe Price launches ETF with XRP exposureIn the meantime, yet another product with XRP exposure was recently launched in the US.
Earlier this week, Wall Street giant T. Rowe Price, which oversees roughly $7 trillion in assets under management, rolled out its first actively managed cryptocurrency ETF.
Trading under the TKNZ ticker, the fund provides diversified exposure to several major digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP. The ETF debuted with approximately $15 million in assets and carries a 0.75% management fee.
The entry of the financial giant into the ETF space is viewed as yet another sign of growing mainstream adoption.
XRP is still struggling to turn better regulatory sentiment into a clean market breakout.
The token has been hovering below the $1.06–$1.08 area, with traders watching whether the improved legal backdrop can finally translate into stronger demand. That is the tension in the current XRP setup. The market has more reason than before to treat regulatory clarity as a positive, but price is not yet behaving like buyers are fully convinced.
That does not make the story weak. It makes it more interesting.
A token can receive a friendlier regulatory signal and still fail to break resistance if liquidity is thin, broader market sentiment is weak, or traders decide to wait for confirmation. XRP has been through enough legal and regulatory cycles that investors know the difference between a headline and sustained demand.
For now, XRP is still in the proving stage.
TL;DR XRP is trading below key resistance around the $1.06–$1.08 region. A more favourable regulatory backdrop has not yet produced a decisive breakout. Traders are watching whether buyers can clear nearby sell pressure and turn legal relief into real demand. Regulatory Clarity Helps, But It Does Not Buy The Token XRP has always traded with a heavier regulatory overlay than most major crypto assets. For years, market sentiment around the token has been shaped not only by Ripple’s business progress or XRP’s liquidity, but by the legal uncertainty surrounding how the asset should be treated.
That is why any move toward clearer classification matters.
If traders believe XRP is moving into a more stable regulatory category, the token can attract renewed attention from exchanges, funds, and market participants that had previously kept their distance. Clarity can reduce perceived legal risk, and lower legal risk can support liquidity.
But clarity alone is not the same thing as a bid.
The market still needs buyers. It still needs volume. It still needs evidence that investors are willing to accumulate XRP at higher prices rather than simply celebrate the headline and move on.
That is where the current resistance zone becomes important. The $1.06–$1.08 range is not just a number on a chart. It is where optimism meets actual supply. If sellers are still active there, XRP has to absorb them before the regulatory story can become a price story.
Why The $1.10 Area Matters The next area traders are watching is around $1.10, where order book pressure could decide whether XRP has enough momentum to continue higher.
A visible sell wall near that region can act like a ceiling. Buyers may test it, but unless demand is strong enough to clear the supply, price can keep rotating lower from the same area. That creates frustration for bulls because the narrative may be improving while the chart remains capped.
This is common in crypto. A good headline can pull attention back to an asset, but resistance levels still matter. Traders who bought earlier may use the move to reduce exposure. Short-term participants may fade the rally. Larger holders may wait for proof before adding.
For XRP, a decisive move above nearby resistance would change the conversation. It would suggest that regulatory confidence is finally feeding into market demand. Failure to break higher would keep the token stuck in a familiar pattern: strong story, cautious price action.
The broader market backdrop also matters. If Bitcoin and Ethereum are under pressure, altcoins usually have a harder time sustaining independent rallies. XRP may need both its own catalyst and a less hostile risk environment to build a stronger move.
Ripple’s Business Story Still Sits In The Background It is also important to separate XRP’s market structure from Ripple’s business narrative.
Ripple remains one of the most recognisable names in crypto payments. Its regulatory battles have made XRP one of the most closely watched tokens in the market. But traders often blur the line between company developments, legal signals, and token demand.
A stronger regulatory position can help the XRP market, especially if it improves confidence among exchanges and institutional participants. But the token still has to show that demand is expanding.
That means watching liquidity, spot volume, exchange flows, and whether support holds after each failed breakout attempt.
The current setup is therefore not bearish by default. It is cautious. XRP is close enough to resistance that a strong move could matter, but it has not yet delivered the confirmation bulls want.
For readers, that is the cleanest way to frame the story. XRP has a better regulatory backdrop than it had during the darkest periods of uncertainty, but markets do not reward legal clarity automatically. They reward demand, and demand has to show up on the chart.
Until XRP clears the nearby resistance band with conviction, traders are likely to stay selective. The next move above $1.10 would be more than a technical level. It would be the first real sign that regulatory relief is becoming market momentum.
This article is based on information from Arkham Intelligence.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
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Serenity posted a statement noting that their portfolio suffered a 49.4% drawdown this month, with main holdings concentrated in AI bottleneck sectors including memory, photonics, robotics, and upstream semiconductors. Serenity acknowledged pressure from the short-term market crash, but maintained that the volatility stems from liquidity and leverage rather than a breakdown in the structural growth logic of these fields.
Large cryptocurrency investors have continued buying Ethereum over the past three days.
They withdrew nearly 82,000 ETH, worth more than $154 million, from major exchanges this week.
At the same time, Fundstrat Chairman Tom Lee shared a long-term bullish outlook for Ethereum. He said the cryptocurrency could ‘easily’ rise 100-fold.
Whales Withdraw Nearly 82,000 ETH From Exchanges According to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain, several whale wallets accumulated Ethereum between July 15 and July 17.
On July 17, two newly created wallets withdrew 20,000 ETH worth about $37.72 million from Coinbase Prime. During the same period, investment firm Abraxas Capital withdrew another 8,452 ETH worth roughly $16 million from Binance and Bybit.
The activity followed a strong buying day on July 16. Three newly created wallets withdrew 30,000 ETH worth $57.66 million from Coinbase Prime. Crypto entrepreneur Arthur Hayes also bought 1,293 ETH, valued at around $2.48 million.
On July 15, Abraxas Capital withdrew another 8,153 ETH worth $15.3 million from Binance and Bybit. At the same time, the firm deposited 618 BTC worth nearly $40 million into Kraken. The move suggested a possible shift from Bitcoin into Ethereum.
Overall, the disclosed purchases totaled 81,898 ETH over three days.
Bitmine Expands Its Ethereum Treasury Holdings Institutional buying has also extended to corporate treasuries. Bitmine, chaired by Tom Lee, purchased another 6,000 ETH worth approximately $11.18 million from FalconX on July 15.
The purchase adds to Bitmine’s growing Ethereum holdings, now approaching 6 million ETH. The company is aiming to build one of the largest Ethereum treasury positions while also investing in Ethereum ecosystem projects.
Tom Lee Shares Bullish Ethereum Outlook In Bitmine’s July Chairman’s Message, titled “Ethereum Is the Cure for the Uncanny Valley of Wealth,” Lee compared Ethereum’s current stage to the early days of the internet.
He argued that many investors still underestimate crypto’s role in an AI-driven economy.
According to Lee, Ethereum could become the settlement layer for future financial systems. He believes crypto infrastructure will play a key role in supporting digital wealth and AI-powered commerce.
Lee referenced projections from Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin and research from Etherealize that suggest Ethereum could eventually reach $250,000 per ETH. That would represent a gain of roughly 100 times from current levels.
Bitmine Chairman’s Message However, Lee said he was not endorsing that exact price target. Instead, he argued that Ethereum still has “radical upside.”
He compared Ethereum’s potential growth to companies such as Amazon, Nvidia, and JPMorgan during their early expansion phases.
Lee also highlighted the connection between Bitmine’s stock performance and Ethereum’s price. He said the company’s shares have shown a reported 90% correlation with ETH.
If Ethereum reaches the higher valuations predicted by some long-term bulls, Lee believes Bitmine shareholders could also benefit significantly.
Lee ended by quoting investor Charlie Munger: “The big money is not in the buying and selling, but in the waiting.”
The quote reflects Bitmine’s long-term confidence in Ethereum’s future as the firm has accumulated 5.74 million ETH tokens over the past year.
DisClamier: This content is informational and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed in this article may include the author's personal opinions and do not reflect The Crypto Basic opinion. Readers are encouraged to do thorough research before making any investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.
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The focus has now turned to the upcoming FOMC meeting at the end of the month.
Bitcoin dipped on a couple of occasions below $62,000 during the previous business week, prompted by Strategy’s largest sale to date and the renewed attacks in the Middle East. However, it recovered a lot of ground by the weekend and spent it trading sideways at around $64,000.
Monday began with another nosedive to under the aforementioned level as the market priced in the new attacks between the US and Iran from Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless, the bulls showed strong conviction and managed to defend that level.
All eyes turned to the US CPI data for June, which went live on Tuesday. Most market experts believed there would be a significant reduction from the May multi-year record, from 4.2% to somewhere around 3.8%-3.9%. However, the actual data was even more promising, showing a drop to 3.5%.
The primary cryptocurrency reacted immediately to the seemingly slowing inflation, rocketing to $64,000 within hours and up to $65,500 on Wednesday. The latter became its highest price tag in approximately three weeks.
However, BTC’s rally came to a halt at that point. The cryptocurrency started a gradual decrease, which pushed it south to $62,400 earlier today. Although it has recovered about a grand since then, it’s still down by more than 2% weekly. Many altcoins have shown even more profound losses, with HYPE leading this adverse trend.
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Ripple (XRP) Peaked at $3.65 Exactly a Year Ago: What Went Wrong? It was a year ago today that the cross-border token flew to $3.65 to set a new all-time high. The following 12 months, though, have been quite painful, with the asset dumping by 70%. Nevertheless, the company behind it continues to make major moves. Here are many of them.
Jesse Pollak Leaves Base Leadership After Failed Social Strategy. Base creator Jesse Pollak admitted to adopting the wrong strategy when developing the network, focusing mainly on the social side of the market. Consequently, he decided to step down from his leadership position.
Peter Schiff: Bitcoin Holders Will Soon Regret Not Selling at Current Levels. The full-time BTC critic did in the past week what he has been doing for many years. He used the opportunity to urge bitcoin investors to offload their positions at current levels, as they might regret not doing so soon.
Saylor’s Strategy Boosts USD Reserves by $450M Without Selling BTC: Here’s How. Mondays have become quite intriguing lately due to Strategy’s pivot. After the previous week’s sale, investors expected new controversial announcements from the largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Instead, the firm simply boosted its USD reserve and refrained from making any BTC-related moves.
Eight weeks. That’s how long investors spent yanking money out of Bitcoin funds in what became the longest outflow streak on record. According to CoinShares, that brutal $8 billion exodus has officially ended, with Bitcoin products pulling in roughly $287 million in fresh capital last week.
The numbers behind the reversal CoinShares, which publishes weekly tracking data on digital asset fund flows across the ETP and ETF landscape, reported that broader weekly inflows hit approximately $1.03 billion. Of that total, around $790 million flowed specifically into Bitcoin products.
That’s a sharp contrast to the prior eight weeks, where outflows accumulated to roughly $8 billion. The streak began in early May and persisted through early July, making it the most prolonged period of net selling pressure in the history of digital asset investment products.
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Bitcoin wasn’t the only beneficiary of the mood shift. Ethereum products attracted approximately $84 million in inflows during the same period, suggesting the recovery extends beyond just the largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Year-to-date flows for digital asset products sit at approximately $188 billion according to CoinShares’ data.
What drove the selling, and why it stopped The extended outflow period coincided with broader market pressure throughout much of 2026. Forced selling, portfolio rebalancing, and what CoinShares describes as capitulation dynamics all contributed to the sustained exodus from digital asset funds.
The week ending around July 10 marked the inflection point. Bitcoin fund inflows during this period ranged from $197 million to $312 million depending on the specific product category, with the headline figure landing at $287 million.
CoinShares has emphasized that the data suggests a possible turning point in investor sentiment. The firm tracks fund flows with updates published each Monday and Friday, giving market participants near-real-time visibility into how capital is moving through the ecosystem.
What this means for investors When capital flows back into multiple asset categories simultaneously rather than concentrating in a single token, it typically indicates a broader improvement in risk appetite rather than a one-off event driven by a single catalyst.
Traders should pay close attention to the next two to three weeks of CoinShares data. If inflows persist and potentially accelerate, the case for a genuine sentiment shift becomes much stronger.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Why Lee Thinks This Is Ethereum’s 1.0 To 2.0 TransitionAmazon went from $6 to $241 after AWS scaled. Nvidia went from $1 to $197 after ChatGPT arrived. JPMorgan went from $58 to $334 after becoming a truly global bank.
Each took years of sideways price action before the addressable market expanded enough to move the stock.
Lee said ETH at $1,800 sits in that same window, with Ethereum co-creator Joe Lubin seeing a path to $250,000 as the fully realized version of that thesis.
What Is Actually Building On Ethereum Right Now?Lee pointed to Robinhood Chain as the clearest proof that ETH is becoming money.
The Layer-2 network launched in July on Arbitrum, crossed $1 billion in daily volume within weeks, and uses ETH as its native gas token with all transaction fees denominated in ETH and settled on Ethereum’s base layer.
Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) has 27 million users paying fees in ETH without necessarily thinking of it as crypto.
Ethereum also carries nearly 7,000 developers on the EVM stack, more than any other chain, and leads every major continent in developer activity according to Electric Capital data.
The AI Agent Economy and Why Tom Lee Is Betting on ETH as Its Settlement LayerLee argued that AI agents will eventually generate more income than the humans who deploy them, creating a trust problem only decentralized blockchain infrastructure can solve.
He called this the “uncanny valley of wealth” and said blockchain becomes the barrier between humans and AI, with ETH as the working capital layer of that economy.
Marc Andreessen of A16Z framed it similarly, calling AI and crypto a grand unification.
Arthur Hayes Reverses His ETH Position Within Three WeeksOn-chain data tracked by Onchain Lens showed Arthur Hayes accumulating 1,939 ETH in a single day through OTC transactions with Galaxy Digital and FalconX, spending roughly $3.72 million combined.
The purchases reverse a position he exited in late June when he sold 6,000 ETH at an estimated $606,000 loss alongside exits from Worldcoin, Zcash, NEAR, and Hyperliquid.
Ethereum Technical Analysis: Where ETH Stands Right NowETH remains down 47.86% over the past 12 months with the November 2025 death cross still in place.
The 50-day SMA at $1,740 sits below the 200-day SMA at $2,194, keeping overhead supply intact.
Key levels for ETH:
$1,753 — 20-day SMA acting as near-term support $1,740 — 50-day SMA, first level to hold on any pullback $2,194 — 200-day SMA where longer-term overhead supply sits Photo via Shutterstock
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PANews July 17 news, according to CoinDesk, Robinhood is betting on the decentralized finance (DeFi) market with its self-built blockchain Robinhood Chain, aiming to bring over 10 million active users into the on-chain ecosystem. However, the network's trading activity is still mainly driven by Meme coin speculation, and the initially touted vision of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization has yet to reach scale.
Robinhood Chain's trading volume recently surged briefly. On July 12, the chain's 24-hour DEX trading volume reached about $878 million, briefly surpassing Coinbase Base and Ethereum, vaulting it to the top ranks of decentralized trading volume and drawing attention from the crypto community.
Seong Seog Lee, head of product at Robinhood Crypto, said the company's goal is not to poach users from existing crypto trading platforms, but to leverage Robinhood's enormous retail user base to bring ordinary investors who have never touched on-chain finance into tokenized assets and on-chain derivatives markets. Robinhood currently provides access to on-chain financial services through Robinhood Wallet, covering assets such as gold, silver, forex and crypto perpetual contracts, allowing users to directly access related products via the wallet. However, Robinhood Chain is still in its early stages. Data shows:
On July 13, perpetual contract trading volume on the chain was only about $5.9 million, while leading on-chain derivatives platform Hyperliquid saw $8.9 billion in volume over the same period; Robinhood Chain shows a bridged TVL of about $734 million, but actual on-chain total value locked (TVL) is about $211 million, with some assets still sitting in wallets and not entering lending or yield protocols; the market cap of RWA tokenized assets is currently only about $12.66 million.
Most of the trading heat on Robinhood Chain currently comes from Meme coins. The recently issued CASHCAT token on the chain surged over 2,100% within a week, once reaching a market cap of $156 million — 12 times the size of the entire on-chain RWA market — a phenomenon that has sparked market discussion. Previously, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev had said that Meme coins are "assets with no real utility," but after CASHCAT's explosive rise, he remarked that Robinhood Chain is "equally suitable for Meme coin development."
Analysts believe that Robinhood Chain's development path resembles the early stages of some new public chains: initially relying on speculative trading for traffic, and then needing to prove whether it can convert that into long-term users, a developer ecosystem, and real financial applications. The key going forward is whether Robinhood can use its massive retail user base to turn the short-term Meme coin frenzy into a continuously growing on-chain financial ecosystem.
Institutional investment in $XRP continues to accelerate as Brookstone Capital Management, a financial advisory firm based in Illinois, revealed a significant stake in the Volatility Shares Trust XRP ETF (XRPI) through its latest 13F filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Brookstone’s XRP ETF positionCrypto market commentator Xaif drew attention to the disclosure, noting that Brookstone now holds 12,380 shares of XRPI valued at approximately $71 million. He characterized this activity as evidence of growing institutional participation in XRP.
Brookstone Capital Management has confirmed a $71 million position in the Volatility Shares Trust XRP ETF, holding 12,380 shares according to its recent SEC filing. This move adds to a pattern of institutional entry into regulated XRP products.
The 13F filing, a quarterly report required by the SEC, documents asset positions of professional investment managers. Unlike an ETF launch application, a 13F filing shows positions that firms already hold in their portfolios.
Several months earlier, similar filings indicated that Goldman Sachs had become the largest holder of spot XRP ETF shares among institutional investors.
Brookstone’s participation highlights their growing interest in products that offer regulated access to cryptocurrencies without necessitating direct asset custody.
Mini dictionary: 13F filing, a quarterly disclosure form that must be submitted by institutional investment managers with over $100 million in assets under management, detailing their holdings in equities and certain ETFs.
The Volatility Shares Trust XRP ETF, listed on Nasdaq, launched in 2025 as an actively managed fund focused primarily on XRP futures contracts. The ETF aims for capital appreciation by allowing investors to gain regulated exposure to XRP market movements, removing the need for direct self-custody of digital assets.
The fund provides a bridge for institutions and retail investors seeking exposure to XRP in a manner compliant with U.S. financial regulations.
Multiple U.S.-listed spot XRP ETFs debuted in November 2025, each structured to allow shareholders to invest in XRP markets with reduced exposure to custody risks and regulatory uncertainty.
ETFLaunch DatePrimary AssetStatusVolatility Shares Trust XRP ETF2025XRP FuturesActiveSpot XRP ETFs (multiple)Nov 2025XRPActive, traded in U.S.Institutional adoption and inflow trendsBrookstone’s filing adds to an ongoing trend of financial institutions seeking crypto exposure through regulated investment vehicles. Spot XRP ETFs in the U.S. reported no net outflow days in their first month after launch. By early December 2025, combined assets under management for these funds had surpassed $1 billion.
Industry data shows that cumulative net inflows into spot XRP ETFs reached $1.44 billion since their launch, underlining persistent appetite from institutional investors.
XRP ETF inflows outpace other crypto fundsThe resilience of XRP ETFs stands out against the backdrop of declining flows in other major digital asset funds. In June, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows exceeding $4 billion, while Ethereum ETFs saw investors withdraw $528.99 million. XRP ETFs, however, attracted $59.4 million in fresh inflows during the same period. This inflow streak for XRP spot ETFs extended for eight consecutive weeks through June 26, underscoring their strong institutional demand.
While capital pulled away from Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in June, XRP ETFs added $59.4 million, continuing an eight-week streak of positive inflows. This momentum indicates a strategic pivot among institutional investors toward diversified crypto exposure.
ETFJune 2026 Net FlowBitcoin ETFs-$4 billionEthereum ETFs-$528.99 millionXRP ETFs+$59.4 millionImplications for XRP holdersBrookstone’s 13F filing is the latest signal that a wider array of investment firms, from multinational banks to smaller advisors, are adopting regulated crypto products such as XRP ETFs to diversify client portfolios. The steady inflows and absence of major outflows reflect a pattern of longer-term allocation, rather than speculative trading.
By using products like the Volatility Shares XRPI fund, investors gain efficient, regulated access to the XRP market, further legitimizing the asset within institutional finance circles.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.
Crypto markets slipped on Thursday as two forces weighed on sentiment simultaneously: a Senate hearing on the CLARITY Act revealed the legislation may slip further than expected, while a Chinese AI model triggered a global equity selloff wiping $1.8 trillion from stock markets worldwide.
Bitcoin fell to $63,367, down 1.78% over 24 hours, Ethereum dropped to $1,830 and XRP slid to $1.08. The total crypto market cap declined to $2.18 trillion as the Fear and Greed Index held at 31.
CLARITY Act: One Yard Line, No Touchdown Yet
The House Financial Services Committee opened a field hearing in New York examining how the CLARITY Act could unlock innovation across digital assets. The session was informational only with no vote impact, but it marked one of the final formal steps before the bill can reach a Senate floor vote.
Representative Timmons struck a positive tone. “We’re on the one yard line, we just gotta score the touchdown,” he said, describing the legislation as “incredibly important in maintaining the U.S. economy as the centre of the global economy.”
The excitement was tempered by developments on Capitol Hill. Updated legislative text has still not been released following a Trump-Senate Republicans meeting focused on ethics provisions. Industry leaders are privately bracing for the rollout to slip into next week, according to reporter Eleanor Terrett.
Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act passing crashed to a record low of 31%, even as Trump met with senators in what was described as a last-ditch push to advance the bill before the August recess.
The AI Model That Moved Global Markets
The broader selloff arrived from an unexpected direction. Chinese laboratory Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, a 2.8 trillion parameter open-source model, the largest ever built, surpassing DeepSeek’s previous record of 1.6 trillion parameters. On independent benchmarks it performed close to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6, while pricing its services at a fraction of the cost.
The implication was immediate. The AI trade has been priced on the assumption that staying competitive requires massive, growing spending on chips and data centres. When a Chinese laboratory builds something nearly as capable for far less, that assumption gets challenged and capital committed to AI infrastructure gets repriced simultaneously.
Asian markets absorbed the initial blow. Japan’s Nikkei fell 4%. Taiwan’s Taiex crashed 6.5% with TSMC down 7.3%. The global semiconductor index fell 3%, entering bear market territory after losing more than 24% from its June peak. Global chip stocks have shed over $2 trillion since June 22.
What to Watch
Two catalysts will determine crypto’s next move. The first is whether CLARITY Act text emerges before the August recess. A confirmed delay removes one of the few remaining positive catalysts in the near-term outlook. The second is whether the AI-driven equity selloff stabilises, given crypto’s current 80%-plus correlation with major equity indices.
Story Ends Here
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