In the recent crypto market downturn, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP experienced significant slumps, leading to crypto liquidations exceeding $900 million. This downturn is attributed to various macro political and economic factors, including a disappointing U.S. jobs report, new global tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, and increasing tensions with Russia.
This highlights the importance of considering macroeconomic factors when assessing the crypto market. Legal and financial professionals should be aware of the potential impact of political and economic events on the crypto market, as these can influence market behaviour and risk.
In other news, MicroStrategy is planning to create the largest corporate treasury ever, targeting 3-7% of the total Bitcoin supply. This ambitious plan is aimed at overtaking Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway. This move signifies a growing institutional interest in Bitcoin and could potentially influence the market dynamics.
Furthermore, the number of tradable crypto tokens has seen an exponential increase, with approximately 18.9 million digital assets now being tracked by CoinMarketCap. This surge can be attributed to three high-throughput networks: Solana, Base, and BNB. However, this explosion in token creation has not been matched by liquidity, indicating that protocols must demonstrate durable demand to attract liquidity in a saturated field.
Lastly, the surge in the cryptocurrency market in July was accompanied by a significant increase in crypto hacks, with losses exceeding $100 million. This trend of increasing theft from digital asset services is concerning and could reach a new high by the end of 2025. This highlights the need for robust security measures and risk management strategies in the crypto space.
The following article summaries have been sourced from Decrypt, CryptoSlate, NewsBTC, and Crypto Briefing. Each summary includes a direct link to the original source.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP experienced a significant slump on Friday, leading to crypto liquidations exceeding $900 million. The majority of these liquidations, over $823 million, were long positions. This downturn in the crypto market is attributed to various macro political and economic factors, including a disappointing U.S. jobs report, new global tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, and increasing tensions with Russia. Bitcoin, which nearly reached $120,000 at the beginning of the week, fell to $113,411, a drop of roughly 5.6%. Ethereum and XRP also experienced a downturn, with Ethereum falling from around $4,000 to $3,518, and XRP falling from $3.32 to $2.98.
Several factors have contributed to the recent crypto downturn, all of which are related to macro political and economic factors. The U.S. Labor Department released a new jobs report that fell short of expectations, leading to President Donald Trump firing the official responsible for the report. Additionally, the White House imposed new tariffs on nations worldwide, causing unease in markets both on and off-chain. Furthermore, Trump ordered multiple nuclear submarines to approach Russian waters in response to threats made earlier in the week by a senior Russian official. Despite these challenges, many market participants remain optimistic about Bitcoin's price, with some predicting it could reach a new peak of $125,000.
MicroStrategy is planning to create the largest corporate treasury ever, Bitcoin or otherwise, by targeting 3-7% of the total Bitcoin supply. The company plans to raise an additional $4.2 billion through preferred stock offerings. This ambitious plan is aimed at overtaking Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, which currently has $328 billion in cash and cash equivalents. MicroStrategy's current holdings of 628,791 BTC would be worth $141 billion if Bitcoin reaches the $225,000 target that Benchmark is forecasting for the end of 2026.
Meanwhile, Metaplanet has launched a $3.7 billion Bitcoin buying spree, aiming to reach 210,000 BTC by 2027. The company plans to raise this amount through a preferred stock offering, which would pay up to 6% dividends. Despite this ambitious plan, Metaplanet's share price dropped 7.65% during Friday’s session. On the other hand, Coinbase's Q2 earnings showed a 25% drop in revenue to $1.5 billion. However, XRP surprisingly overtook Ethereum as a transaction revenue driver, accounting for 13% of consumer transaction revenue. Despite the earnings miss, Bernstein analysts remain optimistic about Coinbase's future, citing improving crypto market structure and the company's partnerships with leading banks.
In other news, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev mentioned "tokenization" 11 times during his company’s earnings call, amidst controversy over private company stock tokens. Despite this, Robinhood saw its revenue climb 45% in Q2. Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings faced criticism for not diversifying its revenue beyond mining BTC, with Compass analyst Ed Engel stating that the company is "in its own world."
An ancient Bitcoin whale, who held over 300 Bitcoin for more than a decade, emptied its wallet on Friday as Bitcoin's price fell to a three-week low. The wallet, identified as "1c5Cb," was first funded via a CoinJoin address in 2013, when Bitcoin was trading around $75. Since then, the asset's price has surged 152,300%, yielding a $34.8 million sum, with Bitcoin recently hovering below $114,000. Despite the significant gain, this amount is relatively small compared to other ancient Bitcoin whales who have been awakened by the recent rally.
Two weeks ago, a once-dormant address moved $4.7 billion to crypto exchange Galaxy Digital. After further transfers, the firm reported it had sold 80,000 Bitcoin worth $9 billion on behalf of a client. Another similar transaction of 50 Bitcoin worth $5 million was activated in April. These funds were obtained in 2010 when Bitcoin was priced around $0.10. On-chain data firm CryptoQuant warns that Bitcoin could be in a months-long correction phase as long-term holders cash in. The Bitcoin moved on Friday was split between two wallets, holding 106 and 200 Bitcoin respectively.
CoinJoin addresses are used to enhance the privacy of Bitcoin transactions by combining multiple users’ Bitcoin into a single transaction, making it harder to track the flow of transactions. The Bitcoin in the "1c5Cb" wallet did not originate from mining. Experts have identified early Bitcoin miners as potential targets for quantum computers, capable of cracking Bitcoin’s encryption for early wallet-address types. This includes coins belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, who is believed to own 1.1 million Bitcoin, a sum worth $125 billion at current prices.
The number of tradable crypto tokens has seen an exponential increase since 2022, with approximately 18.9 million digital assets now being tracked by CoinMarketCap, compared to just over 20,000 in 2022. This represents a staggering 945x increase in just three and a half years. The majority of this surge can be attributed to three high-throughput networks: Solana, Base, and BNB, which together account for about 90% of the new supply. These networks have been driven by low fees, easy-to-use launchpads, and a culture of rapid experimentation.
Solana has been at the forefront of this growth, with around 18 million new tokens minted on the chain in the past year alone. This was facilitated by memecoin factories and no-code issuers, which significantly lowered the barrier to creation. Base has also seen rapid growth, with more than 8.4 million fungible tokens deployed on the network in just a year. Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which initiated the cheap-token boom in 2021, continues to play a significant role in new token launches, with nearly 4.7 million BEP-20 token contracts listed on the BNB Chain.
However, this explosion in token creation has not been matched by liquidity. Average stablecoin liquidity per token has plummeted from around $1.8 million in 2021 to roughly $5,500 in early 2025. Consequently, most of the 18.9 million tokens are illiquid, thinly traded, and highly susceptible to manipulation. Despite the proliferation of assets, value continues to concentrate in a few hundred names, with Bitcoin and Ethereum's dominance rising as capital consolidates into proven networks. As a result, protocols must demonstrate durable demand by showing users, fees, cash flows, or compelling utility to attract liquidity in a saturated field.
Decentralized exchanges (DEX) achieved a milestone in July, recording a monthly trading volume of $1 trillion for the first time, according to data from DefiLlama. Spot trading volume grew by 29.4% to nearly $514 billion, second only to January's record high of $568 billion. Meanwhile, the monthly volume of perpetual futures rose by 33.6% to a new all-time high of $487 billion. Hyperliquid set a new record in monthly perpetual trading.
For the third consecutive month, BNB Chain dominated spot trading volumes, which grew by 15.3% to total $196.3 billion in July, accounting for 38.2% of the monthly total. PancakeSwap was the main driver of this growth, with a spot trading volume of $188.2 billion. The BNB-native exchange volume exceeded the combined volume of the other four top DEXs, which totalled approximately $168 billion. Uniswap registered the second-largest spot volume among DEXs in July, with $96.4 billion. Ethereum, despite sliding from second to third place in monthly spot trading volume, registered the second-largest monthly volume at nearly $86 billion, a 49.3% increase from June.
The surge in the cryptocurrency market in July was accompanied by a significant increase in crypto hacks, with losses exceeding $100 million in the past 30 days. Security firm PeckShield reported that total losses from crypto hacks reached $142 million in July, with crypto exchanges accounting for the majority of these losses. Indian exchange CoinDCX suffered the highest loss of the month, losing $44 million in USDT due to a security breach. Other major losses were recorded by GMX and BigONE. This trend of increasing theft from digital asset services is concerning and could reach a new high by the end of 2025.
The security breach at CoinDCX occurred after an employee's login credentials were compromised. The employee was reportedly tricked into a fake job task and persuaded to use his CoinDCX-designated laptop to complete tasks, during which he unknowingly downloaded files containing malware. GMX, a perpetual and spot crypto exchange, suffered the second-largest hack of the month, losing around $42 million due to a vulnerability in the protocol’s first version on Arbitrum. However, the hacker later accepted a white-hat bounty and returned most of the stolen funds.
Despite a decrease in total crypto losses in Q2, July saw a 27.2% surge in stolen funds from June’s $111.6 million. The number of major incidents also increased by 13.3%, from 15 in June to 17 in July. According to a report by on-chain analytics firm Chainalysis, crypto theft this year has been more devastating than the entirety of 2024, with over $2.7 billion stolen from crypto services in the first half of the year. If this trend continues, the report predicts that by the end of 2025, more than $4.3 billion could be stolen from crypto services.
Bitcoin (BTC) is experiencing a downward trend, struggling to maintain levels above $115,000. The cryptocurrency is currently trading around $115,745, marking a 2.2% drop in the past 24 hours and a nearly 6% decline from its July all-time high of $123,000. This recent market activity has sparked questions about the short-term price stability of Bitcoin, especially given the growing concerns over the weak structural support in the current trading zone.
Data from the on-chain analytics platform, CryptoQuant, indicates a shift in short-term sentiment, despite long-term holders remaining largely profitable. The Bitcoin Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs) metric, which tracks coins being spent either in profit or at a loss, suggests that investors are reacting to smaller price drops, potentially indicating increased market uncertainty. Historically, Bitcoin has seen a dominance of UTXOs spent in profit, with patient holders benefiting from long-term appreciation. However, this ratio has recently declined, suggesting that some investors are now closing positions at a loss even with minor price retracements. This change may indicate short-term selling pressure despite the overall profitable status of most holders.
Another CryptoQuant analyst highlighted structural weaknesses in Bitcoin’s recent price surge. On July 10, BTC rapidly climbed from $112,000 to $115,800, but this upward move left little on-chain support in the price range. The analyst explained that the move happened so quickly that no support levels were formed, and if momentum drops or sellers step in, the price could fall just as fast as it rose. With Bitcoin now hovering just above its last known on-chain support zone, analysts caution that a failure to hold this level could accelerate the decline.
The recent plunge of Bitcoin below $115,000 has resulted in a $700 million wipeout in crypto longs, according to a report by NewsBTC. The article was penned by senior writer Keshav, who has been with the website since June 2021. Keshav has a diverse writing background, having worked in various niches, but has spent the longest time in the cryptocurrency industry. Despite holding a bachelor's degree in Physics from the University of Delhi, the onset of COVID-19 shifted his focus towards writing, a passion he had always enjoyed.
Keshav's interest in blockchain and its concepts began in 2020, and his articles often involve on-chain analysis, a topic he likes to research. He believes in clear and consistent concepts and often explains the indicators he discusses in detail to ensure reader understanding. Despite his writing career, Keshav maintains his passion for Physics and plans to pursue a master's degree in the field, primarily for personal interest rather than employment.
In addition to his professional pursuits, Keshav is an avid football fan and player, enjoys anime and video games, and has even self-taught Japanese to enjoy untranslated content. He also takes fitness seriously, incorporating agility and acceleration-related workouts into his routine due to their relevance in football, along with a traditional strength-based program for overall fitness.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has sold approximately $13 million worth of Ethereum (ETH), Ethena (ENA), and Pepe (PEPE) during a recent market dip, according to blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain. The sales included 2,373 ETH, 7.7 million ENA, and nearly 39 billion PEPE tokens. The market downturn was marked by Bitcoin's plunge to $113,000 following President Trump's announcement of new tariffs, triggering a risk-off sentiment. Most altcoins followed Bitcoin's lead as the bullish momentum faded.
Hayes had accumulated over 2 million ENA tokens following the launch of USDtb, the first stablecoin compliant with the US GENIUS Act, by Anchorage Digital and Ethena Labs. His position grew to 7.7 million tokens before the sale. This followed a 40% gain in the value of ENA to $0.7 in the past week, after the Ethena Foundation announced a $260 million ENA token buyback. Hayes had previously predicted that crypto markets would move sideways to slightly lower between early July and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole Symposium speech in August.
American Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), a Bitcoin mining company supported by the Trump family and Hut 8, is nearing a Nasdaq listing through a merger with Gryphon Digital Mining. The merger, which has received regulatory clearance from the SEC, will be put to a shareholder vote on August 27. The news was first reported by TheMinerMag. If the merger is approved, the new entity will operate under the American Bitcoin brand and trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker ‘ABTC’.
The merger aims to boost American Bitcoin's capacity for low-cost Bitcoin accumulation and infrastructure growth in the US. The company currently controls approximately 10.17 EH/s of Bitcoin hashrate, with a weighted average fleet efficiency of 21.2 J/TH as of May 30. It plans to reach 25 EH/s of hashrate capacity, including the option to acquire 15 EH/s of hosted capacity from Hut 8 for Bitmain machines. Following the merger, American Bitcoin stockholders will hold about 98% ownership, with Hut 8 maintaining a majority stake and continuing as the exclusive infrastructure and operations partner. As of a June disclosure, American Bitcoin owns 215 BTC valued at approximately $24 million.
Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler is set to resign from her position on August 8, 2023, to return to her faculty role at Georgetown University. Kugler, who has been a governor since September 13, 2023, has served on various committees during her tenure, including the Financial Stability Committee, Federal Reserve Bank Affairs Committee, Board Affairs Committee, and the Subcommittee on Smaller Regional and Community Banking. She expressed her honor in serving during a crucial time in achieving the Fed's dual mandate of reducing prices and maintaining a robust and resilient labor market.
Kugler's resignation comes amid a tense period, with President Trump pressuring the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and continuing his public criticism of Chair Jerome Powell. The vacancy Kugler leaves behind provides Trump with the chance to nominate a replacement for the influential central bank board. This opportunity comes less than two years after Kugler was appointed by the previous administration. Today, Trump criticized Powell, labeling him stubborn and demanding immediate interest rate cuts, suggesting that the Board should take control if Powell refuses to act.
