July 8th, 2025
Market Overview:
Digital assets built on last week’s growth, showcasing modest growth as Bitcoin posted its best weekly close in history at over $109,000.
- Bitcoin showcased modest growth this week, illustrating the fact that its volatility has fallen to the lowest levels in years
- Bitcoin has approached its recent record high, but failed to break through the $110,000 barrier convincingly, as selling volume from “whales” and buying volume from ETFs appears quite evenly matched
- There was some moderate market concern over the weekend as long-dormant Bitcoin addresses moved $8bn worth of Bitcoin for the first time in 14 years, but blockchain analytics firm Arkham indicated it was likely done as part of an address upgrade rather than to sell
- Bitcoin rose from a Wednesday low of $105,400 to a brief Thursday peak of $110,500, spending the majority of the week trading between $107,400 and $108,800
- Ether performed similarly (but with greater variance), growing from a weekly low of $2,393 on Wednesday to a high of $2,629 on Thursday
- This meant another week of Ether outperforming Bitcoin, as some analysts pinpointed increased stablecoin adoption as a key growth vector for the smart contract blockchain
- Overall industry market capitalisation increased slightly to $3.33tn
- According to industry monitoring site DeFi Llama, total value locked in DeFi increased by around $2bn, to $115.2bn overall
Digital assets exhibited modest growth as Ether stole some of Bitcoin’s spotlight thanks to a growing global focus on the potential of stablecoins. Deutsche Bank became the latest big TradFi name to increase its industry involvement via custody plans, the House of Representatives announced an impending focus on digital asset legislation, JP Morgan and Robinhood both made strides in tokenisation, Elon Musk voiced Bitcoin support during the creation of a potential political party, and much much more.
What happened: ETF News
How is this significant?
- For the twelfth week in a row, digital asset investment products logged overall inflows as investor bullishness continued
- According to Coinshares data published on Monday, crypto funds added just over $1bn in the trading week ending Friday the 4th
- Coinshares’ head of research James Butterfill noted that even though absolute volume was lower, Ether products share of inflows compared to AUM is currently outperforming Bitcoin (1.6% to 0.8%), as some analysts believe potential stablecoin legislation is enhancing Ether’s appeal
- Total AUM across all products reached a new record high of over $188bn
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs provided predominantly positive performance, with inflows on three of four days in a trading week truncated by the 4th of July public holiday
- Inflows and outflows alike were all in the nine-figure zone
- The smallest daily inflows ($102m) occurred when markets opened on Monday, whilst the biggest buys ($602m) came just before the long weekend on Thursday
- Tuesday featured the only outflows ($342m), dominated by selling from Fidelity’s FBTC ($173m) and Grayscale’s 2.5% fee GBTC fund ($120m)
- In an anomaly, BlackRock’s IBIT didn’t boast the best performance this week; it logged multiple net-zero days, and its $225m growth on Thursday was bested by FBTC’s $237m daily inflows
- Overall, inflows were spread more evenly across the funds than in recent IBIT-dominated memory, as only GBTC returned any net outflows
- Despite underperforming its own lofty standards this week, Bloomberg chief ETF analyst Eric Balchunas revealed “IBIT is now the 3rd highest [of all time] revenue-generating ETF for BlackRock out of 1,197 funds, and is only $9bn away from being #1. Just another insane stat for a 1.5yr old (literally an infant) ETF”
- In fact, IBIT now earns BlackRock more than its signature S&P 500 tracker index, bringing in over $187m in fees for the world’s largest asset manager
- Nate Geraci of NovaDius Wealth Management told Bloomberg “IBIT overtaking IVV in annual fee revenue is reflective of both the surging investor demand for Bitcoin and the significant fee compression in core equity exposure. Although spot Bitcoin ETFs are priced very competitively, IBIT is proof that investors are willing to pay up for exposures they view as truly additive to their portfolios”
- Spot Ether ETFs continued their recent strong performance, adding nearly $150m on Thursday, one of the best growth days since launch
- BlackRock’s ETHA and Fidelity’s FETH led the way with $85m and $65m inflows respectively on Thursday
- In total, the week featured eight-figure inflows twice, nine-figure inflows once, and low-one figure ($2m) outflows once (on Wednesday)
- Elsewhere in ETFs, the Solana staking ETF issued by Rex and Ospreay debuted to $12m inflows and $33m volume
- Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart noted several more altcoin ETF filings, characterising an order to refile spot Solana ETFs as positive, since it may indicate expedited processes
- Additionally, Grayscale was granted SEC approval to convert its large-cap crypto trust into an ETF (as it did with its Bitcoin and Ether funds), but current timeframes on actual conversion remain uncertain
What happened: Deutsche Bank aims to launch crypto custody next year
How is this significant?
- International banking giant Deutsche is moving into the digital asset custody space next year, according to multiple Bloomberg sources
- Insiders told the publication that Deutsche is partnering with European crypto exchange BitPanda to develop the custody technology, alongside Swiss firm Taurus SA
- This marks just the latest move into digital assets and crypto custody for major banks, after BNY Mellon launched its own custody platform back in late 2022
- Deutsche itself recently announced interests in other areas of the crypto and blockchain space, such as stablecoins and tokenised deposits
- This week, German regulators BaFin granted a licence to Deutsche for a Euro-pegged stablecoin project
- Deutsche’s asset management subsidiary DWS is collaborating with Flow Traders and Galaxy to develop Germany’s first regulated (MiCA-compliant) Euro stablecoin
- The EURAU stablecoin will be fully collateralised, delivering “institutional-grade transparency through proof-of-reserves and regulatory reporting”
What happened: Digital assets at forefront as Congress announces “Crypto Week”
How is this significant?
- Following the recent passage of president Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” (which left analysts divided on benefits or drawbacks for Bitcoin), the House Financial Services Committee decided to concentrate on another policy priority; crypto
- On Thursday, chairman French Hill declared that the week of July 14th would be “Crypto Week” in congress, as the House considers three bills; “the CLARITY Act, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, and the Senate’s GENIUS Act as part of Congress’ efforts to make America the crypto capital of the world”
- CLARITY is the House’s attempt at a digital asset market structure bill, GENIUS is the stablecoin bill already passed by the Senate, and the last bill is largely self-explanatory—a Republican-led effort designed to ban CBDCs for fear of impinging on personal privacy rights
- Hill stated that “I thank my colleagues in Congress and the Trump Administration for their partnership and leadership and stand ready to work alongside the Senate as they work to advance standalone market structure legislation by the end of September”
- Majority Whip (and longtime congressional crypto supporter) Tom Emmer added “This is a historic opportunity for the United States. After years of work, American innovators are one step closer to having the clarity they need to build here at home while ensuring the future of the digital economy reflects our values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free-market competitiveness”
- Additionally, this Wednesday sees digital asset market hearings for both the House Ways & Means, and Senate Banking Committees
- Wednesday’s House hearing (“Ensuring Digital Asset Policy Built for the 21st Century”) will concentrate on tax policy frameworks, whilst the Senate hearing (“Building Tomorrow’s Digital Asset Markets”) will feature testimony from Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, among other major industry players
- The CLARITY bill has garnered the support of crypto advocacy groups, with over 65 digital asset firms signing a letter urging politicians to adopt the legislation
- The Stand With Crypto alliance is also supporting specific crypto-specific politicians behind the bill, according to reports by Semafor
- If the GENIUS Act passes the house, it is one (enthusiastic) presidential signature away from becoming law, but the CLARITY act would still require Senate approval
What happened: Stablecoin news
How is this significant?
- The global profile of stablecoins continued to grow, with developments across several major global economies
- Alongside the aforementioned GENIUS Act nearing completion, Bloomberg notes that in America, Visa and Mastercard are feeling the pinch from stablecoin competition
- The two payment processors control around 85% of US card spending, where businesses last year spent $187bn in swipe fees alone—a figure that could be drastically reduced by stablecoin adoption
- MIT Cryptoeconomics Lab Christian Catalini commented “It’s clear that eventually this entire space could be a threat to TradFi providers. But credit card networks aren’t sitting on the sidelines. The card networks will push to work with many stablecoins, so they retain their central role”
- Visa chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell told the publication “We’ve been tokenising access to value for a very long time now. Now the value that underlies that token, by and large, is either bank accounts or credit lines, debit and credit cards, but there’s absolutely no reason that can’t be a stablecoin or another crypto asset”
- Meanwhile, Mastercard announced its joining stablecoin issuer Paxos’ Global Dollar Network, and is recruiting for several major executive roles to bolster its crypto industry expertise
- Italian banking group Sella is running an internal stablecoin custody pilot program in collaboration with institutional digital asset firm Fireblocks
- The trial will run through the summer, after which leadership of the $78bn AUM institution will decide whether to roll it out to its 1.4 million customers
- Speaking at the Andrew Crockett Memorial Lecture, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned against systemic fragility or eroded trust that stablecoins could potentially introduce
- He said “If, for instance, stablecoins emerge as a new form of money, we have to decide how to ensure the singleness of money and therefore trust in money in this world, and what role the notion of reserve currency should play here”
- Bailey added “At least for the large economies, it could be asked today, what is the point of official reserves? My view is that today their use is more to do with preserving financial stability in the event of stress. They may be needed to support financial system liquidity in situations of extreme stress”
- On the opposite end of the spectrum, former ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smighi argued in the Financial Times that stablecoins are “a technological breakthrough with profound implications for the financial system”, and Europe can’t risk being left behind
- He claimed “authorities do not seem to understand that failure to be proactive ultimately puts European monetary sovereignty at risk. Indeed, unless euro stablecoins are issued and widely used in Europe, euro-area deposits will migrate to foreign platforms, disintermediating European payment systems”
- RLUSD issuer Ripple partnered with British fintech OpenPayd “to build a stablecoin and payments infrastructure for businesses looking to move money across borders quickly and at lower costs”
- In China, stablecoins are gaining attention after people’s bank governor Pan Gongsheng spoke at a Shanghai event last month and said they could revolutionise international finance, particularly as traditional payment systems may be politicised in times of geopolitical duress
- Morgan Stanley China chief economist Robin Xing believes Beijing could use Hong Kong as a petri dish for potential Yuan-based stablecoins; “Stablecoins are not new currencies, but new distribution channels for existing ones. It is crucial for China to embrace the trend of sovereign currency tokenisation to maintain competitiveness in the digital infrastructure race”
- Online retail giant JD.com’s chief economist Shen Jianguang commented “If China doesn’t develop stablecoins, it will essentially withdraw from the competition for next-generation global currency dominance and hand it to others”
- Bloomberg reported that JD founder Richard Liu “told staff the company plans to apply for stablecoin licenses in all major markets to cut cross-border payment costs by 90% and reduce settlement time to under 10 seconds”
- Stablecoin interest appears to be growing so much that Shenzhen authorities have issued official warnings against investment scams masquerading as stablecoin projects and other crypto platforms
- South Korea, Asia’s top crypto market, also appears to have caught stablecoin fever; following its recent IPO, USDC issuer Circle became the most-traded overseas stock in the country
- According to reports from the state-run TASS news agency, Russian manufacturing giant Rostec is developing its own Rubel-pegged stablecoin, RUBx on the Tron blockchain
What happened: JP Morgan explores carbon credit tokenisation
How is this significant?
- Banking giant JP Morgan is working on carbon credit tokenisation via its Kinexys blockchain unit, according to multiple reports this week
- According to a press release, JPM is “teaming up with S&P Global Commodity Insights, EcoRegistry and the International Carbon Registry to test a new application that will tokenise credits listed in registry systems overseen by the three companies”
- Currently carbon markets suffer from numerous challenges, including inefficiencies and opacity, both of which can be remedied by blockchain
- Alastair Northway of JP Morgan Payments commented “The voluntary carbon market is ripe for innovation. Tokenisation could support development of a globally interoperable system that adds confidence into the integrity of the underlying infrastructure”
- Keerthi Moudgal, head of product at Kinexys Digital Assets added "Our shared aim is to establish standardized infrastructure that enhances information and price transparency, paving the way for financial innovation and increased market liquidity"
- In other tokenisation news, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) is preparing for the region’s first blockchain-based bond, issued by First Abu Dhabi Bank via HSBC's digital asset platform Orion
- According to industry publication Coindesk, “The bond will be accessible to global institutional investors via major securities settlement systems including Euroclear, Clearstream and Hong Kong’s Central Moneymarkets Unit”
- In a press release, ADX Group CEO Abdulla Salem Alnuaimi stated “This initiative not only expands access to institutional-grade digital instruments, but also lays the foundation for a broader class of tokenized assets—including green bonds, sukuk [Islamic bond] and real estate-linked products… It reinforces Abu Dhabi’s position as a leading global financial centre”
What happened: Trading platform Robinhood launches its own Layer-2 blockchain
How is this significant?
- Popular online trading platform Robinhood recently launched a broad range of tokenised stocks on Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum—and announced the development of its own proprietary Layer-2
- European Robinhood customers “will have access to 200+ US stock and ETF tokens. Stock token holders will also receive dividend payments directly in their app” according to a blog post by the firm
- The Robinhood chain will be a permissionless (i.e. public) Layer-2 blockchain designed for real-world assets
- Tech platform Gizmodo reported Robinhood’s stance, saying “The clear message? Crypto isn’t just for digital money anymore. It’s for everything”, and added that “Robinhood’s ultimate goal is to create a financial system where assets trade around the clock, are easily moved between different digital wallets, and can be self-custodied”
- CEO Vlad Tenev appeared to echo BlackRock leader Larry Fink’s ambition to “tokenise every financial asset”, aiming for a variety of blockchain benefits including 24/7 trading
- It reflects a wider trend towards tokenisation of Wall Street assets, in a market McKinsey predicts could reach $2tn by 2030
What happened: Tether to mine Bitcoin using surplus energy
How is this significant?
- As part of its continued revenue diversification efforts, USDT stablecoin issuer Tether this week announced Bitcoin mining efforts utilising surplus energy via a partnership with LatAm agribusiness firm Adecoagro
- Tether holds a 70% stake in Adecoagro, and may add Bitcoin to its balance sheet in future
- Adecoagro CEO Mariano Bosch said “This project opens the door to stabilising a portion of the energy we currently sell on the spot market, locking in pricing, while also gaining exposure to the upside potential of Bitcoin”
- Speaking at the Bitcoin 2025 conference back in May, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino outlined an ambition to make the firm the world’s biggest Bitcoin miner, so this seems a deliberate move in that direction
- In other Bitcoin mining news, Hut8—partnered with Donald Trump’s family to create the American Bitcoin Company—is opening an office in Dubai for a trading team to “enhance the precision and efficiency of Hut 8’s capital strategy”
- CoreWeave completed its long-planned takeover of mining firm Core Scientific via a $9bn all-stock deal
- This led to a fall in Core Scientific’s stock value, as investors seemingly expected a higher valuation from a deal that intensifies its pivot from Bitcoin mining to artificial intelligence processing power
What happened: Ripple applies for federal banking charter
How is this significant?
- Following last week’s news of USDC issuer Circle applying for a national bank charter, other industry firms are doing likewise
- Having such a charter would allow firms to custody their own digital assets and reserves, amongst other regulatory benefits
- XRP developers Ripple Labs were the largest player to apply for such a licence this week, alongside established crypto custodians BitGo
- The Wall Street Journal reported that “A national charter would place Ripple's dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, under the OCC's regulatory remit”, and that the firm applied for a Federal Reserve master account, increasing access to the American financial system’s liquidity
- Markets responded positively to news of Ripple’s application, jumping several percent in the immediate aftermath of initial reports
- Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse tweeted that “True to our long-standing compliance roots, Ripple is applying for a national bank charter from the OCC. If approved, we would have both state (via NYDFS) and federal oversight, a new (and unique!) benchmark for trust in the stablecoin market… we also applied for a Fed Master account—this access would allow us to hold RLUSD reserves directly with the Fed and provide an additional layer of security to future proof trust in RLUSD”
What happened: Elon Musk pledges Bitcoin support in proposed new political party
How is this significant?
- In the latest episode of the recent dramatic fallout between Elon Musk and Donald Trump (and thus by the transitive property, most of the Republican party), the billionaire Tesla CEO announced the formation of his own political party
- Musk’s new “America Party” is still in its formative stages, without a great insight into policies (beyond a general “centrist” label), but one of the first platforms to emerge was significant to the digital asset industry; support for Bitcoin
- When asked on X (formerly Twitter) whether the America Party would embrace Bitcoin, he responded “Fiat is hopeless, so yes”
- In the entrenched two-party US system, the America Party (no matter how patriotic its name) is unlikely to secure any overall wins, but Musk suggested it could concentrate on a few attainable congressional seats to become a kingmaker on major issues
- Early support has already been voiced by fellow digital asset advocates Mark Cuban and SkyBridge Capital Founder Anthony Scaramucci
- Needless to say, Trump downplayed the news and undermined his former colleague, calling it ridiculous
What happened: Crypto Treasury news
How is this significant?
- For the first time in three months, corporate Bitcoin leader (Micro)Strategy eschewed any additions to its holdings this week, as founder Michael Saylor stated “sometimes you just have to HODL” (crypto slang for “hold”)
- It has however entered into a $4.2bn sales agreement of its 10.00% Series A Perpetual Stride Preferred Stock, designed to raise funds for more Bitcoin buys
- Asian Bitcoin treasury leader Metaplanet caught up slightly to Strategy as it did increase its holdings this week
- The hotelier-turned-Bitcoin-firm bought 2,205 Bitcoin for $239m, lifting it to fifth in the global treasury rankings
- Real estate firm Murano also confirmed a pivot towards a Bitcoin strategy, securing up to $500m for Bitcoin acquisition through an equity purchase agreement
- CEO and founder Elias Sacal commented “We see Bitcoin as a transformative asset that not only offers long-term growth potential but also strengthens our balance sheet against inflation and systemic risk”
- UK firm The Smarter Web Company reached a 1,000 Bitcoin milestone following a $24.4m purchase, cementing its transition from web design to Bitcoin strategy
- Healthcare firm Semler Scientific added another 187 Bitcoin to bring its total holdings up to 4,636 Bitcoin, according to its latest SEC filings
- Finally, mining and staking firm Bit Digital committed its strategy to Ethereum, converting over $30m of Bitcoin alongside $173m from a share offering into Ether
This weekly financial roundup is for informational purposes only and is not financial, investment, or legal advice. Information is based on public sources as of publication and may change. Consult a professional before acting.