Nickel Research Centre

Nickel News Roundup - Week 29

July 22nd, 2025

Market Overview:

Digital assets posted another week of remarkable growth, as the US passed major crypto legislation and market capitalisation hit record highs.
  • Bitcoin cooled off slightly to recover from last week’s record-breaking performance and multiple new records, but nonetheless spent the entire week trading well above its previous historic highs
  • Bitcoin spent the majority of the week trading between around $117,500 and $119,000, with a Tuesday low of $115,970, and a Thursday high of $120,830
  • Whilst Bitcoin’s momentum may have stalled, Ether’s accelerated; building on several weeks of double-digit growth by convincingly breaking through the landmark $3,000 mark after multiple previous failed attempts
  • Ether showcased constant growth in one of its best weeks ever, rising from a Tuesday low of $2,969 to a Monday high of $3,852
  • This still leaves Ether well below its record levels from 2021, but showcased commendable growth over the last month, increasing by over $1,500 from $2,300
  • Strong performance from altcoins saw Bitcoin dominance (the amount of all crypto market capitalisation constituted by Bitcoin) drop to its lowest levels since March
  • This performance included major assets such as Ripple’s XRP and smart contract blockchain Solana both joining Ether in gains above 20%
  • Overall industry market capitalisation reached new records near $4tn (exceeding it on some monitors), peaking at $3.93tn before a late pullback to $3.89tn
  • According to industry monitoring site DeFi Llama, total value locked in DeFi was boosted by over $13bn, to $139.4bn, thanks to the strong performance of Ether and altcoins

Digital assets had another week to remember, as the US passed legislation regarding stablecoins; the first-ever crypto specific regulations approved by Congress. Ether continued its recent remarkable performance, boosted by institutional interest, stablecoin demand, and increased treasury activity. Elsewhere, Standard Chartered entered spot crypto trading, several major US banks confirmed stablecoin plans, digital asset IPO activity accelerated, bilateral ties based on blockchain were formed, and much, much more.

What happened: US passes major digital asset legislation

How is this significant?

  • Long-awaited digital asset legislation was finally passed in the US, as “Crypto Week” saw the House passage of the GENIUS stablecoin bill, and CLARITY market structure act
  • GENIUS was hailed as particularly significant, since it was signed into law by Trump, whilst CLARITY still requires the approval of the Senate
  • The “major win” of the GENIUS Act means that dollar-backed stablecoins now have clear rules of the road
  • In particular, firms issuing stablecoins must “hold dollar-for-dollar reserves in short-term government debt or similar products overseen by state or federal regulators”
  • Although it passed 308-122 with broad bipartisan support, the process wasn’t without hiccups
  • An early impasse last Wednesday led some to fear Crypto Week would become Crypto Weak, as hardline Republicans refused to approve the act without specific anti-CBDC provisions attached
  • However, a bill that was a personal priority of president Trump was unlikely to go unapproved for long, and after some concessions, it cleared the regulatory hurdle
  • The initial votes to advance GENIUS, CLARITY, and an anti-CBDC bill failed, and Democrats (unsuccessfully) tried attaching provisions barring public officials (i.e. Trump) and their families from any involvement with firms issuing stablecoins
  • President Trump stated at the signing ceremony that “the Genius Act creates a clear and simple regulatory framework to establish and unleash the immense promise of dollar-backed stablecoins. This could be perhaps the greatest revolution in financial technology since the birth of the internet itself”
  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed, commenting that GENIUS will “pave the way for the US to lead the global digital currency revolution”
  • GENIUS’ passage was greeted with enthusiasm by investors, particularly on the stablecoin-heavy Ethereum blockchain as total industry market capitalisation approached $4tn for the first time
  • Coinbase shares hit a new record high, whilst USDC issuer Circle increased by 25% across the week
  • However, Barrons cautioned against any premature celebrations, noting that it could take over a year for any of the legislation to actually take effect, with a full three years before non-GENIUS-compliant stablecoins are prohibited
  • A separate anti-CBDC bill also passed, but had to be attached to a national defence bill in order to secure the necessary votes

What happened: ETF News

How is this significant?

  • Digital asset investment products followed their second-best performance ever last week with a new record performance this week
  • This extended the streak of inflows to 14 weeks in a row
  • According to Coinshares data published on Monday, crypto asset funds accrued $4.39bn inflows in the trading week ending Friday the 18th
  • This considerably exceeded the previous record of $3.9bn inflows in early December 2024
  • Ether was a key contributor to this momentum, as Ether products came closer than ever before to matching Bitcoin ETF inflow volumes, at $2.12bn vs $2.2bn
  • Coinshares’ head of research James Butterfill points out that this nearly doubled Ether’s previous weekly record, as 2025 year-to-date flows officially overtook 2024 flows
  • Overall AUM across investment products hit a new record high, at $220bn
  • Spot Bitcoin ETFs followed up the previous week’s strong performance with another positive showing, securing nine-figure inflows every day
  • Inflows ranged between $297m and $799m; no trading days matched last week’s two $1bn+ days, but conversely every day was stronger than the other three trading days of the previous week
  • Unlike a (somewhat) more balanced distribution across the various funds however, last week was completely dominated by BlackRock’s IBIT
  • The market-leading fund posted nine-figure flows every day, with several exceeding the overall inflows as other funds shed capital
  • BlackRock’s inflows ranged from $395m to $764m, whilst the next-best performance of the week was $20m in inflows from ARK Invest’s ARKB on Wednesday
  • Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that Bitcoin ETFs have now added more than $18bn within the last three months, narrowing the gap on gold ETFs below $30bn
  • Spot Ether ETFs, as mentioned earlier, had—by far—their best week ever, stretching the string of nine-figure inflows to eight consecutive days
  • Once again, BlackRock’s ETHA accounted for the majority of inflows, adding between $151m and $547m every day
  • However, other funds also stepped up to the plate, as Fidelity’s FETH added $113m on Wednesday, and Grayscale’s 0.15% fee mini-ETF offered daily inflows of $44m, $54m, and $65m
  • Seyffart stated “Ethereum ETF Flows are booming. As a group the US spot Ether ETFs have taken in over $5.5bn since launch. Which includes over $3.3bn since mid April”
  • Elsewhere in ETFs, BlackRock filed to include staking in its Ether ETFs, whilst new issuers Canary added to their slate of novel altcoin ETF filings by proposing a staked Injective ETF

What happened: Ether surges as stablecoins shine

How is this significant?

  • The market’s second-largest digital asset, Ether, had a banner week, surging past $3,000 and as high as $3,850 for the first time since 2024
  • Although Ether remains below its record levels of around $4,700, it has outperformed Bitcoin recently and showcased major bullish momentum, with several weeks of double-digit growth as it rose from under $2,300 to above $3,700 within the last month
  • When one looks at an even narrower timeframe, Ether surged from $2,500 to $3,500 in around ten days
  • Several factors contributed to this performance, not least the GENIUS stablecoin bill passage in the United States
  • Bernstein analysts believe that as “stablecoins’ dominant rail”, Ether will “continue seeing strong investment interest”
  • They added “This is not a crypto cycle of the boom-bust kind. This is a blockchain financial services cycle”
  • Speaking on CNBC, new SEC chair Paul Atkins supported stablecoin growth and adoption, stating “We can now move to an instantaneous, almost settlement payment versus delivery for securities, thanks to on-chain stablecoins”
  • He also stated “the SEC has stated informally more than formally that Ether is not a security. And so it’s obvious the ETH blockchain is a very key component for a lot of other digital assets”
  • Atkins also indicated “not for me to tell them, but I think it’s encouraging that these sorts of digital assets are being embraced by the marketplace”
  • Alongside this governmental endorsement, there was also the aforementioned record performance by spot Ether ETFs, a growth in Ether’s status as a reserve asset, and increased institutional acquisition and use in tokenisation
  • The Ethereum blockchain itself has recently undergone several upgrades, increasing efficiency and scalability at the base layer (a purpose which created a slew of Layer-2 blockchains built atop Ethereum), as well as an increased focus on transaction privacy in an updated development roadmap
  • Ethereum also remains the leading smart contract blockchain of choice for developers of new financial primitives, as latest data from monitoring platform DeFillama indicates that it accounts for over $82bn of the total $139bn value locked in DeFi

What happened: Standard Chartered becomes first systemic bank to offer spot crypto trading

How is this significant?

  • Reports late last week revealed that global bank Standard Chartered will be the first systemic institution to provide spot crypto trading for clients
  • CEO Bill Winters stated that digital assets are becoming “foundational” to financial ecosystems; “As client demand accelerates further, we want to offer clients a route to transact, trade and manage digital asset risk safely and efficiently with regulatory requirements”
  • Initially, trading access will be limited to “institutional clients including corporates, investors and asset managers”
  • Standard Chartered says this makes it the “first global systemically important bank to offer secure, regulated and scalable access to Bitcoin and Ether deliverable spot trading”
  • It will offer trading in Bitcoin and Ether to begin through its UK branch, with non-deliverable forwards added at a later date
  • This is far from the bank’s first contact with the cryptosphere; its press release noted that “Standard Chartered now offers digital assets custody and trading through its Corporate and Investment Bank, and through its ventures, Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets and digital asset tokenisation services, through another venture, Libeara”

What happened: Major US banks confirm stablecoin plans

How is this significant?

  • In a week filled with significant developments for stablecoins, two major US banks outlined their intentions in the field, indicating the potential for the asset class
  • Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan confirmed the institution would move into stablecoins, albeit without disclosing any exact timeframes or scales
  • On a post-earnings conference call, he said “We feel both the industry and ourselves will have responses. We've done a lot of work… We are still trying to figure out how big or small it is… So you would expect us all to move, our company to move on that”
  • He added that it would likely issue a stablecoin in partnership with another player, although it remains to be seen whether that’s as part of a potential banking consortium, or in conjunction with a crypto-native firm
  • Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser also brought up the concept during an earnings call, saying “we are looking at the issuance of a Citi stablecoin”
  • She said the bank is working on four areas related to digital assets; “stablecoin reserve management, on- and off-ramps between fiat and digital assets, custodial services for crypto, and tokenized deposits”
  • Infamously crypto-critical JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon commented in the bank’s latest earnings call that it would increase its stablecoin exposure—despite his own uncertainty on them
  • “We’re going to be involved in both JPMorgan Depositcoin and stablecoins to understand it, to be good at it. I think they’re real, but I don’t know why you’d want a stablecoin as opposed to just payment”
  • Morgan Stanley CFO Sharon Yeshaya called it “too early to tell” what the bank would do, but added “As you would expect we are actively discussing it. We're looking both at the landscape, the uses and the potential uses for our own client base”
  • Although the GENIUS act in the US will embolden American banks, stablecoin appetite is growing across the world; South Korea’s largest bank (KB Kookmin) recently filed a slew of trademark applications related to issuance of such assets
  • A report in Korea’s Economic Review suggested that “eight major domestic commercial banks” are collaborating on a Won-based stablecoin

What happened: SEC considers exemptions to incentivise tokenisation

How is this significant?

  • New SEC chair Paul Atkins this week disclosed that the agency is actively considering exemptions for digital assets, in a bid to spur increased tokenisation activity
  • Speaking to the press, he stated “Staff is considering what other changes may be appropriate to incentivize tokenization within our regulatory framework, including an innovation exception that would permit novel ways of trading and more narrowly tailored forms of relief to facilitate the building of other components of a tokenized securities ecosystem”
  • Some firms such as Robinhood have attempted to tokenise popular stocks, but the technology seemingly requires specific regulatory support before any widespread adoption
  • This outlines a much more supportive SEC than under previous chair Gary Gensler, as Atkins told reporters they want to “establish clear rules of the road” for digital assets rather than establishing precedent via lawsuits
  • Atkins also revealed discourse with the Department of Labour regarding potential changes to retirement plan regulations
  • Regarding crypto inclusion, he said “we have to do this in a smart way… Disclosure is key and that people need to know what they are getting into… I look forward to whatever may come out from the president”
  • In news related to the previous administration’s regulation-by-enforcement approach, the DOJ dropped its case against crypto betting platform Polymarket
  • Polymarket famously predicted Trump’s election victory in opposition to most polling
  • Polymarket now plans to re-enter the US, following the acquisition of derivatives exchange QCEX for $112m

What happened: UK chancellor mulls sale of seized digital assets to plug budget gap

How is this significant?

  • The British press reported that Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves is considering the sale of $7bn in seized crypto “amid growing concerns about a black hole in the public finances”
  • The Telegraph reported that such a sale could wipe out around a quarter of the deficit currently faced in the government’s budget
  • According to the report, “Crypto asset sales are handled by law enforcement agencies, but the Treasury is understood to be monitoring the situation. A recent rise in the price of digital currencies promises to multiply the already significant sums involved”
  • The Independent wrote that the government is developing its own “crypto storage and realisation” system to handle the assets’ sale, as the government views the seized stash as a “windfall”
  • Although the exact value of the seized assets isn’t disclosed, a single raid in 2018 recovered 61,000 Bitcoin from an overseas fraud scheme, with that single stash now “up 20-fold from its value when seized”
  • The opposition Reform Party however advocates creating a crypto reserve such as that planned by Donald Trump in the US
  • Reform UK chair Zia Yusof commented “This would be a terrible decision. The UK should be implementing Reform’s crypto bill and increasing its Bitcoin reserves. Selling now will go down as a far worse decision than [former chancellor] Gordon Brown’s fire sale of our [national] gold [reserves]. The Westminster class are dinosaurs who don’t get the future”
  • Some critics warn against a rapid sell-off, pointing out the recent news that the German federal state of Saxony missed out on over $3bn by mass-liquidating its seized Bitcoin last year
  • Aidan Larkin of Asset Reality commented “If I’m in the Treasury, I’m thinking of this as our Norway oil moment. I do think digital assets will lead to a large windfall for government agencies and the public purse over the next five to 10 years”

What happened: New company launches major Ether treasury strategy

How is this significant?

  • On Monday, it was announced that Ether Machine, a new company, will go public via an SPAC merger with Dynamix Corp in order to build an Ether treasury firm
  • The Nasdaq-listed company won’t have just any Ether treasury though; it has secured over $1.5bn in committed capital, with 400,000 Ether on its balance sheet
  • Shares of Dynamix increased over 22% following news of the SPAC plans
  • According to Bloomberg, “the merged company will be led by Chairman Andrew Keys and Chief Executive Officer David Merin, both formerly of [Ethereum software developers] Consensys”
  • Industry publication TheBlock broke down the finer details, writing “Financing includes an anchor contribution of roughly $645m, about 169,984 ETH, from co‑founder Andrew Keys, who will serve as chairman, and more than $800m in common‑stock commitments from institutional and crypto‑native investors”
  • Citigroup will act as capital markets advisor, whilst investors in the stock filing include Blockchain.com, crypto exchange Kraken, and Pantera Capital
  • If successful, this would make Ether Machine the world’s largest Ether treasury firm; although current leader SharpLink Gaming recently submitted a filing to revise a stock sale from $1bn to $6bn in order to fund more Ether purchases

What happened: Pakistan and El Salvador join forces for digital assets adoption

How is this significant?

  • In a show of global digital asset adoption, two nation-states this week established ties dedicated to deepening adoption of the asset class
  • El Salvador (the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender) and Pakistan (which recently created a national crypto council) signed a letter of intent with crypto asset cooperation as a main pillar
  • According to a statement by Pakistan minister's office, Crypto Council head Bilal Bin Saqib met with El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to create a knowledge-sharing partnership
  • This is believed to be the first bilateral international agreement centred entirely around digital assets
  • Bukele has been at the forefront of attempts to make the country a crypto hub, with daily Bitcoin purchases, bonds, and legal tender—although the IMF recently disputed the former two points
  • Saqib told Bloomberg in March that between 15 and 20 million Pakistanis currently hold crypto; well above twice El Salvador’s entire population
  • Last month, Pakistan announced allocation of 2,000 megawatts in excess energy for Bitcoin mining alongside plans for a national Bitcoin reserve

What happened: More digital asset firms consider IPOs

How is this significant?


What happened: Crypto Treasury news

How is this significant?

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.
2025-07-22 09:58 News Roundups