Last week (July 15-21), BTC remained stable, ETH led the gains, and SOL broke through the $200 mark, attracting more buyers. After setting a historical high of $123,218, BTC entered a consolidation period, with prices fluctuating between $116,000-$119,000 this week, with a maximum volatility of 4.54%, and currently stabilizing around $117,700.
Driven by factors such as the passage of the GENIUS Act and slowing inflation, funds rotated from BTC to mainstream Altcoins. With ETH's strong surge, mainstream Altcoins like SOL, XRP, and Doge also saw significant increases. ETH rose to a high of $3,860, with a weekly gain of 31.63%, and is currently retracing to around $3,650 (Binance spot, July 22, 16:10).
Last week, U.S. stock indices showed mixed performance. As of the close on July 21, the Dow Jones slightly declined, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slightly increased. This week, earnings reports from several tech giants will be the market focus.
Market Interpretation
Altcoins Lead, Crypto Market Cap Breaks $4 Trillion
Last week, the cryptocurrency market rebounded strongly, with total market cap breaking $4 trillion for the second time in history. BTC performed moderately, while ETH rose 31.63%, SOL 26.74%, XRP 28.34%, and Doge 52.58%, with mainstream Altcoins rotating upwards. ETH spot ETF saw a weekly inflow of $2.2 billion, significantly boosting sector activity. Favorable policies, institutional support, and liquidity release collectively drove the market, with risk appetite clearly recovering. Short-term caution is advised for high-level pullbacks, but medium-term structural opportunities are expected to continue.
CPI, PPI Data Stable, U.S. Stocks Rise, BTC Pulls Back from Highs
On July 15, the U.S. released June CPI year-on-year at 2.7%, as expected, with core CPI at 2.9%, below the anticipated 3.0%. CPI has rebounded from its low point, mainly due to rising oil prices and tariffs. The second wave of moderate inflation is evident but limited, not yet prompting a hawkish turn by the Fed, with the market reacting calmly. On the 16th, PPI year-on-year was 2.3%, below expectations and previous values, indicating a slowdown in U.S. economic growth. After the data release, U.S. stocks continued rising, the dollar index rebounded, and gold slightly declined. FedWatch shows a slightly over 50% probability of a September rate cut.
From July 11, the Trump administration raised Canada's unified tariff to 35% and sent tariff notices of 20-50% to 23 countries including the EU and Mexico, to be implemented from August 1. Increased policy risks have intensified market concerns about fiscal policy and inflation. After consecutive new highs, BTC pulled back 1.53% due to cooling rate cut expectations and a stronger dollar, with market risk appetite becoming cautious. Subsequent focus will be on macroeconomic data and policy developments.
Trump Signs GENIUS Act, Three Major Bills Enacted
On July 17, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three key crypto bills - the GENIUS Act, CLARITY Act, and Anti-CBDC Act - opening a new chapter in U.S. crypto regulation and innovation. The next day, President Trump formally signed the GENIUS Act, establishing a federal regulatory framework for stablecoin issuance and trading, officially ushering stablecoins into the compliance era as the second major crypto use case after BTC.
The policy benefits quickly transmitted to the market. ETH was boosted, rising over 20% in a week, launching the Altcoin market. While BTC consolidated at high levels this week and short-term profit-taking occurred, continued corporate purchases and Spot ETF inflows provide solid support for the bull market.
Market Highlights
U.S. Pension Funds Continue to Allocate to BTC Concept Stocks, Accelerating Crypto Retirement Market
Last week, one of the largest U.S. public pension funds, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), significantly increased its MicroStrategy (now Strategy) stock holdings in Q2, indicating that mainstream U.S. pension funds are gradually incorporating BTC-related assets into their long-term allocation strategy.
Simultaneously, the Trump administration is pushing an executive order to allow 401k and other U.S. family retirement accounts to allocate to cryptocurrencies, gold, and private equity alternative assets, involving a market size of $9 trillion. If implemented, this would greatly expand the allocation space for BTC and related concept stocks in the U.S. pension system.
JPMorgan and Citigroup Accelerate Stablecoin Deployment, Traditional Banks Driving Crypto Payment Mainstreaming
During the congressional "Crypto Week", top executives from JPMorgan and Citigroup consecutively stated they are actively preparing their own stablecoin projects. JPMorgan's CEO confirmed deep involvement in crypto payment businesses like "JPM Coin". On the same day, Citigroup's CEO revealed the company is researching a "Citigroup Stablecoin". According to the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo had a joint issuance plan as early as May this year. Currently, the global stablecoin total market cap has reached $258 billion, with an annual growth rate of 58%.
SharpLink Holds Over 270,000 ETH, Becoming the World's Largest Publicly Listed ETH Holder
After previously purchasing 10,000 ETH from the ETH Foundation, SharpLink continued aggressive accumulation, increasing its total holdings to 270,000 ETH on July 14, surpassing the ETH Foundation for the first time and becoming the world's largest publicly listed ETH holder. SharpLink's aggressive strategy reflects institutional recognition of ETH as a strategic reserve asset and boosts market confidence in ETH's long-term ecosystem value.
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