While bitcoin (BTC) is pretty much back to where it was 24 hours ago, ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) extended their gains after the House of Representatives passed the first major crypto regulatory initiative in the U.S. even though the legislation is aimed at stablecoins. It's the knock-on effect that spurred trading activity. More about that later.

July 18, 2025

 
 

What to know:

 

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

While bitcoin (BTC) is pretty much back to where it was 24 hours ago, ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) extended their gains after the House of Representatives passed the first major crypto regulatory initiative in the U.S. even though the legislation is aimed at stablecoins. It's the knock-on effect that spurred trading activity. More about that later.

While the second- and third-largest cryptocurrencies have outpaced their larger rival in the past seven and 30 days, it's worth noting BTC has climbed more than 40% in the past three months and hit a new record high. Market participants are betting the party isn't over yet, the derivatives market shows.

 

Bitcoin’s options market now carries a $2.36 billion wager the price will clear $140,000, data from Deribit shows. That single strike price holds the most open interest on the exchange, double the OI of the busiest put option, or bet on a decline.

 

Ether options show a similar pattern. The $4,000 call leads with $651 million in open interest, and another $280 million is targeting $6,000. The data shows how heavily the market is tilting bullish even after ETH surged more than 125% in just three months.

 

As the prices rise, the money flows in. Spot bitcoin ETFs have already brought in $5.41 billion this month, the most since November 2024, when President Donald Trump was elected on a pro-crypto platform. Spot ether ETFs saw net inflows of $2.88 billion, the highest since August 2024, SoSoValue data shows. As an aside, to underpin the altcoin narrative, net inflows into the ether ETFs beat those for bitcoin ETFs yesterday.

 

To Boris Alergant, the head of institutional partnerships at Babylon Labs, these flows underscore “the shift from speculative retail to long-term institutional allocation.”

The regulatory environment is part of the story. The GENIUS Act, expected to be signed into law later today, tightens rules for yield-bearing stablecoins. The law is seen as nudging treasurers toward native ETH staking and transparent restaking vaults.

 

Robinson Burkey, co-founder of the Wormhole Foundation, told CoinDesk the GENIUS act, along with the Clarity Act are the “first meaningful answers” to the crypto market’s requests for rules that won’t stifle innovation.

 

Trump is also expected to sign an executive order in the near future opening up 401K plans to investments beyond stocks and bonds. That would open the $9 trillion U.S. retirement market to cryptocurrency, gold and other investments.

 

“It’s plausible that the meaningful progression of legislative matters could be the catalyst for unlocking further participation from risk-averse capital that has been sitting on the sidelines waiting for regulatory certainty,” Babylon Labs’ Alergant told CoinDesk.

 

“When you combine structural demand, tightening BTC supply post-halving, and a potentially favorable policy backdrop, the setup for this market remains incredibly strong.”

 

Still, bitcoin’s share of the market has been dropping this month and the broad CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index is up 32% this month, outperforming the bitcoin-heavy CoinDesk 5 (CD5), which rose 17% in the same period. Bitcoin dominance, which measures bitcoin's weighting in what is now a more than $4 trillion market cap, has dropped to 61.7% from 65.5% on June 30.

 

“The infrastructure has matured, stablecoins are proven, liquidity is deeper, and execution is faster, making this cycle feel more durable than past rallies.” Sei Labs co-founder Jeff Feng told CoinDesk “It's a pivotal moment for on-chain finance to prove its staying power.” Stay alert!

 

Overnight Flows

 

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What to Watch

Crypto

  • July 18: Lorenzo Protocol, a Cosmos-based blockchain with native token BANK, launches USD1+ OTF on BNB Chain's mainnet. The institutional-grade on-chain traded fund lets users stake stablecoins to mint sUSD1+ tokens that earn stable, NAV-backed yield from real-world assets, CeFi quantitative strategies and DeFi protocols. All returns are settled in USD1 stablecoin, issued by World Liberty Financial, whose stablecoin infrastructure powers the product’s stable yield mechanism.
  • July 18, 2:30 p.m.: President Trump is expected to sign the GENIUS Act into law at a White House ceremony, enacting the first major U.S. federal stablecoin regulatory framework following House passage during Crypto Week.

Macro

  • July 18, 10 a.m.: The University of Michigan releases (Preliminary) July U.S. consumer sentiment data.
    • Michigan Consumer Sentiment Est. 61.5 vs. Prev. 60.7
  • July 21, 8:30 a.m.: Statistics Canada releases June producer price inflation data.
    • PPI MoM Prev. -0.5%
    • PPI YoY Prev. 1.2%
  • Aug. 1, 12:01 a.m.: New U.S. tariffs take effect on imports from trade partners that failed to reach agreements by the July 9 deadline. These increased duties could range from 10% to as high as 70%, impacting a wide range of goods.

Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)

  • July 23: Tesla (TSLA), post-market, $0.42
  • July 29: PayPal Holdings (PYPL), pre-market, $1.29
  • July 30: Robinhood Markets (HOOD), post-market, $0.30
  • July 31: Coinbase Global (COIN), post-market, $1.35
  • July 31: Reddit (RDDT), post-market, $0.19
  • Aug. 5: Galaxy Digital (GLXY), pre-market
 

Token Events

Governance Votes & Calls

  • Aavegotchi DAO is voting on a $245,000 funding proposal to expand Gotchi Battler into a revenue-generating game with PvE modes, NFTs and battle passes, aiming to reverse declining player numbers, boost GHST utility and create sustainable rewards. Voting ends July 22.
  • Ethereum Name Service DAO is voting on a proposal from Tally to enter a one-year renewable agreement to enhance ENS governance. Voting ends July 22.
  • Rocket Pool DAO is voting to finalize Saturn 1’s implementation. Approval by a 75% supermajority will ratify key protocol changes, including new transaction designs and a potential revenue share to the pDAO treasury. Voting ends July 24.
  • NEAR Protocol is voting on potentially reducing NEAR’s inflation from 5% to 2.5%. Two-thirds of validators must approval the proposal for it to pass, and if so it could be implemented by late Q3. Voting ends Aug. 1.
  • July 29, 10 a.m.: Ether.fi to host a bi-quarterly analyst call.

Unlocks

  • July 20: LayerZero (ZRO) to unlock 23.13% of its circulating supply worth $60.41 million.
  • July 25: Venom (VENOM) to unlock 2.84% of its circulating supply worth $12.88 million.
  • July 31: Optimism (OP) to unlock 1.79% of its circulating supply worth $24.16 million.
  • Aug. 1: Sui (SUI) to unlock 1.27% of its circulating supply worth $178.18 million.
  • Aug. 2: Ethena (ENA) to unlock 0.64% of its circulating supply worth $16.77 million.

Token Launches

  • July 18: Pump.fun’s PUMP to be listed on OKX.
  • July 18: Trusta.AI (TA) to be listed on Binance Alpha, BingX, and others.
 

Conferences

The CoinDesk Policy & Regulation conference (formerly known as State of Crypto) is a one-day boutique event held in Washington on Sept. 10 that allows general counsels, compliance officers and regulatory executives to meet with public officials responsible for crypto legislation and regulatory oversight. Space is limited. Use code CDB10 for 10% off your registration through July 17.

  • July 20: Crypto Coin Day 7/20 (Atlanta)
  • July 21-22: Malaysia Blockchain Week 2025 (Kuala Lumpur)
  • July 24: Decasonic’s Web3 Investor Day 2025 (Chicago)
  • July 25: Blockchain Summit Global (Montevideo, Uruguay)
  • July 28-29: TWS Conference 2025 (Singapore)
  • Aug. 6-7: Blockchain.Rio 2025 (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
  • Aug. 6-10: Rare EVO (Las Vegas)
  • Aug. 7-8: bitcoin++ (Riga, Latvia)
  • Aug. 9-10: Baltic Honeybadger 2025 (Riga, Latvia)
  • Aug. 9-10: Conviction 2025 (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

Join us for this curated gathering that unites D.C.’s most important public officials with legal, policy and compliance leaders from the private sector to advance crypto standards and reform.

Space is limited. Use code CDB10 for 10% off your registration through July 17.

Token Talk