Track the evolution of major financial and economic events
Tesla's earnings report brought its treasury holdings of 11,509 Bitcoin back into focus. Despite this, Tesla shares fell as rising R&D costs squeezed profits, while Alphabet shares declined following an increased capital expenditures forecast. Meanwhile, markets are awaiting Intel's earnings results, which are due to be released after the closing bell today.
Institutional Bitcoin holdings have reached approximately 4.19 million BTC across corporations, funds, and governments. Over the last 60 days, large-scale holders known as whales added more than 66,700 BTC to their portfolios, valued at $4.3 billion. These figures highlight a significant trend of accumulation by major institutional entities.
Hyperliquid announced an upcoming upgrade aimed at boosting decentralization by enabling permissionless deployment for HIP-4 markets. The upgrade, announced on July 20, is designed to facilitate open access to market creation on the platform. This move focuses on expanding the capabilities of the Hyperliquid ecosystem through permissionless features.
Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork on July 18, successfully upgrading the network to Protocol Version 11. The upgrade is designed to optimize smart contracts by making them faster and more cost-effective while simultaneously strengthening node security. By July 21, the blockchain had fully implemented the transition, marking a successful network enhancement.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong identified $60,000 as the current floor for Bitcoin, citing halving cycles as a key factor. He stated that Bitcoin's long-term price performance will primarily serve as a measure of inflation fears and is unlikely to drop below the $60,000 level. This optimism is driven by the emergence of financial institutions as a new class of holders who are less prone to panic selling.
Ripple resumed its CLARITY Act campaign in Washington, D.C. to lobby for crypto legislation despite opposition from Senate Democrats over financial conflict of interest and anti-fraud concerns. XRP holders faced a July 23 Senate deadline regarding the bill. The 616-page Clarity Act has since cleared a procedural step and is now ready for a full vote in the U.S. Senate.
The Bitcoin Put/Call ratio hit a six-month low of 0.59, signaling a dominance of call options and surging trader optimism. This shift occurred alongside a drop in the implied volatility index (DVOL) from 48 to 40 as prices recovered from June lows. While the ratio reflects extreme bullish sentiment, market observers note that such levels could precede a significant volatility event.
Cardano activated the Van Rossem hard fork (Protocol Version 11) on July 20, 2026, to reduce smart contract execution costs. This upgrade marks the first to be ratified through on-chain governance voting. Leading up to the activation, whale accumulation hit record highs and open interest rose to $421M, even as the long-to-short ratio indicated that many traders were shorting the asset.
Polymarket odds showed a 99.95% confidence in Bitcoin staying above $52,000 by July 20, while a trader placed a $28 million bet on Ethereum volatility. On July 18, French authorities ordered a geoblock on the platform due to concerns over illegal gambling and market manipulation. By July 20, Bitcoin traded flat near $64,200 as oil prices reached a one-month high following escalating U.S.-Iran strikes.
MicroStrategy CEO revealed that the $8K–$10K Bitcoin level serves as the company's debt stress threshold amid reports of capital structure pressure. To strengthen its position, the company raised its cash reserves to $3.75 billion by selling $544.5 million worth of MSTR shares. Additionally, the firm sold 3,588 BTC to cover dividends and debt obligations for approximately 20 months while pausing new Bitcoin purchases. As of July 26, 2026, the company's total holdings remained unchanged at 843,775 BTC.
Bitget launched the industry's first Cross-Asset Unified Account (UTA), featuring over 370 eligible assets. This new system allows 100 tokenized US stocks (rTokens) to serve as margin collateral alongside cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the platform introduced USDT-settled quanto perpetual futures, providing users with access to non-dollar stocks.
Bitcoin prices edged lower to $64,524 on Thursday as liquidity thinned and market risk appetite weakened. Despite earlier rebound attempts, traders remained under the influence of 'extreme fear' sentiment. Furthermore, the broader market's risk appetite failed to generate fresh inflows into the cryptocurrency space.
Ethereum's price pushed back above the $1,800 key resistance level on July 15 as buyer confidence recovered. Market watchers attribute this price action to renewed momentum ahead of the anticipated Ethereum ETF listings. The breakout follows a previous testing of this resistance level, driven primarily by market anticipation of the upcoming exchange-traded fund launches.
President Trump held a positive meeting with lawmakers to discuss crypto legislation ethics, though his stance on his personal crypto wealth initially created uncertainty in Clarity Act negotiations. On July 21, Trump signed new ethics provisions prohibiting federal officials from issuing cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Department of Justice has been designated to enforce these new regulatory ethics rules.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink expressed bullish sentiment regarding Bitcoin's stability and growth over the next 12 months, noting that the leverage washout which previously crashed markets is now over. The firm aims to offer tokenized long-term investments, including Treasury funds and iShares ETFs. Fink highlighted that Bitcoin is currently exhibiting increased stability at its present price levels.
William Blair expects Coinbase's earnings to bottom in the second half of 2026, with a potential rebound anticipated next year. While Citigroup reduced its price target from $400 to $235, Benchmark reaffirmed its Buy rating for the stock. Meanwhile, the company is expanding its platform into Canada despite a 25% year-to-date decline in stock price and a current market capitalization of $45.54 billion.
Kraken Institutional has partnered with Upshift to develop dedicated vaults designed to earn yield on idle Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins. In tandem, the exchange introduced a new lineup of options contracts for both BTC and ETH. Subsequently, Kraken launched USD-settled Bitcoin and Ethereum options on its Kraken Pro platform.
Circle reportedly paid $1.4 billion in distribution costs to Coinbase last year, accounting for approximately half of the revenue generated from the USDC stablecoin. Concurrently, Coinbase expanded its offerings by enabling retail traders to trade Bitcoin futures with cross margin and nano contracts to execute basis trades more efficiently. Furthermore, the platform announced a new feature allowing businesses to accept payments from AI agents using the x402 standard.
Bitcoin price rebounded to reach $64,784 on Wednesday, surpassing the $62,000 level and easing recent market stress. This recovery was accompanied by a notable decline in trading volume and renewed inflows to exchanges. These factors signal weak conviction among investors regarding the sustainability of the current price rebound.
Despite an 8% crash in South Korean stocks on July 14, the expected liquidity rotation into crypto failed to materialize as Upbit trading volumes rose by only 4%. By July 20, the KOSPI index's annualized volatility reached 57%, surpassing Bitcoin's 47%. On July 22, trading activity across major Korean crypto exchanges fell sharply as the KOSPI index surged, signaling a shift of retail liquidity back into equities.
SWIFT has launched its blockchain ledger with 17 participating banks, signaling a shift toward decentralized financial infrastructure. Ripple executive Michael Higgins noted that blockchain is becoming the foundation for 'Wall Street 2.0'. Additionally, Ripple Prime revenue tripled year-over-year following the $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road.
Senator Cynthia Lummis plans to introduce the Bitcoin Clarity Act before the August recess to establish a U.S. regulatory framework. While some Senate Democrats have opposed the bill, labeling it 'corrupt,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated on July 21 that the legislation is nearing passage. The act represents a significant step toward defining the legal status of bitcoin in the United States.
Bitcoin price rose toward $63,400 on July 14 following the release of US inflation data. Annual inflation in the United States cooled to 3.5% for the month of June 2026. Consequently, the Polymarket odds of a 2026 Federal Reserve rate hike fell to 55% after the inflation report was published.
EthSystems has officially launched to develop privacy and compliance technology for financial institutions on the Ethereum network. The project originated from the Ethereum Foundation's Institutional Privacy Task Force, which has now formed an independent for-profit company. EthSystems secured anchor funding from several supporters, including Joe Lubin, Bitmine Immersion Technologies, and Sharplink.
