As the price of gold is on the cusp of breaking its April peak, the market size of crypto tokens backed by the precious metal has already surged to fresh all-time highs.

The overall market capitalization of tokenized gold topped $2.57 billion, CoinGecko data shows, as the two leading offerings, Tether’s XAUT and Paxos’ PAXG tokens, saw sizable inflows recently. Both tokens’s are designed to track the price of gold and are backed by physical bars held in vaults.

XAUT (XAUT), issued by the firm that’s behind the USDT stablecoin, saw a $437 million jump in its supply to a record $1.3 billion, per CoinGecko. Tether’s Treasury minted 129,000 tokens in early August on the Ethereum network, blockchain data by Etherscan shows.

PAXG (PAXG), the gold-backed token of U.S.-based stablecoin firm Paxos, swelled to a record market size of $983 million, DefiLlama data shows. That’s been fueled by $141.5 million net inflows into the token since June.

Gold currently traded at around $3,470, just shy of the April 22 peak hit amidst the tariff tantrum.

The precious metal, which is widely considered as a safe haven asset during times of uncertainty, has been resurging lately, driven by a steepening U.S. Treasury yield curve.

Read more: Gold’s Rally Has a Big Catalyst, and It Could Help Bitcoin Too

Ethereum has once again taken center stage in the crypto market after surging to a new all-time high above the $4,900 level on Sunday. The rally, which pushed ETH into uncharted territory, highlighted the strength of bulls after weeks of steady institutional accumulation and market momentum. However, the price did not hold these highs for long. Ethereum has since retraced, dropping back to the $4,600 region, where bulls are now attempting to establish support before the next move higher.

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This pullback has sparked debate among analysts. Some view the retracement as a sign of a potential local top, cautioning that ETH may require a period of consolidation before another breakout attempt. Others, however, remain firmly bullish, pointing to strong fundamentals and growing institutional interest as signals that Ethereum’s rally is far from over.

Adding weight to the bullish case, key on-chain data reveals that Binance whales continue to position themselves heavily in Ethereum. Large spot and futures orders attributed to these players have been flowing consistently, particularly after ETH confirmed its positive trend. This steady accumulation suggests confidence in Ethereum’s long-term trajectory, even as short-term volatility continues to shape the market’s direction.

Binance Whales Accumulate Ethereum

According to top analyst Darkfost, Ethereum’s Average Order Size on Binance chart provides clear insight into the behavior of different cohorts, distinguishing between retail investors and whales. Since July, a significant shift has taken place: whale activity on Binance has surged. This reflects a growing trend of large-scale accumulation, with whale-sized spot and futures orders continuing to flow into the market as ETH edges closer to the $5,000 mark.

What makes this trend particularly noteworthy is the timing of whale participation. Unlike retail investors, who often try to buy early and ride potential upside, whales tend to prefer entering once a bullish trend has been confirmed.

Darkfost highlights that this pattern is evident now, as whale orders began accelerating only after Ethereum reversed its earlier downtrend and regained strong bullish momentum. This validates the idea that large players seek reduced risk and clearer confirmation before allocating capital at scale.

With both retail and institutional participants aligning, the coming weeks could be decisive in determining whether ETH firmly breaks into new price discovery. If whales continue to buy at this pace, Ethereum’s rally could extend far beyond its 2021 highs.

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Testing Critical Support Level

Ethereum (ETH) is currently trading around $4,598 after a sharp retracement from its new all-time high near $4,900. On the 4-hour chart, the structure shows that ETH is still maintaining a bullish trend, although momentum has cooled after last week’s explosive rally.

The 50 SMA ($4,455) and 100 SMA ($4,435) are now converging just below current price levels, acting as immediate dynamic support. This cluster strengthens the bullish outlook as long as ETH can remain above it. A deeper drop toward the 200 SMA ($4,068) would signal a broader correction phase and potentially extend the consolidation before another push higher.

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The recent pullback shows that sellers are active near the $4,900–$5,000 region, which now forms a critical resistance. A breakout above this level would open the path to uncharted territory and likely accelerate momentum, with targets potentially stretching toward $5,200 and beyond.

On the downside, failure to hold the $4,450–$4,400 support area could shift sentiment bearish in the short term, with traders eyeing $4,200 as the next key demand zone.

Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView

XRP’s performance against Bitcoin is returning to a familiar pattern, and the charts are not looking good as August comes to a close. On the daily time frame, the pair is orbiting 0.000025 BTC after failing to hold its push above 0.000030 BTC. 

The candles are below the midline of the Bollinger setup, and the bands are tighter, which often happens before a bigger move. Since XRP is on the lower end of that range, it suggests that the bias is on the downside.

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On the weekly chart, the pattern looks even clearer. The rally that started at the end of last year lifted XRP from its lowest point in years, but it topped out quickly once it hit the 0.000030 zone. 

Since then, weekly closes have been dropping, and it looks like they have hit a ceiling, similar to what we saw before. The rejection from the upper band leaves the pair in a position to support itself, and the next pocket that is easy to spot is closer to 0.000023 BTC.

The monthly view tells the longest story. XRP used to have ratios that put it in the same ballpark as Bitcoin — trading above 0.000100 BTC in 2017 and even hitting 0.000200 BTC at its peak. Those days are long gone. 

What’s next?

Every time there has been an attempt to recover, it has been cut down before crossing the long-standing ceiling around 0.000055 BTC. That barrier has not been broken in over five years, and the market has seen every test as a chance to sell into strength.

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When you put it all together, it looks like XRP is entering another period where it is going to lag behind Bitcoin. With BTC dominance still close to 59% and capital flow favoring the leading coin, altcoin pairs like XRP/BTC continue to show weakness.

Ethereum (ETH) approached within 3.9% of its all-time high as altcoins demonstrated broad strength.

Leverage across major alternative cryptocurrencies reached a record $47 billion according to Glassnode data.

Ethereum traded at $4,738.94 as of press time, up by 3.1% in the past 24 hours and just 2.7% away from its all-time high registered in November 2021. 

The rally coincided with widespread altcoin gains, with seven-day returns showing Ethereum and Dogecoin both up 25.5%, XRP gaining 16.2%, and Solana advancing 13.6%.

Bitfinex head of derivatives Jag Kooner attributed Ethereum’s momentum to “strong ETF inflows, institutional accumulation, and a favourable macro backdrop after softer CPI data boosted rate-cut expectations.” 

The combination has driven traders back into risk assets, with both Bitcoin and Ethereum seeing renewed long positioning.

Options activity signals breakout expectations

Ethereum options open interest climbed to a year-to-date high of approximately $16.1 billion alongside the spot price rally, according to Glassnode.

The elevated open interest signals strong demand for optionality around the potential breakout above previous highs.

Call premium activity confirms bullish positioning, with traders paying approximately $82 million on Aug. 8 and $31.5 million on Aug. 11, consistently outpacing put premium. 

Glassnode data indicated traders are paying premiums for upside convexity as Ethereum approaches record levels.

Options data shows low implied volatility despite the open interest buildup, suggesting markets expect a sharp move ahead while hedging downside risk. 

Kooner, from Bitfinex, noted that compressed volatility indicates any macro shock could trigger significant price swings.

Altcoin sector shows statistical outperformance

Market-cap-weighted seven-day returns across top altcoins breached the line in a standard deviation band three times since April, marking statistically significant outperformance periods. 

The magnitude and frequency highlight sustained capital rotation from Bitcoin into the altcoin sector.

The leverage buildup creates conditions where price movements can trigger cascading effects across multiple assets.

Glassnode highlighted that the broad altcoin strength reflects “an intensifying speculative bid and a market-wide appetite for higher beta exposures as momentum builds outside Bitcoin.”

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On-Chain Data Shows ETH Long-Term Bullish, Short-Term Vulnerable

In a QuickTake post on CryptoQuant, CryptoOnChain shares insights on Ethereum’s future price movement based on recent exchange activity. The digital asset analyst notes that after rallying from the $2,400 zone, ETH has climbed to around $4,215, just shy of the strong $4,400 resistance level that has historically acted as a significant supply barrier. While momentum indicators such as the MACD and buying volume remain positive, the approach toward this resistance is accompanied by potential for near-term selling pressure.

Meanwhile, CryptoOnChain also reveals that on-chain exchange metrics reveal a divergence between broader market behavior and activity specific to Binance. Notably, Ethereum’s Exchange Supply Ratio (ESR) across all exchanges has recorded a steady decline since 2022, now standing at approximately 0.16. This development suggests that investors are steadily moving ETH off trading platforms, thereby reducing sell-side liquidity and strengthening the market confidence in the asset’s long-term price outlook.

However, Binance’s ESR has been climbing since early 2025, now hovering near 0.04. This localized increase indicates that some ETH holders are moving coins back into Binance, potentially for short-term profit taking, arbitrage opportunities, or to participate in exchange-specific programs. Adding to the cautious tone, Binance’s exchange netflow has recently seen a notable surge in positive inflows, as Ethereum nears key resistance at $4,400, signifying potential intent to sell.

The combination of these metrics paints a picture of long-term strength but short-term vulnerability for the Ethereum market. From a macro standpoint, the ongoing decline in the all-exchange ESR points to a healthier supply-demand balance for ETH. However, the localized buildup of ETH on Binance, which is the world’s largest exchange, coupled with heightened net inflows, suggests that sellers may be preparing to take profits in the immediate term.

Ethereum Price Forecast

At press time, Ethereum trades at $4,230, reflecting a 4.62% gain in the last day. However, the asset’s daily trading volume has declined by 12.08%.  Considering the current ESR report, CryptoOnChain outlines two scenarios.

In a bullish scenario, a swift drop in Binance net inflows or a leveling off in the exchange’s ESR could open the door for ETH to push decisively past the $4,400 mark, with $4,800 as the next price target amidst the possibility of revisiting all-time highs. Conversely, if strong inflows into Binance persist and the price fails to clear $4,400, ETH could face a short-term pullback, potentially retracing to the $3,950–$4,000 support zone before mounting another breakout attempt.

Dragonfly managing partner Haseeb Qureshi revealed that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will not bring criminal charges against the crypto venture firm, as Tornado Cash co‑founder Roman Storm’s federal trial in Manhattan neared its conclusion.

Qureshi, whose investment firm backed several blockchain startups, wrote on social media that federal prosecutor Nathan Rehn told the court July 28 that neither Dragonfly nor its principals were targets of the department’s investigation.

He called the public clarification “unprecedented” and “a clear violation of DOJ policy,” citing the Justice Department’s usual practice of keeping target information confidential. The development comes days after Qureshi publicly denounced the DOJ over targeting the firm for backing Tornado Cash in 2020 as part of Storm’s trial.

Storm, who co‑founded Tornado Cash in 2019 as an open‑source protocol to anonymize cryptocurrency transactions, is charged with laundering more than $1 billion and violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

The trial, which began July 14 in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, has heard testimony from blockchain tracing experts and former Tornado Cash users. Closing arguments are expected later this week.

Tornado Cash was added to the U.S. Treasury Department’s sanctions list in August 2022, marking the first time a software protocol faced such action. Prosecutors allege Storm personally approved transactions for illicit actors, while defense attorneys argue that the protocol’s code, not its creator, should be judged.

Dragonfly invested in Tornado Cash in 2020 after obtaining an outside legal opinion that the mixer complied with U.S. anti‑money‑laundering guidance issued by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

The outcome of Storm’s case could reshape how open‑source developers are held accountable for user activity. If convicted, Storm faces up to 45 years in prison, a sentence that critics warn could chill innovation in privacy‑enhancing tools.

Qureshi wrote:

“With that behind us, the focus should remain on Roman Storm’s trial, which is now nearing closing arguments as soon as this week. Its outcome will have massive implications for open-source software and privacy rights in America.”

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Hongji Feng

Author

Hongji Feng

About Author

Hongji is a crypto and tech reporter. He graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s. He has previously interned at HTX (Huobi Global),…

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July 24, 2025

As Bitcoin dominance continues to slide in Q3 2025, traders are shifting focus to altcoins with outsized potential. In this altcoin season, previously dismissed tokens are regaining momentum.

Shiba Inu and Bonk represent a renewed wave of meme coin speculation, while Cardano is attracting capital on institutional narratives. Together, the three tokens indicate a market phase driven by a mix of hype, community strength, and real development, where sentiment cycles are moving faster than ever.

Shiba Inu: More Than a Meme

SHIB is trading at $0.00001367 with a market cap of $8 billion and a 24-hour volume of nearly $462 million.

While often still called a meme coin, SHIB has quietly built out an ecosystem. The Shibarium Layer-2 network supports DeFi, NFTs, and dApps. SHIB is also used for gas fees, marking a clear move toward functionality.

Recent community DAO proposals and staking integrations have added to its infrastructure.

Whale wallets have increased holdings by over 600% in recent weeks, according to CryptoRank. On LunarCrush, SHIB recorded 6,400+ mentions and nearly 350,000 engagements in July.

These figures, paired with a 15% monthly gain, suggest that SHIB may be evolving into a hybrid token: part-meme, part-platform. In this cycle, that blend may be what keeps it relevant.

Bonk: Taking Over in Altcoin Season

BONK is trading at $0.000034 with a $2.76 billion market cap and a 24-hour volume of over $1.6 million.

BONK Price (Source: CoinMarketCap)

The token is now integrated into multiple Solana dApps, including Jupiter and native GameFi applications.

Though it began as a meme, BONK’s utility in liquidity provisioning and in-game use cases has grown. Exchange support has expanded, and burn campaigns have supported scarcity narratives.

Social activity remains high, with whale wallets rotating in and out, suggesting both speculation and trend-based trading.

It has gained nearly 140% in the past 30 days, and despite volatility, BONK appears to be maturing in tandem with Solana’s broader ecosystem rebound. If the altcoin season truly returns in the second half of 2025, BONK could deliver competitive performance.

Cardano: Utility Anchored in Narrative

ADA is trading at $0.81 with a $29 billion market cap and $2.4 billion in daily volume.

Cardano’s market position is supported by fundamental upgrades. The Hydra Layer-2 scaling protocol is operational, and the Mithril fast-sync update is now live. Voltaire governance milestones are also progressing, giving token holders greater control.

Stablecoin activity is increasing. Djed and USDA are both active, contributing to on-chain liquidity.

Unlike meme coins, ADA benefits from long-tail trust, and its current breakout mirrors their trend, showing how retail and institutional flows can align.

Altcoin Season: Attention is Allocation

SHIB, BONK, and ADA sit at different points on the speculation-to-utility spectrum. But all are benefiting from renewed flows in a fast-rotating market. Meme energy, protocol upgrades, and community activation have all contributed. As altcoin season accelerates, attention is proving to be a proxy for momentum. And for now, these three tokens have it.

Retail enthusiasm is rising alongside deeper on-chain activity, suggesting this altseason is no longer limited to quick pumps. Instead, even legacy tokens are evolving under market pressure, blending narrative, utility, and engagement.

When volatility returns, SHIB, BONK, and ADA show the different ways tokens can stay relevant. Whether driven by community, use case, or trader momentum, they remain in rotation—at least for now.

Cantor Fitzgerald’s blank‑cheque affiliate is in late‑stage talks to acquire more than $3 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) from Adam Back’s Blockstream Capital through a transaction that could exceed $4 billion, the Financial Times reported on July 15. 

Cantor Equity Partners 1, a special‑purpose acquisition company that raised $200 million in a January IPO, would issue new shares to Back in exchange for as much as 30,000 BTC. The amount represents approximately $3 billion at current prices.

Furthermore, the firm intends to seek up to $800 million in additional outside capital for further Bitcoin purchases. Upon completion of the transaction, the vehicle will be renamed BSTR Holdings.

Deal details

If completed, the deal would mirror a $3.6 billion Bitcoin buying venture, Twenty One Capital, that Cantor Fitzgerald’s Brandon Lutnick set up with SoftBank and Tether in April.

Combined, the two SPACs could accumulate nearly $10 billion in Bitcoin this year, positioning Cantor as one of the most active institutional buyers of the asset. 

Back is best known for inventing Hashcash and co-founding Blockstream in 2014. As part of the deal, Back will swap the contributed Bitcoin for equity in the public firm.

Blockstream Capital’s stake would rise alongside any subsequent purchases the SPAC finances with newly raised capital. Brandon Lutnick was named chair of Cantor Fitzgerald in February after his father, Howard Lutnick, became US Commerce Secretary.

Cantor’s move follows a playbook popularized by Strategy, whose Bitcoin treasury approach has prompted a wave of corporations and SPACs to raise equity or issue convertible bonds to buy BTC outright. 

Timing and regulatory backdrop

Negotiators aim to finalize terms as early as this week, placing the announcement in the midst of what Republican lawmakers have branded “Crypto Week,” during which the House is debating multiple digital asset bills. 

Cantor’s push also aligns with President Donald Trump’s deregulatory stance toward crypto markets, a shift that executives describe as conducive to large balance sheet allocations. 

The transaction would require shareholder approval and review by the Securities and Exchange Commission of updated disclosures detailing the Bitcoin contribution and capital raise. 

Should the SPAC complete its acquisition and subsequent fundraising, BSTR Holdings would emerge as one of the world’s largest listed holders of Bitcoin, trailing only Strategy and a handful of spot ETF trusts.

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Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), the largest public holder of Bitcoin, is again making headlines—this time for potentially qualifying for inclusion in the prestigious S&P 500 index.

On July 1, Jeff Walton, founder of MSTR True North, revealed that the company will likely report an $11 billion net income for the just-concluded second quarter of the year.

Separately, Bloomberg estimated the figure could be even higher—up to $14 billion in unrealized profit—thanks to fair-value accounting standards applied to its Bitcoin holdings. This places the company in the same earnings bracket as tech giants like Apple and Microsoft.

Walton emphasized that this milestone clears the final hurdle for inclusion in the S&P 500, as it fulfills the profitability criterion based on a four-quarter cumulative positive income. However, the final decision rests with the S&P Index Committee, where debate is expected.

The S&P 500 comprises 500 top-performing US public companies by market capitalization, collectively representing around 80% of the total market cap of US equities. Entry into this index requires meeting several standards, including US domicile, sufficient liquidity, and positive earnings over the last four quarters.

Last year, Strategy was added to several top stock indexes like the Nasdaq 100 and MSCI World Index.

However, analysts like Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas have long viewed an S&P 500 inclusion as the firm’s “holy grail.” Such a move would significantly validate the firm’s unconventional Bitcoin-centric approach and raise its stature in mainstream finance.

The company’s stock trades well above the net asset value of its Bitcoin holdings, mainly due to investor demand for indirect crypto exposure.

This premium allows the firm to issue shares, raise capital, and acquire more Bitcoin. Though this dilutes existing shareholders’ equity, it increases the Bitcoin-per-share ratio, which helps boost the intrinsic value of each investor’s stake.

The strategy has also contributed to elevated share prices that have outperformed all those in the S&P 500 index since the firm adopted the Bitcoin standard in 2020.

So far, Strategy has acquired 597,325 BTC, valued at over $63.9 billion, with an unrealized gain exceeding $21 billion.

Interestingly, news of a potential inclusion in the S&P Index did not help boost market sentiment, with Strategy shares down 6% in early trading on July 1 to $379.20 as of press time.

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