What Happened in Crypto This Week: Fed Decision Looms Over a Volatile Market
By Giovane
As we head closer to the end of the month, investors are reassessing their positions amid mixed signals from macro events and momentum shifts across crypto assets. For this reason, we’ve seen significant moves in the crypto market this week, as investors await the next interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve on July 29–30.
Monday
At the start of the week, we reported how the Bank of America shared grim expectations for those anticipating lower interest rates later down the line. The institution claimed that rate cuts might not materialize until mid-2026, citing sticky inflation and the ongoing strength of labor markets as core reasons. This prediction goes against the majority of analysts, including those from Bloomberg, who anticipate rate cuts by September of this year.
Also on the same date, we reported that Ethereum whale activity was on the rise, even surpassing that of Bitcoin whales. Over the past few weeks, Ethereum has gained significant momentum across both institutional and retail channels, a trend that may reflect a growing appetite for ETH among large-fund investors.
Finally, UK regulators confirmed the effectiveness of their MoU on Financial Market Infrastructures (FMI), reinforcing cooperation between the Bank of England and the FCA across CCPs, the Digital Securities Sandbox, and emerging T+1 settlement systems.
Tuesday
We started off the day with reports of Elon Musk’s SpaceX moving massive amounts of Bitcoin. On this date, SpaceX reactivated a dormant wallet to transfer 1,308 BTC worth over $140 million, igniting speculations of what the company is looking to do with its Bitcoin reserve.
Across blockchains, Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has acquired 4.77 million shares of BitMine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), signaling a sizeable bet on BitMine’s Ethereum treasury strategy. While not direct ETH exposure, many in the industry consider this move as further confirmation that companies are becoming less resistant to Ethereum adoption.
Meanwhile, Telegram wallets went live in the U.S., kickstarting a new wave of crypto adoption in one of the world’s most popular direct-messaging apps.
The passing of the iconic Rock and Roll legend Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t unnoticed in the crypto industry. Fans rushed to buy Ozzy’s 2023 NFT line, in a final tribute to the Prince of Darkness.
Wednesday
We begin the day with reports that the U.S. government had seized over $7 million in a crypto scam that appeared to function as an oil and gas investment scheme.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee unveiled the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFI Act), a sweeping draft bill that hands the SEC primary authority over digital assets. It introduces a new “Regulation DA” framework to modernize token offerings and proposes replacing the Howey Test with a clearer rule for investment contracts.
Crypto financial products also got a push over the week, with 21Shares filing an SEC request to create an ONDO-based trust fund. Also on this date, we reported how one of the most hyped new crypto tokens in the market, PUMP, fell to a historically low level, reaching even beneath presale prices.
The Pump token wasn’t the only digital asset to go down throughout the week, however. In this article, we reported on massive liquidations in the Ethereum and XRP markets, as altcoins plunged due to macroeconomic uncertainty.
Thursday
Despite the market correction, Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to perform well in the market. This week marked a major milestone in the sector as BlackRock’s ETHA became the third-fastest ETF to hit the mark of $10 billion in assets under management.
Institutional demand is still strong, and the leader of the Bitcoin corporate game, MicroStrategy, announced that it was raising its preferred stock offering from $500 million to over $2 billion, massively increasing its potential Bitcoin acquisition power for the next few months.
Friday
Following up on the institutional demand hook, this report highlights this growth in the trend, given that the number of companies owning 1,000 BTC or more has grown by 45.8% since January 1st.
This week was marked by one of the largest single-entity selloffs of Bitcoin in history. On Friday, we reported that about eight dormant wallets dating back over a decade suddenly woke up and moved over $9 billion.
Despite a few market downturns, the overall sentiment continues to be that crypto and other risky markets will enter a wait-and-see mode until this week's interest rate decision by the Fed. While an interest rate cut would come as a surprise to many, the odds are slim, but even an unexpected pivot has the power to reshape the near-term outlook for crypto.
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