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ETH Outperforms BTC As Investors Turn Attention Toward TradFi Adoption

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ETH Outperforms BTC As Investors Turn Attention Toward TradFi Adoption

Key takeaways:

  • BitMine’s aggressive ETH accumulation has reinforced the $1,500 support despite $8B unrealized losses.
  • Glamsterdam upgrade and Robinhood Chain launch signal stronger TradFi focus for Ethereum’s base layer.

Ether (ETH) price rallied 15% in five days, distancing itself from the $1,500 low hit on June 26. Part of the improvement in investor sentiment can be pinned to the final tests on Ethereum’s Glamsterdam upgrade, targeted for later in 2026. Moreover, BitMine Immersion Technologies’ continued Ether accumulation helped strengthen the support level. Will $2,000 come next?

Total crypto capitalization/USD (left) vs. ETH/USD (right). Source: TradingView

Ether outperformed the total crypto market capitalization by 7% over the past 30 days. Some excitement came from optimism about the passage of the Digital Assets CLARITY Act, a bill that has faced several hurdles advancing in Congress after pushback from the banking sector on stablecoin regulation and potential rewards to its holders.

ETH options 25% delta skew (put-call) at Deribit. Source: Laevitas

Ether’s recent rally toward $1,800 was enough to instill some confidence in ETH options markets as the skew (put-call) metric exited the fear levels that prevailed until Friday. The current 9% premium in put (sell) options relative to equivalent call (buy) instruments is far from bullish, but it distances itself from the 15% mark from the prior week. Levels above 12% typically indicate extreme fear.

Ethereum network upgrade, Robinhood Chain behind ETH price rally

One of Ethereum’s main criticisms lies in its scalability using layer-2 rollups facilitated by data packages (blobs) that drastically reduced transaction fees but triggered fierce debates over long-term data censorship and centralization. Base layer network fees took a hit, which in turn reduced ETH burning and ultimately led to inflationary supply dynamics.

Ethereum base layer monthly network revenue, USD. Source: DefiLlama

The Ethereum Glamsterdam upgrade, currently in the testing phase, should improve network processing speeds by allowing more transactions to be processed in parallel. The proposal will also expand capacity for Ethereum to handle more data at higher throughput and reduce database bloat. One goal is providing institutional-grade infrastructure for financial use cases.

BitMine (BMNR US) ETH holdings and shares outstanding. Source: bmnr.rocks

The continued accumulation by the US-listed company BitMine Immersion has likely helped strengthen the $1,500 support. The company increased its holdings by 325,000 ETH over the past month, boosting its reserves to 5.74 million ETH. Regardless of the current $8 billion in unrealized losses on its ETH holdings, BitMine continues its path toward acquiring 5% of the existing supply.

Related: Vitalik Buterin shares priorities for new ‘Lean Ethereum’ strawmap

The launch of Robinhood Chain on July 2, an EVM-compatible Ethereum layer-2 built using Arbitrum technology, helped consolidate the ecosystem with the traditional finance industry. More importantly, Robinhood rolled out tokenized stock trading in more than 120 countries along with major decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations, including Uniswap, 1inch and Morpho.

While Ethereum onchain and derivatives metrics paint a somewhat bearish picture with low network fees and low conviction in options markets, Ether’s upside comes from real-world traditional finance use case growth and network upgrades capable of significantly expanding base layer capacity. Overall, the path to ETH at $2,000 appears entirely viable in the near term.

Polymarket Turns On Instant Bitcoin Deposits Via Lightning Network, Powered By Spark

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Polymarket Turns On Instant Bitcoin Deposits Via Lightning Network, Powered By Spark

Polymarket, the crypto-native prediction market, has begun supporting instant Bitcoin deposits over the Lightning Network. The feature uses infrastructure from Spark, a Bitcoin protocol built for payments and stablecoins. 

In a post on X, Spark told users they can deposit BTC to the platform with more speed and more privacy than the older method offered.

The move extends a funding push that started in October 2025, when Polymarket switched on standard on-chain Bitcoin deposits. Those deposits carried a wait: most on-chain Bitcoin transactions need three to six confirmations, a window of 10 to 60 minutes, before a platform credits an account. 

The on-chain route carried a higher minimum deposit, a reflection of bridging costs. For a trader who wants a position on a live market, both the delay and the fee are a cost.

Lightning and Spark close the gap. Spark validates a Bitcoin transaction at the moment it broadcasts, checking for double-spend risk, fee adequacy, and replace-by-fee flags. 

The protocol credits the deposit in under a second and absorbs the confirmation risk, a design Spark markets as zero-conf. 

Polymarket does not have to manage confirmation thresholds or run its own Lightning nodes; a single Spark SDK handles on-chain, Lightning, and stablecoin rails.

Spark keeps deposits self-custodial. Each wallet ties to the user’s own keys, so the protocol, not Polymarket, carries the operational load, and users retain control of funds until a trade. 

Spark counts wallet providers such as Breez, Xverse, and Cake among the teams building on the same rails, and Tether chief Paolo Ardoino has praised the protocol as a route to programmable Bitcoin over Lightning.

Polymarket’s boom over the years

Timing matters for a company in a growth phase. 

Founded in 2020, Polymarket rose to prominence during the 2024 U.S. presidential election and has added Chainlink oracles, earnings markets, and a fresh contest with regulated rival Kalshi. 

Faster, cheaper funding lowers the barrier for the Bitcoin holders who make up a large share of the crypto audience, and it hands Polymarket a fresh answer to a rival that has pressed it on volume.

Nigel Farage Resigns as MP Amid Crypto ‘Gift’ Scandal, Will Stand in By-Election

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Nigel Farage Resigns as MP Amid Crypto ‘Gift’ Scandal, Will Stand in By-Election

Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK’s Reform party, announced that he would resign as a member of Parliament and stand in the by-election that could replace him.

On Tuesday, Farage announced that he would resign as MP representing Clacton in response to what he called “foul means” by established politicians. The UK lawmaker’s resignation followed reports that he had personally received millions of dollars’ worth of donations and gifts from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne and George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster linked to a crypto casino.

“Let me be absolutely clear: I have done nothing wrong,” said Farage in an X livestream. “I have not broken the law in any way at all. I have not misused public money.” 

Source: Nigel Farage

Farage already had ties to the crypto industry before reports of the scandal. He spoke at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas and is an investor in London-listed Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company Stack. When reports began circulating in May that the Reform leader had received a $6.7 million gift from Harborne, he initially called it a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit, the 2016 referendum that led to the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Related: Crypto billionaires bankroll Nigel Farage’s pro-crypto party

The UK lawmaker confirmed that he was the subject of two probes by the UK’s parliamentary standards commissioner following reports of what he called “gifts” from Harborne and Cottrell, which he claimed were given “on an unconditional basis.”

He said that he would use Harborne’s gift for funding related to his security, describing threats and attacks, and that the by-election triggered by his resignation would give voters the opportunity to choose whether or not he will continue to represent them:

“I’ve decided that the people of Clacton should be the judges of my actions […] I will be putting my name forward to stand in this by-election.”

According to The London Standard, the election determining Farage’s fate as an MP could take weeks or months given the logistics of his stepping down and calling for a by-election. He won in Clacton with 46.2% of the vote in July 2024 against the Conservative and Labour candidates.

Countdown to US elections with crypto money hanging over candidates

While Farage faces probes in the UK, money from crypto companies and figures tied to the industry could continue to influence US races in November’s midterm elections.

According to a June report from US consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the crypto industry had spent about $189 million to support candidates considered favorable to digital asset policies as part of the 2026 election cycle. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump faces criticism from many lawmakers over his 2025 financial disclosures, which included reporting $1.4 billion in earnings related to crypto.

Magazine: Nobody knows if quantum secure cryptography will even work

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

USDT Leads Payments, USDC Dominates DeFi

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USDT Leads Payments, USDC Dominates DeFi

The world’s biggest stablecoins are increasingly becoming chain-specific financial products, with Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) serving distinct roles across the crypto ecosystem rather than competing head-on.

Dune’s Digital Asset Brief found that USDT overwhelmingly dominates onchain payments. During the first half of 2026, the biggest stablecoin settled about $95 billion in identified commerce payments, compared with $14 billion for second-biggest USDC. It also accounted for roughly 92% of the $48 billion in business-to-business payment volume. On Tron, USDT’s largest network, around 93% of the token’s supply is held in ordinary wallets rather than on exchanges, underscoring its role as a payment and remittance asset.

USDC, meanwhile, has established itself as the dominant stablecoin in decentralized finance. USDC on Base processed roughly $2.6 trillion in transfer volume in June, the highest of any token-chain pair, while on Ethereum, that stablecoin handled another $1.6 trillion. 

USDC on Base recorded daily velocity of about 20 times its circulating supply in June, reflecting its extensive use in trading and DeFi. Source: Dune

The findings suggest the traditional USDT-versus-USDC narrative is becoming less useful. Instead, each stablecoin is carving out its own niche, with USDT dominating payments and USDC underpinning much of crypto’s trading and DeFi activity.

USDT’s supply is split almost evenly between Tron and Ethereum, while USDC remains heavily concentrated on Ethereum despite expanding to newer blockchains. Source: Dune

The findings come as the two digital assets continue to dominate the stablecoin market. Together, they account for roughly 83% of the sector’s approximately $315 billion market capitalization, according to Dune, which tracked more than 200 stablecoin tokens across multiple blockchains.

Related: UN agency moves Stellar blockchain payment initiative beyond pilot stage

US lawmakers reshape stablecoin rules

The stablecoin sector has gained momentum in the United States following the passage of the GENIUS Act. Signed into law in 2025, GENIUS established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, paving the way for banks and other companies to issue US dollar-pegged digital assets.

Lawmakers are now debating the CLARITY Act, which would establish a broader market structure for digital assets by defining when crypto assets fall under the jurisdiction of the US Securities and Exchange Commission or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While the bill does not regulate stablecoins directly, it would shape the broader regulatory environment in which stablecoin issuers, exchanges and DeFi platforms operate.

CLARITY cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May and could receive a full Senate vote before the August recess, although Galaxy recently trimmed its odds of passage before the break to 50% as lawmakers run short on time.

Magazine: Kraken’s $600M stablecoin firm, Huione scandal deepens: Asia Express

Bitcoin NUPL Bottom Not Yet in Sight With BTC Due New Lows

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Bitcoin NUPL Bottom Not Yet in Sight With BTC Due New Lows

Bitcoin (BTC) has further to fall for one of its “cleanest cycle clocks” to signal a bear-market bottom, new analysis says.

Key points:

  • One of Bitcoin’s “cleanest cycle clocks” suggests that new macro lows are needed this bear market.
  • The NUPL metric is still in positive territory, setting it apart from previous bear markets.
  • Analysis expects history to repeat with a higher low on a long-term NUPL moving average.

CryptoQuant: Bitcoin NUPL contains “level to watch”

In research published on Monday, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant flagged an incoming profitability floor for the BTC supply.

The onchain metric involved was Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL), which measures the portion of the supply being held at a higher or lower price versus that at which it last moved. Its score is currently 0.158, a level last seen in early 2023.

“Smoothed into its 30 and 100-day exponential moving averages (EMAs), it becomes one of the cleanest cycle clocks on-chain,” contributor TheChessOnChain commented.

An accompanying chart shows the 100-day EMA of NUPL slowly trending toward cycle bottom levels below zero.

“Every time the 100-day EMA of NUPL fell below zero, Bitcoin was carving its cycle bottom: late 2011 (low near $2), January 2015 ($182), the 2018 bear ($3,206 in December 2018), and the 2022 FTX bottom ($15,792 in November 2022),” TheChessOnChain noted.

Bitcoin NUPL data (screenshot). Source: CryptoQuant

At just above $60,000, BTC/USD corresponds to an NUPL 100-day EMA of 0.215, signalling plenty of room left to drop in order to match previous bear-market lows.

CryptoQuant acknowledged that NUPL has put in higher lows throughout Bitcoin’s history, meaning that even a trip below the zero line may not be essential.

“That leaves two paths,” it continued, describing the four extant zero-line crosses as a “pattern, not a law.” 

“Either the 100-day EMA crosses zero as it did at every prior bottom, or this becomes the first cycle to bottom without it, which would fit the shallower-each-time trend.”

No time frame was given for when the next bottom could occur, with CryptoQuant specifying the zero line as the “level to watch in the coming weeks.”

Bear market reversal signals copy history

As Cointelegraph reported, multiple bear-market reversal signals have come from onchain sources in recent weeks, echoing 2022.

Related: $60.4K Becomes ‘most important area’: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

Despite these now locking in, market participants broadly expect new macro lows to enter before bulls regain the upper hand.

Last week, fellow CryptoQuant contributor Axel Adler Jr. highlighted other supply data presenting mixed signals over short and mid-term BTC price action. Supply in loss, Adler calculated, could still be two months off levels that traditionally correspond to the end of Bitcoin bear markets.

“Until then, it is more accurate to treat capitulation as a process rather than a completed fact,” he wrote.

Crypto exchange Kraken is trying to become a bank in Europe

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Crypto exchange Kraken is trying to become a bank in Europe

Kraken, the cryptocurrency exchange planning to go public in the U.S., is pursuing a full banking license in Europe, with a focus on Lithuania as the jurisdiction to secure it, according to a person familiar with the plans.

If the firm gets the license, Kraken would be the only crypto exchange to have such a designation. It will also tread the same regulatory path as fintech major Revolut, which holds a specialized European banking license issued in 2018 and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania. This allowed Revolut to offer full current accounts, consumer lending, and stock trading across the European Economic Area (EEA).

Kraken declined to comment on the plans. A spokesman for the Bank of Lithuania said the licensing process of financial market participants is confidential.

Other fintech firms holding a banking or specialized bank license in Lithuania include Mano Bank, PayRay, European Merchant Bank (EMBank), AB Fjord Bank, and Saldo Bank.

The move to gain full banking status in Europe is part of a broader effort by Payward, Kraken’s parent company, to obtain additional licenses globally.

Vanguard opens search for digital assets leader in sign of evolving crypto strategy

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Vanguard opens search for digital assets leader in sign of evolving crypto strategy

Vanguard has opened the search for a head of digital assets, creating a senior role that would oversee the firm’s strategy for cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based financial technology.

The position, listed within Vanguard Personal Wealth, calls for an executive to develop the firm’s digital asset vision, identify business opportunities and lead execution across product, technology, operations, legal and compliance teams. The candidate will also advise senior leadership on changes in digital asset markets, represent Vanguard in discussions with regulators and industry groups and help shape the firm’s long-term approach.

It also highlights other areas of the ecosystem, including tokenization, stablecoins, digital wallets, custody, blockchain-enabled settlement and operating models as areas the executive will evaluate, as well as determining whether Vanguard should build new capabilities internally, partner with third parties or delay entering certain parts of the market.

The search marks another step in Vanguard’s gradual shift toward digital assets after years of resisting the sector. The asset manager, which oversees roughly $10 trillion, remained one of crypto’s largest institutional skeptics while peers such as BlackRock, Fidelity and Franklin Templeton rolled out spot bitcoin ETFs and other blockchain initiatives.

Analysts see more upside for SpaceX as post-IPO research begins

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Analysts see more upside for SpaceX as post-IPO research begins

Wall Street analysts have begun coverage of SpaceX (SPCX) following the expiration of the 25-day quiet period after the company’s June initial public offering (IPO), with nearly every major brokerage launching their coverage with a bullish rating.

The aerospace and satellite company, which held 18,712 bitcoin BTC$63,953.04 as of March 31, went public in June, raising $75 billion in one of the year’s largest IPOs. Shares were priced at $135 in the offering. The stock was trading at $150.93 on Tuesday, down more than 6% from recent post-listing highs but still above its IPO price.

The two lead underwriters, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, both initiated coverage with buy-equivalent ratings. Goldman analyst Eric Sheridan set a price target of $205, while Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas assigned a $300 target.

They were joined by analysts at Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, Macquarie, RBC Capital Markets, UBS and Wells Fargo, all of which launched coverage with buy or equivalent recommendations.

The most optimistic forecast came from Raymond James, where analyst Brian Gesuale initiated coverage with a Strong Buy rating and an $800 price target.

SpaceX IPO powers record $3.86 billion in tokenized equities trading in June

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SpaceX IPO powers record $3.86 billion in tokenized equities trading in June

Tokenized equities posted record trading activity in June as investors piled into blockchain-based versions of SpaceX (SPCX) stock following the aerospace company’s blockbuster initial public offering.

On-chain trading volume climbed 145% from May to $3.86 billion, according to CoinDesk Data’s latest Stablecoins & Tokenized Assets report. Tokenized SpaceX shares accounted for $1.19 billion of the total, or about 31% of all tokenized equity trading during the month.

The surge followed SpaceX’s $75 billion IPO, the largest on record, which valued the company at roughly $1.8 trillion on a fully diluted basis.

Backpack Securities’ SPCX token was the most popular tokenized version of the stock, with $1.08 billion in onchain trading volume, followed by xStocks’ SPCXx, which reached $852 million.

The figures point to a change in what is driving demand for tokenized equities. Established names like Nvidia, Tesla, SPY and QQQ remained actively traded, but none matched the interest in SpaceX. For context, Backpack’s tokenized instruments traded $1.42 billion for the month, the lion’s share of which was in SPCX tokens.

The sector reached a record $1.53 billion in market capitalization during June, up 6.64% from the previous month and marking its fifteenth straight month of growth, the report adds.

Tether Invests $20 Million In Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin

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Tether Invests $20 Million In Brazil’s Mercado Bitcoin

Tether said Tuesday it will invest $20 million in a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, a move that deepens the stablecoin issuer’s push into Latin America’s fast-growing market for blockchain-based financial services.

Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry and the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, framed the deal as part of a broader strategy of backing platforms that pair regulatory licensing with market scale. 

Mercado Bitcoin, founded in São Paulo in 2013, has grown from a cryptocurrency exchange into what it describes as a full-stack on-chain financial services platform.

The company now serves 4.5 million users and says it has issued more than 2 billion reais in tokenized assets. It holds more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a payment institution license from Brazil’s central bank, along with broker-dealer, securitization and asset management capabilities. 

Its business spans trading, tokenized investment products, credit and lending, stablecoin-based payments, and cross-border services.

“Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that, a regulated, full-stack on-chain financial platform serving millions of users across one of the world’s most dynamic financial markets,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement. He said the company’s mix of licensing, tokenization infrastructure and integrated services is unmatched in the region.

Roberto Dagnoni, chairman and chief executive of Mercado Bitcoin, said the shift of finance onto blockchain rails is underway and that the focus has turned to building infrastructure for tokenization, stablecoins, payments and capital markets at scale. He said the investment strengthens the company’s ability to expand its on-chain services in Brazil and abroad.

Mercado Bitcoin’s expanded infrastructure

Mercado Bitcoin said it will use the capital to expand its payments infrastructure, scale tokenized investment offerings for retail and institutional investors, grow its lending and credit business, advance on-chain capital markets, and continue international expansion.

The investment lands as banks and consumers move toward programmable, blockchain-based systems for moving and accessing money. 

Tether pointed to Brazil as a leader in that transition, citing the country’s large financial market, high digital adoption and developing regulatory framework. Brazil has drawn attention from crypto and payments firms in part because of Pix, the central bank’s instant-payment system, which has reshaped how money moves in the country.

The deal continues an active stretch of dealmaking for Tether, whose reserves back one of the world’s most widely used stablecoins. In June, the company said it would lead a Series C round of up to $1.4 billion for the German firm NEURA Robotics, one of the largest private raises on record in humanoid robotics.

It also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre to explore work on tokenization and blockchain education. The same month, Tether said it would wind down Alloy by Tether and its aUSDT token after reviewing user activity and market demand.

Neither company disclosed the size of the full financing round or the valuation attached to the investment. Tether described its role as that of a strategic partner and investor in Mercado Bitcoin’s next phase of growth.

The transaction reflects a wider bet across the industry that tokenization and stablecoins will move into mainstream finance, and that regulated platforms in high-growth markets are positioned to capture that demand. 

For Tether, backing Mercado Bitcoin extends its reach beyond issuing USDT and into the infrastructure that companies and consumers use to hold, invest and transfer digital value.

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