Last week started with President Trump gleefully proclaiming “it’s crypto week”, hyping three House bills that are set to make America the unrivaled crypto capital of the world.

Republican infighting, sparked by Marjorie Taylor Greene’s push for a tougher CBDC ban, nearly derailed Trump’s crypto agenda, but after a 10-hour House debate and a swift closed-door chat, the bills finally passed, signaling Trump’s ambitious plans.

Celebrations were triumphant:

Donald Trump Jr. told Bloomberg, “Bitcoin and crypto bills will unlock trillions for America.” Interesting… do tell more.

Bo Hines, Trump’s Executive Director, predicted a $15T-$20T crypto market boom once Stablecoin laws hit. Now you’ve got our attention!

And Treasury Secretary Bessent let slip a key part of the strategy: Stablecoins, tied to the dollar and backed by U.S. Treasuries, could drive private-sector demand for government debt, slashing borrowing costs and taming the national debt.

The implications: every major fintech company is likely to scramble to launch their own Stablecoin; banks will need to integrate and innovate or risk becoming an increasingly less relevant part of the new financial system; payment providers will benefit from faster and cheaper transactions; and the U.S. dollar is the real winner as Stablecoins funnel in new buyers for U.S. government debt.

In a nutshell, Trump’s crypto push is a lifeline for the U.S. dollar in the face of de-dollarization!

Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov said it bluntly, “De-dollarization is unstoppable, and Trump knows it.”

The “Global South” is snapping up gold in anticipation of a major financial system shake-up, while the U.S. audit of Fort Knox remains about as elusive as the Epstein client list. But as the dollar’s dominance hangs in the balance, Bitcoin and Stablecoins could cushion the blow, with America poised to leverage crypto to maintain its edge.

Trump’s tariff wars, the BRICS standoff and his ongoing spat with Fed Chair Powell could be just short term power moves in a last ditch effort to maintain the U.S. dollar global hegemony while betting on a blockchain future!

One thing’s clear: whether Trump’s a true blockchain visionary or just chasing wealth and power, he’s all-in! His crypto crusade isn’t just policy – it’s a high-stakes bet on America’s future, and the world is watching.

Love him or loathe him, Trump’s crypto pivot is a wild ride – and we’re all going along for it.

Market sentiment has remained firmly in: Greed

Crypto market moves:

BTC held up strongly, consolidating below its ATH, as top Altcoins stole the show, clocking another week of strong double digit gains!
ETH is up +21.2%, XRP +22.1%, SOL +26.4%, and DOGE +37% in the last 7 days.
XRP broke through $200M total market cap to secure its place in the #3 position. Fingers crossed for ETF news soon!
Total crypto market cap broke $4 trillion for the first time – showing new money is entering the space.
Bitcoin ETFs saw a net inflow of $2.4 billion last week!
Ethereum ETFs also saw a record $727 million inflows in one day (on 16 July).
The ETH / BTC ratio gained +28% as Bitcoin dominance fell steeply from 66% to 60% – a continued drop could be a strong signal for Altseason 3.0. DYOR!
Another clue in favour: Google search for the term “Altcoins” skyrocketed last week.
The Fear and Greed index has held strongly in the mid 70’s – look for a move higher in sync with the monthly RSI to signal a sustained bull rally.
The big winner of the week is DOGE, as it led many of the Memecoins in a strong rally!
Surprise mover of the week is SOL, shaking off the cobwebs to break back above $200.
The big loser of the week is XMR (Monero) down -3.8%, perhaps in response to the success of “crypto week” bills passing through the House.

View all top gainers: Visit the top gainers page to find out more.

Highlights from the crypto space

Bitcoin held strongly in the $116-120k zone after retreating from the $123.2k high of last week and consolidating, giving the green-light to leading Altcoins to ignite a long awaited rally. Is this the start of the real Altseason 3.0? Always DYOR!

After a stumble out of the gates early last week, President Trump’s “crypto week” was revived and finally passed through Congress following a record breaking 10 hour session – the GENIUS Act was signed into law on Saturday, while the Clarity Act and Anti-CBDC Act go to the Senate.

Democratic lawmakers are still clueless about crypto, characterising it as an outright “scam” and pushing for the rollout of a central bank digital currency instead, saying “as a committee, we’ve learned that there is no legitimate use case for cryptocurrency, as of yet.” Face-to-palm!

Tether CEO confirmed that “Tether will comply with the GENIUS Act” as a foreign issuer, adding that the company has three years to work on it, and in addition they intend to develop a separate US-specific institutional Stablecoin.

Bitcoin is often referred to as a lead market liquidity indicator and it has kept pace remarkably well with the growing Global M2 Money Supply (offset by 80 days) – there is a lot of speculation and hopium on social media about what happens next. DYOR.

The Financial Times reported last week that President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order that would allow 401(k) retirement plans to invest in alternative assets such as gold, private equity and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. That’s c$9 trillion of new liquidity!

Coinbase announced that their new Base App will replace the Coinbase Wallet, combining wallet, trading and payment functions as well as social media, messaging and support for mini apps – as they hope this new “everything app” will broaden reach and relevance.

Charles Schwab CEO confirmed plans to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum trading in a bid to compete with crypto exchange Coinbase.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he doesn’t get the appeal of Stablecoins, but he also can’t afford to stay on the sidelines: “we’re going to be involved in both a JPMorgan deposit coin and Stablecoins to understand it, to be good at it.”

Windtree Therapeutics, a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, unveiled a new BNB Treasury Strategy – as more companies are starting to diversify their holdings to include ETH and other Altcoins.

In other crypto news…

Coinbase has surpassed $1 billion in Bitcoin-backed loans, indicating a significant and growing demand for liquidity solutions.

Michael Saylor is confident that Strategy will eventually be incorporated into the S&P 500 index if they (S&P) want to remain “relevant”.

Australia’s first crypto-backed home loan is set to launch after the product’s owners won a lengthy fight with the corporate regulators.

Polymarket now gives the Ripple XRP ETF a 85% chance of approval in 2025.

Following in Circle’s lead, Grayscale has confidentially filed paperwork for an IPO. Who will be next?

The El Salvador national treasury now owns 6,244.18 Bitcoins worth over $738 million.
Trump Media announced on Monday that it had purchased $2 billion in Bitcoin for its corporate treasury.

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🌎 Macro news TLDR: The Hidden Tax

Two decades ago, the Federal Reserve was a shadowy institution, barely noticed until the Global Financial Crisis and Quantitative Easing turned its leaders into near-celebrities.

Now, every Fed meeting grips markets with anticipation!

Next week’s FOMC meeting is high-stakes. The Trump administration is aggressively pushing for a massive rate cut, while fears of reigniting inflation loom large as Bond yields climb, signaling market jitters. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool pegs the odds of a rate cut at under 5%, so if Fed Chair Powell acts, markets could surge in surprise.

The U.S. Constitution splits power among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Federal Reserve, though critical to the financial system, isn’t one of these branches and operates with intentional independence.

So why is Trump pressuring the Fed on short-term policy? Is this an overreach?

Yes – it’s a blatant violation of the separation of powers. And more troubling is Trump’s obvious desperation to refinance trillions in U.S. debt at lower rates, seemingly blind to the real threat: inflation.

Often called the “silent killer,” inflation erodes money’s value unnoticed, acting like a hidden tax. It hits the middle and lower classes hardest, shrinking their purchasing power as wages lag behind rising prices. An effective way for the government to transfer resources from the population to itself without raising taxes.

Worse yet, it robs future generations, saddling them with devalued currency and higher costs for homes, education, and retirement etc – paying for today’s overspending with weaker dollars.

What will be Fed Chair Powell’s next move? All eyes on next week’s meeting!

Economic news from the Americas

U.S. wholesale inflation was stable in June, a better-than-expected outcome amid early tariff impact concerns. This brought some temporary relief to markets after the hot CPI report last week! Tariffs appear to be raising prices of manufactured goods, but slowing consumer demand kept broader inflation in check.

A top UN Trade and Development Official warned that President Trump’s tariffs policies will likely cause a “cascade effect” across a slowing global economy, saying “We already see a disruption in the global supply chain.”

United Airlines downgraded their earnings expectations citing travel demand, particularly from more price-sensitive customers, has come in weaker than expected because “the world is less uncertain today than it was.”

President Trump tabled firing Fed Chair Powell to a room full of Republican lawmakers, then hours later denied it, saying “we’re not planning on doing it. I don’t rule out anything, but I think it’s highly unlikely, unless he has to leave for fraud” – testing the market’s reaction or trying to force the Fed’s hand for a rate cut at next week’s FOMC meeting?

President Trump went on to call Powell “the worst Federal Reserve Chairman in history” – and like clockwork, Republican lawmakers then referred Powell to the Department of Justice on criminal charges of two instances of lying under oath. You can almost feel the desperation!

The S&P 500 closed at a fresh record high on Tuesday as traders weighed the latest earning reports with optimism.

Over in Europe & the Middle East…

European companies are finding ways to increasingly pivot to military contracts as they seek to cash in on a defence sector boom that is sweeping the continent in the face of an escalating war between Ukraine and Russia. The European Commission unveiled a proposal for a 2 trillion Euro budget that would include a significant bump in funding for defense.

The U.K. and Germany signed a historic defence treaty last week, agreeing to mutual aid in attacks and strengthening military and economic cooperation.

The U.S. has signalled that it won’t let up on its 1 Aug deadline for higher tariffs on the E.U. as they struggle to strike a deal in time.

It has been suggested that the U.K. could use Bitcoin confiscated from criminal activity, worth more than £5billion, to help fund the Labour governments spending ‘black hole’ – the Home Office and Police forces are reportedly working on a major seven-figure sale.

And in Asia Pacific…

Japan’s exports contracted for a second month in a row, down -0.5% in June vs. a year ago. Exports to China were -4.7% and exports to the U.S. were -11.4%. This is bad news for the economy and raising recession fears as they face 25% “reciprocal tariffs” from the U.S.

Japan’s 10-year bond yield climbed to its highest level since 2008 last week (1.59%) as concerns about fiscal spending continue, contributing to a bruising loss for the ruling coalition majority in the upper house election – the road ahead is uncertain at best.

China further reduced its U.S. treasury holdings for a fourth straight month to $756.3 billion in May, the lowest level since February 2009 and well below their peak of more than $1.3 trillion.

NZ has so far dodged any further increase in U.S. tariffs on imports. Phew! If an increase comes, it would likely add 15% to 20% on top of the 10% tariff imposed on April 2, which would be very worrying for the slowly recovering economy. Fingers crossed!

Stats NZ reported food prices rose by +4.6% in the 12 months to June, which is the biggest annual rise since December 2023. But annual inflation came in at 2.7%, slightly lower than expected , fueling fresh hope for another OCR cut in August.

That’s a wrap for this week!

Stay tuned for the next update.

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