Bitcoin Record Is Job Only Half Done: Crypto Daybook Americas
Bitcoin’s surge past $118,000 marks a significant milestone, yet its dominance needs further validation. Reclaiming record highs against assets like gold and the British pound is crucial to demonstrate superior performance. Since July 9th, BTC’s rally from $108,000 has shown remarkable strength, with minimal pullbacks. This 60% increase from April’s lows, fueled by tariff concerns, surpasses gold’s year-to-date performance for the first time since February. The rally triggered significant liquidations, particularly around the previous all-time high of $112,000, where heavy short positions were unwound. U.S. crypto stocks also reflect this bullish sentiment in pre-market trading. The Bitcoin network hash rate exceeding 915 EH/s indicates robust network participation, anticipating a substantial difficulty adjustment. However, upcoming U.S. inflation data on July 15th poses a key risk. Lower-than-expected inflation is necessary to maintain hopes of rate cuts.
Several key events are scheduled: A Singapore High Court hearing on WazirX’s restructuring on July 14th, Alchemist’s staking update and Lynq’s digital-asset settlement network launch on July 15th, and Senate and House hearings on digital commodities and crypto policy on July 15th and 16th respectively. Macroeconomic factors include the Ukraine Recovery Conference and Statistics Canada’s June employment data release. Reciprocal tariffs will take effect on August 1st. Several companies including Tesla, PayPal, Robinhood, Coinbase, and Reddit will report earnings in late July.
Token events include Compound, 1inch, and Aavegotchi DAO governance votes, and a VeChain community update. Significant token unlocks are planned for Aptos, Starknet, Sei, Arbitrum, ZKSync, ApeCoin, Official TRUMP, and Fasttoken between July 12th and 18th. PrompTale AI, Propy, and AIOZ Network will be listed on various exchanges, and Pump.fun will launch an ICO. Several conferences are scheduled throughout July and September.
Ether’s rise above $3,000 boosted Ethereum-native memecoins, notably MOG and PEPE. Protocol tokens like Lido and Arbitrum also saw gains, mirroring previous cycles where core asset rallies trickle down the ecosystem. Despite PEPE’s dominance, MOG’s recent surge suggests increased risk appetite. Derivatives positioning shows caution, with falling open interest despite price rises for BTC and ETH, while XRP shows increasing open interest. Funding rates remain low, suggesting a lack of market overheating. The $120,000 call option on Deribit holds significant open interest.
