Client Access 
Communications
The cryptocurrency market lost some of its momentum during the July 22–28 period. After beginning the week near $66,000, bitcoin briefly attempted to extend its advance before falling back to approximately $63,500 on July 28. BTC therefore declined by roughly 4% over the period and is once again trading below the $64,000 to $65,000 area, which had recently begun to act as support.
This decline did not, however, take the form of a panic-driven move. Bitcoin remains well above its late-June low of approximately $57,000 to $58,000, and liquidations remained relatively limited. The movement appears more like a consolidation of July’s rebound than a full resumption of the downward trend. Nevertheless, it is a reminder that the market has not yet attracted sufficient demand to break sustainably through the next resistance levels.
The macroeconomic environment once again influenced digital assets. Oil prices rose above $95 early in the period due to tensions between the United States and Iran before falling back toward the mid-$80 range as prospects for an easing of tensions improved. This volatility contributed to rapid shifts in risk appetite.
The July 28 session was also marked by a nearly 11% decline in the South Korean stock market, driven primarily by selling in the semiconductor sector. This movement spread to global technology markets and placed additional pressure on cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin consequently returned toward $63,000, while Ethereum fell below $1,900.
Investors are now awaiting the Federal Reserve’s decision scheduled for July 29. Interest rates, U.S. economic growth, core inflation and the earnings results of major technology companies could all influence the market’s next direction. Bitcoin has recently demonstrated some ability to withstand corrections in technology stocks, but this independence remains too limited to describe it as a genuine decoupling.
From a technical perspective, the $63,000 to $64,000 area represents the first important level of support. A prolonged decline below this region would shift attention toward $62,000 and then the psychological threshold of $60,000. On the upside, bitcoin will first need to reclaim $65,000 and then break through the $66,500 to $67,500 area. A sustained advance above this latter region would considerably strengthen the prospect of a return toward $70,000.
Flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs represented one of the week’s most significant changes. After seven consecutive positive sessions, these products recorded approximately $69 million in net inflows on July 22. The trend then reversed abruptly, with outflows of approximately $225 million on July 23, $240 million on July 24 and $12 million on July 27.
Across the four available sessions between July 22 and July 27, net outflows therefore reached approximately $408 million. This deterioration partly explains why bitcoin was unable to extend its rebound. Institutional demand has not disappeared completely, but it remains highly sensitive to macroeconomic conditions and movements in technology markets.
This development also demonstrates that the positive sequence observed in mid-July did not yet represent a sustainable return of institutional capital. ETFs remain an essential channel for demand, but their flows continue to be irregular. A new sequence of inflows will likely be necessary for bitcoin to break through the resistance located around $67,000.
Ethereum held up slightly better than bitcoin. After beginning the period near $1,920, ETH advanced to approximately $1,970 and attempted to reclaim the $2,000 threshold. That attempt failed, and Ethereum returned to approximately $1,875 to $1,900 on July 28. Its decline nevertheless remained smaller than bitcoin’s, and the Ethereum-to-BTC ratio reached its highest level in three months during the week.
Flows into Ethereum ETFs were also more encouraging. These products recorded approximately $73 million in inflows on July 22 and $26 million the following day. Despite an outflow of nearly $71 million on July 24, they ended the July 27 session with an additional $12 million in inflows. The net result for the four sessions was therefore approximately $40 million, compared with the significant outflows recorded by Bitcoin ETFs.
This stronger relative demand does not yet confirm a lasting change in market leadership, but it shows that some investors are beginning to distinguish Ethereum from the rest of the market. The $2,000 threshold nevertheless remains essential. An advance above this level would strengthen the prospect of a more significant rotation toward Ethereum and, eventually, toward other cryptocurrencies. Conversely, a decline below $1,850 would shift attention back toward $1,800.
Ethereum’s fundamental data also remains interesting. A new Bitwise report indicates that approximately 40.2 million ETH, representing nearly 33% of the supply, is now locked in the staking mechanism. A significant portion of the recent growth reportedly comes from institutions, corporate treasury companies and investment products offering exposure to staking.
The same report notes that activity across several networks continues to increase despite weak prices. Ethereum’s processing capacity reportedly increased by 73% year over year, while Avalanche processed four times as many transactions. Usage costs also declined, partly because the networks deliberately increased their capacity. This divergence between prices and usage data represents one of the most encouraging aspects of the current market.
Altcoins experienced a more uneven week. Solana returned to approximately $73, while XRP fell close to $1.05. Assets associated with artificial intelligence and certain layer-1 networks were particularly affected by the July 28 decline. Several of them lost between 8% and 10% in a single session. Some decentralized finance projects held up better, but the rotation toward altcoins remains too narrow to be considered a genuine altcoin season.
U.S. regulatory developments also fell short of expectations. Following the potential progress reported the previous week, the Senate temporarily set aside the CLARITY Act to prioritize other matters, including sanctions against Russia and certain government nominations. The legislative calendar is now becoming very tight ahead of the congressional recess scheduled for August 8.
A disagreement also remains regarding the restrictions that should apply to the financial interests of senior government officials in digital assets. This situation does not mean that the bill has been abandoned, but it considerably reduces the likelihood of its rapid passage. The market is therefore losing a regulatory catalyst that contributed to its rebound in the middle of the month.
At the same time, the integration of traditional markets and the cryptocurrency industry continues to advance. Coinbase has made stock and ETF trading available to all its U.S. customers for up to 24 hours a day, five days a week. Users can fund their transactions with U.S. dollars or USDC and manage their stocks and cryptocurrencies within a single account.
Coinbase also announced a partnership with Yahoo Finance that will allow investors to move more directly from researching an asset to purchasing it. The company eventually plans to offer tokenized stocks and allow financial securities to be used as collateral in blockchain transactions. This development demonstrates that major cryptocurrency platforms are now seeking to become more comprehensive financial infrastructures.
Ondo Finance, meanwhile, launched a new execution network for digital financial markets on July 27. The objective is to combine the speed and privacy of centralized platforms with the verifiability of blockchain technology and a non-custodial structure. This infrastructure already powers Ondo Perps, a perpetual futures platform that uses tokenized assets.
This development confirms that tokenization is no longer limited to representing stocks, bonds or funds on a blockchain. The industry is now seeking to build trading, settlement and financing systems designed specifically for these assets. Progress remains gradual, but it reinforces the idea that the next phase of adoption could come as much from the modernization of financial markets as from cryptocurrency speculation.
In summary, the July 22–28 period interrupted the advance observed in the middle of the month without completely erasing the improvement that has taken place since late June. Bitcoin lost the $64,000 to $65,000 area, Bitcoin ETFs returned to net outflows and the delay affecting the CLARITY Act reduced regulatory optimism.
The coming week will be critical. The Federal Reserve’s decision, U.S. economic growth and inflation data, the earnings results of major technology companies and ETF flows could quickly alter market sentiment. The market remains fragile, but it continues to develop its infrastructure and use cases. In this environment, optimism should remain measured without disappearing entirely.
The presented information is as of July 28th, 2026, unless otherwise indicated and is provided for information purposes only. The information comes from sources that we believe are reliable, but not guaranteed. This statement does not provide financial, legal or tax advice. Rivemont Investments are not responsible for any errors or omissions in the information or for any loss or damage suffered.
