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GM Anon!

Another week, another reshuffle. Liquidity’s creeping back in, but the macro dice are still rolling—strong jobs data, tariff fireworks, and Powell under pressure. ETH’s reclaimed the spotlight, whales are repositioning, and narratives are shifting fast. Solana’s speeding up, BTC’s drifting, and altcoins are showing signs of life. Institutions? Still buying. Retail? Peeking back in.

Let’s dive into what really moved markets.

TLDR

• U.S. M2 money supply hit $22T ATH, but strong labor data delayed rate cut hopes.

• Trump raised tariffs and reignited public tension with Powell.

• ETH regained leadership, backed by ETF inflows and surging network activity.

• BTC saw mixed flows; Galaxy selling while MARA and others bought aggressively.

• SOL outperformed majors after MEV upgrade and deeper liquidity tools.

• Tokenisation push grew: Goldman, JPM, PNC, and Christie’s all announced initiatives.

• Regulatory momentum building—SEC clarity, ETF filings, and ETH’s non-security status.

• Smart money rotated into high-conviction tokens on both Solana and EVM.

• Memecoins and alt narratives (like PENGU, ZORA, REKT) saw renewed capital rotation.

• Ethereum-led capital rotation continues, but broader conviction remains selective.

Market Update

U.S. macro data delivered a mixed message. M2 money supply hit a fresh all-time high of $22T in June, reinforcing the narrative that liquidity remains abundant beneath the surface. But that tailwind was checked by surprisingly strong labor numbers—jobless claims fell to their lowest since April, pushing back rate-cut expectations and pressuring risk assets mid-week. BTC dipped as markets recalibrated, once again showing its sensitivity to Fed trajectory.

Amid that backdrop, Donald Trump made waves with an announcement that the tariff floor would rise from 10% to 15%, adding another layer of policy-driven volatility. He also resumed his public friction with Fed Chair Powell—this time sparring over rate direction and even the Fed’s renovation budget. While that drama played out, capital markets quietly continued aligning themselves with crypto’s structural shift.

Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon announced plans to launch tokenised fund offerings. JP Morgan, not to be left behind, is exploring loans backed by BTC and ETH, further entrenching digital assets in traditional credit markets. Christie’s unveiled a $1B crypto-enabled real estate division, while PNC entered the trading game via a new partnership with Coinbase. Even smaller players are scaling up—Strategy increased its preferred stock offering to $2B, and BitMine is preparing a $2.5B raise to acquire ETH.

On the regulatory front, the mood is inching toward clarity. The SEC paused Bitwise’s broad-market ETF approval, but a long-awaited U.S. crypto policy report is now scheduled for July 30, which could help define the next phase of institutional engagement. Meanwhile, SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins made a rare and notable comment: “Ether is not a security.” That statement alone could have long-term consequences. Elsewhere, the FBI formally ended its investigation into Kraken founder Jesse Powell, clearing the air for one of the space’s most prominent exchange figures.

Zooming in on the majors, ETH is now unquestionably leading in terms of flows and infrastructure growth. ETH ETF inflows have been consistently outpacing BTC’s in recent weeks, and stablecoin TVL on Ethereum has now doubled in 18 months, hitting $140B. Simultaneously, whales pulled $1.7B in ETH from Aave, likely shifting assets to safer or yield-optimized environments post-DeFi summer.

BTC, while still dominant in headlines, saw mixed signals. On one hand, Galaxy Digital began selling off large blocks of BTC, even as MARA raised $850M to buy more, and Tokyo’s Quantum Solutions revealed plans to acquire 3K BTC. Adding to the retail layer, Square opened up BTC payments to 4M merchants, reinforcing adoption. But overall, BTC price action softened in the face of stronger jobs data and continued uncertainty over near-term rate cuts.

In contrast, SOL quietly outperformed most majors. A recent MEV-elimination upgrade improved trading fairness and speed, while founder Anatoly Yakovenko laid out his vision for low-latency on-chain order execution. The idea is simple: turn Solana into the fastest institutional-grade trading rail on-chain. Supporting infrastructure is catching up—Magic Eden added deeper liquidity to Runes Swaps, making the chain more usable for real-world market activity.

That narrative has trickled into speculation. Memecoins on Solana are heating back up, with LetsBonk flipping PumpFun in both volume and wallet activity. It’s a quiet rotation, but one worth watching—especially as Google searches for “altcoins” just hit a four-year high. Retail interest is surfacing again, and it’s not starting with BTC.

A handful of tokens stood out as capital rotated down the curve. PENGU soared to new all-time highs, nearing the top 50 by market cap. ZORA tripled within a week, now sporting a $390M FDV. REKT rallied again on news of a Binance collaboration, while MBG, backed by a $3B real estate portfolio, tripled since launch. Wasabi, a new privacy-focused app, debuted on Base. Even Polymarket is considering issuing its own stablecoin, as prediction markets begin maturing into financial primitives.

Elsewhere, Celestia Foundation bought $62.5M in TIA, doubling down on modular infrastructure. TON Foundation and Kingsway are launching a treasury management firm, while Telegram finally rolled out TON wallets in the U.S., opening the ecosystem to a massive new user base.

Not all headlines were bullish—Woo X suffered a $12M hack, and FTX confirmed creditor distributions will resume September 30, part of the long unwind. Meanwhile, Tron Inc. officially entered the Nasdaq, giving Justin Sun’s empire its most legitimate front yet.

On the product front, Zircuit launched an AI trading engine, bringing automation deeper into the DeFi stack. And rounding out the week, 21Shares filed for a Spot ONDO ETF, signaling that institutional appetite is expanding beyond the usual suspects.

In sum, the market is undergoing a soft rotation. Liquidity is rising, but so are inflation risks. Ethereum is attracting capital, Solana is building speed, and altcoins are beginning to show life again. While Bitcoin remains the anchor, it’s no longer the sole compass. A new structure is forming—and it’s more diverse, modular, and institutionally aligned than anything the market has seen before.

Market Data Points

Flows over the past 7 days show a strong rotation toward Arbitrum, Polygon PoS, and WorldChain, each posting solid net inflows — with Arbitrum clearly leading. OP Mainnet and Avalanche also saw moderate gains. 

On the other end, Unichain, Base, and Ethereum recorded the largest net outflows, with Unichain bleeding over $200M. Solana, BNB Chain, and Berachain also saw notable outflows, suggesting a broader pullback from several major networks while capital concentrates around select L2s.

Ethereum network activity has seen a clear and dramatic uptick in daily transactions over the past several months, with volumes now pushing toward 1.5M per day — a sharp acceleration from the sub-1.2M levels seen late last year. This surge aligns with Ethereum’s recent price strength, suggesting renewed user demand and on-chain engagement are fueling both the network and market momentum higher.

BNB has surged to new all-time highs, and the network is showing it under the hood — unique addresses on BNB Smart Chain just hit a record high, surpassing 600M. The steady rise has now accelerated, signaling a wave of renewed on-chain activity.This momentum mirrors BNB’s price action and points to deeper ecosystem engagement, not just speculative flows.

USD inflows to exchanges have seen a notable resurgence in recent weeks, particularly in BTC and ETH, both of which have spiked sharply higher after months of subdued activity. BTC inflows are now pushing toward the highest levels year-to-date, suggesting renewed market participation and positioning ahead of further price action. 

Meanwhile, USDT inflows remain elevated but more stable, continuing to act as a steady liquidity driver across exchanges. This uptick aligns with broader market momentum and increased speculative activity across majors.

Ethereum spot ETF volumes have surged dramatically over the past two weeks, signaling accelerating institutional demand. While flows remained relatively modest from January through June, July has seen a clear breakout — with daily volumes now regularly approaching or exceeding $2–3B. 

ETHA and ETHE continue to dominate market share, but the entire basket of ETF products is gaining traction fast, aligning with Ethereum’s renewed price momentum and bullish sentiment.

Majors & Memes

This week, ETH quietly reclaimed leadership. After drifting for most of the month, it’s now back near the top of its range, pulling capital with it. The move wasn’t explosive, but it was clean—and enough to shift flows back into Ethereum-adjacent sectors like L2s, DeFi, and rollup infrastructure. SOL followed with another solid week, continuing its slow but steady rebuild. BTC, by contrast, faded slightly and remained stuck in its multi-week range.

Within the rest of the top ten, BNB outperformed, briefly pushing to new highs as exchange flows stayed steady. XRP reversed sharply after its recent breakout, now pulling back and losing momentum. ADA, TRX, and DOGE all traded sideways, unable to catch intense interest. Even with improved risk appetite, the majors beyond ETH and SOL are struggling to build meaningful follow-through. This left the door open for capital to rotate further down the curve.

In the mid-cap space, rotation was aggressive. ENA was one of the week’s standout performers, continuing its sharp recovery and drawing strong volume. SYRUP also bounced hard, putting in a textbook reversal after a rough July. WEMIX, CVX, SAROS, and REKT all posted strong multi-day runs, as did QUBIC and USLESS—clear signs that capital was actively chasing momentum.

PENGU kept moving, and even names like TRAC, XTZ, and KAS caught bids, as liquidity flowed into anything with structure and story. LTC and FLR quietly put in strong weeks as well, showing that even some older names are seeing fresh rotation.

But the flipside of these flows played out just as clearly. A long list of early-July winners saw sharp pullbacks. PUMP led the losers, down heavily since launch. TKX, KET, XCN, and KAITO were all hit hard. MOVE gave back most of its prior breakout.

APT slid again, continuing its multi-week decline. Other underperformers included ALGO, AAVE, BGB, VET, and OP—all of which failed to participate in the rotation and are now drifting toward support. Several meme names like SHIB, PEPE, and FLOKI also cooled off, though volumes remain high.

Overall, the week was defined by renewed strength in ETH and SOL, continued indecision in BTC, and heavy rotation into high-beta tokens with narrative exposure. The bid isn’t broad—but where it is, it’s strong. If ETH can hold this recent move, there’s room for these rotations to continue. If not, the window closes fast. Right now, capital is clearly leaning into narrative, momentum, and structure.

Mindshare

Over the past week, the narrative landscape across Solana and the broader degen ecosystem has been erratic and fast-moving. Attention rotated quickly from one meta to another, with no single project managing to sustain momentum for more than a day or two. Early in the week, Ani, Imeow, and GP briefly captured the spotlight. Ani in particular led the pack around July 19–20, commanding a sharp attention spike, while Imeow and GP followed close behind. But like much of the recent action, the surges were short-lived—driven by bursts of hype, then fading just as fast.

Midweek saw a flurry of activity across smaller names like IMAGINE, MOBY, and Valentine, each briefly climbing the narrative ranks before giving way to others. The chart makes it clear that nothing stuck. As the week wore on, mindshare became increasingly fragmented, with traders cycling through plays rapidly and few showing any lasting engagement.

By July 24–25, overall attention had thinned out. Most of the names that previously dominated had all but disappeared from the map. This drop-off coincided with broader market weakness, and with no clear catalyst or dominant trend, traders seemed hesitant to commit.

It’s also worth noting that some recent narratives returned—such as USELESS—don’t appear on the chart yet, likely due to end-of-week data lag. Despite that, USELESS has seen a clear pickup in accumulation and chatter, quietly gaining ground as others stall.

All in all, the week reflects a market still searching for direction. Attention continues to jump from trend to trend without much conviction—suggesting traders are probing, not committing. Until something sticks, expect the narrative rotation to stay choppy.

Smart Money Accumulation

Smart money flows across the Solana ecosystem over the past week reveal a concentrated shift into select tokens, with several names seeing sharp spikes in wallet count and holding value—despite broader market volatility.

Memecoin leads with a +246.85% increase in accumulation, now held across 6 wallets with a combined balance of $847.28K. The surge signals aggressive repositioning. AI followed closely, with holdings up +42.77% across 9 wallets, now valued at $687.02K. It remains one of the most popular smart money positions on Solana, reflecting consistent buy pressure and strong retention. IMAGINE saw a +35.12% increase in smart money allocation and is now held by 10 wallets—tied for the highest count.

Lmeow and Bonkyo climbed sharply this week to the top tier of wallet count, now held by 10 and 9 wallets respectively. Their rise signals a meaningful wave of fresh interest and suggests they are emerging as confident plays. URANUS also posted a mild increase at +1.35%, bringing its balance to $469.45K across 8 wallets—a decent-sized bet despite flying under the radar.

On the other side of the ledger, Fartcoin was heavily de-risked, with holdings slashed -63.97%, though smart money still retains $616.50K in total value. LAUNCHCOIN also faced aggressive trimming at -46.44%, despite remaining in 8 wallets and holding $692.47K, while Tokabu and TRENCHER were cut more modestly at -7.1% and -3.7%.

While Ethereum bounced back to reclaim the $3,700 level, smart money flows across the EVM ecosystem remained relatively restrained. Similar to Solana, bets were selective, with capital favoring a handful of high-conviction names rather than broad exposure across the board.

AP led with a sharp +93.93% spike in accumulation, now held across 9 wallets totaling $205.81K. The aggressive build suggests fresh positioning tied narrative momentum. CULT followed closely with a +55.47% increase in holdings, reaching $558.46K across 7 wallets—evidence of renewed confidence in one of EVM’s more recognizable meme bets.

SBET, the most held token on the list, rose +40.91% to $290.39K across 11 wallets, cementing itself as a core position in smart money portfolios recently. MOODENG also showed strength with a +43.71% rise in allocation, while TRWA (+17.03%) and COCORO (+13.26%) posted steady gains.

At the other end, flows into PEPE, SHRUB, and Mog were flat to mild—suggesting these are being passively held rather than actively added. JOE was trimmed -11.46%, though it still holds $214.30K in value across 5 wallets.

In Summary, despite ETH's strong price action, the absence of broader inflows implies smart money is still rotating cautiously.

That wraps up this post—we hope you found the insights valuable. See you next week, anon! 🚀