Remittance firms are using crypto to bypass parts of traditional settlement infrastructure, but this does not mean SWIFT is disappearing.
Crypto majors saw significant gains over the July 4th holiday weekend, with Bitcoin rebounding to over $63,000. Altcoins led the charge, with LIT soaring nearly 50% following its Robinhood integration. Key factors driving the surge include a softer-than-expected jobs report and a reversal in Bitcoin ETF flows from record outflows to net inflows.
Binance experienced a significant surge in weekly outflows, totaling $1.23 billion, with Ethereum withdrawals reaching a three-year high. This activity is linked to regulatory uncertainty from the EU's MiCA regulation and potential accumulation behavior.
Crypto exchange Kraken now allows eligible users outside the US to use tokenized stocks and ETFs as collateral for futures and margin trading, expanding the utility of real-world assets on the blockchain.
Bitcoin deposits to centralized exchanges surged to nearly 50,000 BTC daily as the price fell below $60,000. Data from CryptoQuant suggests this pattern, especially with larger deposit sizes indicating whale and institutional activity, historically precedes significant price volatility and potential downward moves.
Bitcoin's Q2 decline coincided with a rare contraction in stablecoin supply, falling over $3 billion to $312 billion. Yield-bearing stablecoins saw a significant drop, while institutional appetite shifted to RWA and US government debt-backed products. Layer-2 networks experienced notable stablecoin balance decreases, with Arbitrum seeing a substantial fall.
Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are showing gains, with Bitcoin surpassing $62,000. This rebound occurs as crypto liquidations surge to $602 million, predominantly from short positions. The market reacts to mixed economic signals, including fewer-than-expected job additions in June.
