Bitcoin Hits Record Monthly Close in July; Ethereum Celebrates 10-Year Milestone

Bitcoin closed July with a record monthly finish of $116,480, underscoring strong institutional momentum, particularly from spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and corporates increasingly using Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset.

While the leading cryptocurrency experienced a 7% pullback from its recent all-time high of $123,200, it continues to trend upward, forming higher highs and higher lows. At the time of writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $114,680, rebounding after testing a key support level at $112,000 — its previous record high.

“We remain in bullish territory. Should the $112,000 level hold as support, it could form the base for Bitcoin’s next leg higher,” said Simon Peters, Crypto Market Analyst at eToro.

Ethereum Turns Ten

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest blockchain network by market capitalization, marked a major milestone last week, celebrating its 10th anniversary since the mainnet launch on July 30, 2015. Over the last decade, Ethereum has become the backbone for smart contracts, decentralized applications (dApps), DeFi, and NFTs. The platform currently has over $80 billion in total value locked (TVL).

Since launch, Ethereum’s price has skyrocketed by 560,000%, though it remains 35% below its all-time high of $4,870 reached in November 2021. Analysts believe Ethereum could benefit significantly from any upcoming altseason, especially given the U.S. regulatory focus on crypto and ongoing upgrades to improve scalability and security.

Ethereum Spot ETFs See Record Inflows

U.S.-based Ethereum spot ETFs also made headlines, logging their 20th consecutive day of net inflows as of last Thursday — the longest streak since their launch. July saw record inflows of $5.43 billion, surpassing the previous monthly high of $2.08 billion in December 2024. These ETFs now hold $21.52 billion in Ethereum, representing 4.77% of the total ETH market cap.

The Ethereum price surged 55% during the same period, climbing from $2,500 to $3,950, fueled by the inflows and increasing adoption among publicly listed firms employing Ethereum treasury strategies.

Altcoins Face Pressure

Meanwhile, altcoins saw a market-wide pullback, with total altcoin market capitalization down 7.5%, losing approximately $115 billion. Memecoins led the decline with steep losses:

• $BONK: –22%

• $FARTCOIN: –30%

In contrast, $IP, the native token of the Story network, bucked the trend and gained 12%, following Grayscale’s announcement of the Grayscale Story Trust, a new investment vehicle for accredited investors.

Outlook: Trade Tensions Loom

Looking ahead, macroeconomic data is expected to remain light. However, traders are bracing for volatility due to impending trade tensions, especially with President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs set to take effect on August 7 for countries without updated U.S. trade agreements.

“There may be some choppiness as traders digest the impact of these tariffs on global markets,” added Peters.