While the market was consolidating, several significant events occurred that set trends for the coming weeks. From geopolitical pressure on cryptocurrencies to changes in miners' business models, we break down the key moments of the morning of July 15.
Market in a sideways trend: leaders and laggards
Bitcoin (BTC) started the day with neutral dynamics. At 07:35 Moscow time, the asset is trading around $64,751, with a daily low of $62,434 and a high of $65,046. Ethereum (ETH) is also showing sideways movement near the $1,876 mark. The overall picture for the top 10 by market capitalization is positive: all coins are showing growth over 24 hours. The day's leader is Hyperliquid (+5.81%), and the best weekly result belongs to Ethereum (+6.98%). In the top 100, Pump.fun stands out with daily growth of +13.01%, and DeXe, which gained +45.28% over the week. Pi looks the weakest, losing 23.33% over the week.
US freezes $131 million in USDT on wallets linked to Iran
The US Treasury Department has struck a new blow against Iranian financial flows. Four wallets on the Tron network containing $131 million worth of USDT stablecoins were blocked. As confirmed by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, these funds are linked to the Central Bank of Iran. Tether froze the assets at the request of authorities. This coincided with the resumption of the blockade of Iranian ports and a new wave of US military strikes. My comment: this precedent is a clear signal to the market: regulators have learned to effectively control stablecoins, especially on the Tron network. Institutional investors must consider this risk when working with USDT.
Bitmine Immersion: Ethereum staking becomes the main source of income
Mining company Bitmine Immersion Technologies has made a strategic pivot. In the quarter ending May 31, the firm earned $45.7 million from Ethereum staking and validation. This accounts for a colossal 98% of the company's total revenue. For comparison, its own Bitcoin mining brought in only $624,000, and consulting $168,000. By July 13, Bitmine had staked about 85% of its ETH reserves — approximately 4.9 million tokens. My comment: this case clearly demonstrates where the industry is heading. After the Bitcoin halving, miners are actively seeking alternative income sources, and Ethereum staking is becoming the dominant model for institutional players.
ChatGPT begins showing Kalshi odds for World Cup matches
OpenAI has integrated data from the prediction market platform Kalshi into ChatGPT. Users can now see charts with team win probabilities for World Cup matches directly in search results. No official partnership has been announced yet, but this is the first instance of OpenAI integrating with a prediction market platform. From my perspective, this is a powerful signal of legitimization for the entire prediction markets sector. When the world's largest AI product starts displaying such data, retail investor interest in these platforms will inevitably skyrocket.