The past week was eventful for the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin demonstrated a confident recovery, rising from local lows around $61,000 to the $64,500 mark, representing a gain of about 1% over seven days. The key catalyst was US inflation data: the core Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in below forecasts at 2.6% versus the expected 2.8%. This eased concerns about monetary policy tightening and revived investor interest in risk assets.
Additional support came from positive rhetoric from Fed officials. A local peak was recorded at the $65,500 level, after which the asset entered a consolidation phase. Over the weekend, the market corrected amid a crisis in the semiconductor sector, but Bitcoin managed to recover its losses. Altcoins showed mixed dynamics: Ethereum gained 4%, rising to $1,850, while HYPE lost about 8%.
Institutional Inflows and Market Sentiment
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a second consecutive "green" week, attracting net inflows of $75.5 million. Ethereum funds also showed positive dynamics with inflows of $105.5 million. Despite this, the Fear and Greed Index only slightly rose to 28 points, remaining in the "fear" zone, indicating continued caution among market participants. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $2.27 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance at 57%.
Political Battles: CLARITY Act in the Spotlight
The focus was on the CLARITY Act bill, designed to delineate the powers of the SEC and CFTC in regulating digital assets. Three Democratic senators opposed the current version of the document, demanding the inclusion of anti-corruption provisions that would prohibit the president, cabinet members, and members of Congress from owning or profiting from crypto businesses. Consideration of amendments is expected from July 20, and their adoption will require 60 votes in the Senate.
BIP-110: Initiative Failure and Alternatives
The BIP-110 initiative, aimed at limiting non-payment data in Bitcoin transactions, faced complete disregard from miners. Support was less than 1%, with 55% needed. Against this backdrop, Runestone founder Leonidas presented an alternative client, DOG Mode, which, unlike BIP-110, does not require a majority vote and is aimed at simplifying the sending of Ordinals and Runes. This event highlights the growing rift in the community regarding the future development of the network.
Sensation of the Week: AI Model Kimi K3 Crashes the Chip Market
Chinese company Moonshot AI unveiled the largest open-source AI model, Kimi K3, with 2.8 trillion parameters. The model, capable of conducting long engineering sessions and managing terminal tools, caused real panic in the semiconductor market. On July 17, shares of chip manufacturers, including Nvidia, fell sharply: the Taiwan index lost over 6%, the Japanese index 4%, and the Nasdaq declined by 1.5%. Investors compared the situation to the "DeepSeek effect," when in January Nvidia lost $590 billion in market capitalization in a single session.
My comment: The launch of Kimi K3 is not just a technological breakthrough but a clear signal to the market. Investors are beginning to reassess the value of chip manufacturers, realizing that the emergence of powerful open models could change the demand structure. For the crypto market, this is a double blow: on one hand, general macroeconomic uncertainty, and on the other, growing interest in decentralized AI projects, which could become a new growth driver.