The past week was a classic example of macroeconomic correction and technological breakthrough. Bitcoin, starting with a drop to $61,000 due to geopolitical tensions, managed to recover to $64,500, gaining about 1% over seven days. The key driver was the release of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI): the core figure excluding food and energy came in at 2.6% annually versus a forecast of 2.8%. The slowdown in inflation was stronger than expected, pushing markets higher. An additional catalyst was the positive rhetoric from Fed Governor Kevin Warsh during his speech before Congress. A local high was recorded at $65,500 by the evening of July 15, after which the asset began to consolidate. By Friday, July 17, the crypto market, along with the traditional sector, declined amid the semiconductor crisis, but the weekend allowed for a recovery of losses.
Market Dynamics and ETFs: A Second Green Wave
Spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted a net $75.5 million from July 13 to 17, marking the second consecutive "green" week. Ethereum funds mirrored this dynamic, gathering $105.5 million. However, the Fear and Greed Index, rising to 28 points, still remains in the fear zone. Among the top 10 assets, Ethereum grew by 4% to $1,850, while HYPE lost about 8%. The total market capitalization stands at $2.27 trillion, with Bitcoin dominance holding at 57% and Ethereum's share at 9.9%. Investors are clearly returning to low-risk instruments, but overall caution persists.
Political Front: CLARITY Act Under Fire
Democratic US Senators Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen have opposed the current version of the CLARITY Act, demanding the inclusion of anti-corruption provisions. Their main argument is that the bill does not eliminate conflicts of interest related to the crypto business of US President Donald Trump and his family. They proposed adding provisions from the MEME Act or the End Crypto Corruption Act, which would prohibit senior officials and their relatives from owning or profiting from crypto businesses. Consideration of the proposal is expected from July 20, requiring 60 votes to overcome the procedural barrier. This creates significant uncertainty for the entire regulatory landscape.
BIP-110: Miners Ignored the Fork
Over a two-week period, no major mining pool supported BIP-110. The adoption rate hovers around 1%, with 55% required. The initiative limits non-payment data in Bitcoin transactions, including OP_RETURN and part of the scripts. The voluntary activation threshold expires in early August, and if support does not emerge, only nodes that choose to adopt the new rules can enforce them. Strategy founder Michael Saylor and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back criticized the initiative. Meanwhile, a developer under the pseudonym Leonidas introduced the DOG Mode client, which increases the transaction limit from 400,000 to 3.9 million WU and reduces the "dust limit" to 1 satoshi—to simplify sending Ordinals and Runes. The solution does not require a majority vote; one miner is sufficient. This is a vivid example of the conflict between "purists" and "innovators" in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
EthSystems: Privacy for Institutions
The Ethereum Foundation's privacy team has spun off into a commercial company, EthSystems. The startup targets blockchain solutions for institutional clients using zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs), enabling banks and asset managers to conduct large transactions on Ethereum while concealing position details and client data. The project is backed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, as well as companies BitMine and SharpLink. The business model is based on paid consulting and custom system development. This is an important step toward mass adoption of Ethereum in traditional finance, where privacy is a key requirement.
Kimi K3: A Blow to Semiconductors
Chinese company Moonshot AI unveiled the Kimi K3 model with 2.8 trillion parameters, native vision, and a context of 1 million tokens. The solution is built on Kimi Delta Attention and Attention Residuals, with sparsity handled by Stable LatentMoE. In the overall benchmark rankings, Kimi K3 trailed only proprietary Claude Fable 5 and GPT 5.6 Sol. The model can conduct long engineering sessions, navigate large repositories, and manage terminal tools. The launch triggered a sell-off in chipmaker stocks: on July 17, the Taiwanese index lost over 6%, the Japanese index 4%, and the Nasdaq fell by 1.5%. Nvidia temporarily ceded the title of the world's most valuable company to Apple. Investors compare the situation to the "DeepSeek effect" in January 2025, when Nvidia lost about $590 billion in market capitalization in a single session.
My Expert Opinion: The market is experiencing a classic cycle—macroeconomic data sets the tone, but technological breakthroughs in AI introduce volatility into adjacent sectors. Kimi K3 is not just another model; it is a signal that the AI race is moving to a new level, and this could change the structure of chip demand. For crypto investors, this means that volatility in traditional markets will spill over into cryptocurrencies, creating both risks and opportunities. Keep an eye on macroeconomic data—it remains the main driver in the coming weeks.