Although BlackRock’s IBIT is the traditional leader in the crypto ETF market, the company’s Ethereum product had higher inflows this week. In fact, ETHA had the second-highest inflows of all US ETFs, an impressive record.
After weeks of aggressive corporate Bitcoin investment, Ethereum is growing as a popular choice. This trend may buoy the token’s market presence as an altcoin season looks possible.
ETH, therefore, is a popular but less crowded alternative choice, as Wall Street investment isn’t fully moving the market.
Plus, Ethereum maximalism in its own right is on the rise. This topic struck particularly close to home for BlackRock today, when its Head of Digital Assets left the firm to join an ETH treasury company.
This executive helped spearhead BlackRock’s crypto ETF strategies, but he felt that SharpLink could better allow him to focus on Ethereum.
With institutional investments into Ethereum picking up the pace, Bitcoin’s dominance has dipped more than 5% in July.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see what analysts say about Bitcoin amid the showdown between BTC behemoth Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Jack Mallers’ investment firm, 21 Capital. With their Bitcoin models coming into question, is there a specific definition of what winning means in Bitcoin?
Strategy Grows Bitcoin Stockpile, Buys $1.42 Billion in BTC
Strategy announced that it recently purchased another 15,355 BTC worth approximately $1.42 billion at an average price of $92,737 last week.
The firm currently holds 553,555 BTC, valued at approximately $52.7 billion. The average buying price is $68,459, and the unrealized profit is $14.8 billion.
“By continuing to grow its Bitcoin holdings, the company maintains its status as a major force in the cryptocurrency market, drawing interest from investors and industry analysts. Strategy is the largest Bitcoin Treasury Company, an independent, publicly traded business intelligence company, and a Nasdaq 100 stock,” Phoenix reported.
A recent US Crypto News publication highlighted the advent of 21 Capital. The Bitcoin investment firm sprouted after Cantor Fitzgerald, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex pooled $3 billion in capital.
Based on sentiment, this new venture could inadvertently challenge Strategy’s position at the helm of corporate Bitcoin ownership in a model sense. According to 21 Capital, Strategy size could make increasing its Bitcoin per share difficult, a metric investors tend to consider.
Amid chatter that 21 Capital could threaten the Michael Saylor-led firm, BitStrategy, a shareholder at Strategy, challenged the prospective market rival’s business model.
Tension Grows in Bitcoin Treasury Space
In a detailed post on X (Twitter), BitStrategy acknowledged the brewing tension in the Bitcoin treasury arena. However, it holds that Strategy is way ahead of the competition.
“Their company is in direct competition with ours, and they seek to exploit a perceived vulnerability in our structure, openly highlighting their strengths relative to ours to win investment,” BitStrategy challenged in a recent post.
Beyond BTC Yield, also reported in a recent US Crypto News publication, the firm initiated key performance indicators months ago- BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain.
Bitcoin Gain multiplies the BTC Yield by Strategy’s aggregate balance, reflecting the scale of the firm’s operations.
Bitcoin $ Gain takes this further, converting the BTC Gain into dollar terms, for added transparency.
This proactivity by Strategy suggests a commitment to defend its position as a leading Bitcoin-holding corporation amidst rising rivals.
“You can fake an impressive BTC Yield. You cannot fake an impressive BTC Gain,” BitStrategy chimed.
However, analyst KenjiKoshu argues that while Strategy may show substantial Bitcoin gains, smaller companies like 21 Capital could achieve higher Bitcoin per share.
“As someone who has done deep thinking about why MSTR is undervalued, it might be true BTC gain can still be substantial if not higher for MSTR. On a per-share basis, however, which would be what supports the stock; it will be hard to deny a smaller, similarly reputable company is going to make more Bitcoin per share when on the same strategy,” the analyst wrote.
This outlook aligns with sentiment from 21 Capital that Strategy’s large size impedes increasing its Bitcoin per share.
However, BitStrategy articulated that the point of BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain signals the importance of a whole-of-company view of performance relative to a per-share view.
Per the shareholder, there is no agreed-upon conventional valuation methodology for Bitcoin companies. This means any metric is somewhat arbitrary.
Investors increasingly turn to digital assets as a safe haven, with Bitcoin becoming a hedge against the US dollar’s volatility as crypto inflows surge to $3.4 billion.
Barely two weeks after a hacking incident compelled KiloEx’s suspension, the platform is staging a comeback and offering a compensation plan for affected victims.
The comeback highlights the platform’s resilience even as bad actors remain a consistent threat to the crypto industry.
How KiloEx Will Compensate Victims of $7 Million Hack
The YZi Labs-backed decentralized exchange (DEX) revealed the news in an X (Twitter) post, detailing how it would compensate victims.
“Due to the security incident on April 14, 2025, where KiloEx was exploited by a hacker, some user activities were affected. We are now announcing resolution plans for traders, Hybrid Vault stakers, and VIP users,” wrote the DEX.
In a follow-up Medium post, KiloEx detailed how it would unite traders, Hybrid Vault Stakers, and VIP users.
Instructions for KiloEx Traders
Traders’ limit orders will be canceled while taking profit, and stop losses will be executed as normal. Traders whose positions remained open during the platform suspension will remain active after the KiloEx platform resumes. However, those whose losses increased or profits decreased during this suspension will be fully compensated for the difference.
“Please close your position as soon as possible after the platform resumes,” KiloEx directed.
This directive comes as DEX will calculate compensation based on the platform’s resume time. Accordingly, traders who delay their position closure could incur differences between their actual PnL (profit and loss) and the compensation amount.
Instructions for Hybrid Vault Stakers on KiloEx
Hybrid Vault Stakers’ principal and earnings during the suspension period remain unaffected. The platform recovered and fully reinjected all stolen funds into the Hybrid Vault.
Nevertheless, KiloEx will still, based on eligibility, incentivize this cohort of users with a Special Yield Boost Campaign upon resuming.
“Users will receive an additional 10% APY on top of the base platform yield. The bonus yield will be paid out in USDT,” read an excerpt in the Medium post.
Instructions for KiloEx VIP Users
For this cohort of KiloEx $7 million hack victims, there will be a +1 level upgrade, excluding VIP7 users. However, all affected users, including VIP7, will also get a 30-day VIP status protection period.
Notably, the VIP status was determined based on a real-time snapshot taken at the time of the KiloEx security incident.
KiloEx Details Resumption Plans After Audits and Consultation
BeInCrypto reported that KiloEx suspended its platform following the attack, amidst collaborations with security partners to investigate the breach and track stolen funds.
Like the Zksync incident, it also commissioned a bounty program to encourage whitehat assistance and recover user assets. Following these measures and due diligence, the platform is ready to resume operations.
“KiloEx is coming back! Following a thorough security audit by SlowMist, we are officially resuming soon,” the DEX shared.
Blockchain security firm SlowMist corroborated the report, detailing its involvement in resolving the KiloEx incident.
“Recently, SlowMist helped KiloEx communicate with the attacker via on-chain messages, leading to the recovery of $8.44 million in stolen funds,” SlowMist wrote.
Further, the security firm highlighted the role of on-chain messaging in the recovery, presenting it as a crucial communication tool in blockchain, including security incidents.
Despite the news about resumption and compensation, KiloEx’s native token, KILO, is down by over 5%. As of this writing, it was trading for $0.0425 on CoinGecko.
Hedera (HBAR) is trading dangerously close to the key psychological level of $0.20, with technical indicators flashing mixed signals. The BBTrend has turned slightly positive at 0.97 but continues to struggle to break above the bullish confirmation level of 1, signaling weak momentum.
Meanwhile, the RSI has dropped sharply from near-overbought territory to a neutral 49.58, reflecting fading confidence after Bitcoin’s recent decline. With HBAR hovering at a make-or-break level, traders are watching closely to see whether support holds or if a deeper correction happens.
HBAR BBTrend Turns Positive, But Struggles to Confirm Bullish Momentum
The BBTrend (Bollinger Band Trend) indicator measures the strength and direction of price trends based on how far prices deviate from a moving average within the Bollinger Bands.
Positive values suggest upward momentum and buying strength, while negative values indicate downward pressure. The deeper the value, the stronger the trend, making it useful for spotting breakouts or trend reversals.
When BBTrend hovers near zero, it signals indecision or consolidation, and sustained values above 1 are typically seen as confirmation of a bullish move gaining traction.
HBAR’s current BBTrend reading of 0.97 marks a recovery from its recent bearish phase, where it bottomed at -8.99 on May 19 and remained negative through May 22.
While the reading reflects an improving trend, it also highlights hesitation from buyers, indicating that HBAR may remain range-bound unless stronger momentum emerges.
Hedera RSI Drops to Neutral Zone Amid BTC-Driven Sell-Off
Hedera’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to 49.58, falling sharply from 69.91 just a day earlier.
This sudden shift reflects a clear loss of buying momentum, as broader market sentiment turned risk-off following Bitcoin’s 3% drop in response to Donald Trump’s threat of imposing a 50% tariff on the European Union.
The RSI’s decline highlights how quickly investor confidence in HBAR faded alongside BTC’s pullback, pulling the token back into neutral territory after nearly touching overbought conditions.
The RSI is a momentum indicator that measures the magnitude of recent price changes to evaluate whether an asset is overbought or oversold.
It ranges from 0 to 100, with levels above 70 typically signaling overbought conditions and potential for a pullback, while values below 30 suggest oversold conditions and potential for a rebound.
With HBAR’s RSI now sitting near the midline, the token lacks a clear trend, indicating indecision among traders. For momentum to return, HBAR would need either renewed bullish sentiment or broader market stabilization—particularly from Bitcoin.
HBAR Nears $0.20 Breakdown — Key Support Levels in Focus
Hedera price is currently at a critical technical juncture, hovering just above the psychological level of $0.20. If bearish momentum persists, the token is at risk of breaking below this level and could slide toward the next support at $0.192.
A breach there would expose further downside to $0.184, potentially accelerating short-term selling pressure.
This scenario reflects broader weakness in the crypto market, particularly after Bitcoin’s recent pullback.
However, if sentiment stabilizes and HBAR reverses course, the first resistance to watch is at $0.209. A successful breakout above this level could open the door to a move toward $0.228, a zone that would likely require strong volume and broader market support to reclaim.
