Ethereum (ETH) price surged as Standard Chartered raised its year-end target. The firm cited strong market momentum and growing stablecoin-driven demand as the basis for this forecast. Bank Cites Stablecoin Growth and Staking Demand in Bullish Ethereum Outlook According to a Reuters report, Standard Chartered has increased its year-end forecast for Ethereum to $7,500 from
The UK Treasury has ruled out creating a national crypto reserve, distancing itself from the direction the U.S. appears to be heading.
Speaking at the Financial Times Digital Asset Summit in London on Tuesday, Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds MP stated,
“We don’t think that’s appropriate for our market. We understand that’s what the U.S. is going for, but that’s not the plan for us.”
This decision comes amid growing alignment between the UK and the U.S. on broader crypto regulation.
The Crypto Reserve Idea Not a Good Fit
Just last week, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, D.C. to establish a senior-level working group focused on digital assets. Reynolds emphasized the importance of “collaboration and cooperation,” noting that the upcoming “regulatory forum” set for June aims to synchronize regulatory approaches between the two nations.
“We understand that some of this stuff is a little bit amorphous,” she said, recognizing the difficulties posed by truly decentralized systems.
MiCA? Mind the Gap
Britain is carving a different path from the EU. While the bloc has embraced the detailed MiCA framework, the UK is sticking to its traditional legislative style, which is less prescriptive and more outcome-based.
Reynolds said, “We decided not to go down that particular road,” reaffirming the UK’s principle of “same risk, same regulatory approach.”
On top of that, the government is eyeing new frontiers in financial innovation. While a US-style crypto reserve is off the table, Reynolds has confirmed that the US and the UK will work together to adopt crypto as the UK continues to explore sovereign debt issuance via distributed ledger technologies (DLT). Procurement is already underway, with supplier appointments expected by late summer.
This latest stance follows Finance Minister Rachel Reeves’ announcement last week regarding compulsory regulation for crypto companies in Britain, aimed at “cracking down on bad actors while supporting legitimate innovation.” In that context, the UK’s regulatory alignment leans far closer to Washington than to Brussels.
The surge in companies created to hold crypto assets has probably reached its peak. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz warned that future success will depend on strategic positioning rather than simple asset accumulation.
Peak Treasury Issuance Behind Us
Speaking on Galaxy’s Q2 earnings call Tuesday, Novogratz said the proliferation of crypto treasury companies has likely peaked. “We’ve probably gone through peak treasury company issuance,” he stated. “The question now is which of the existing companies will become monsters.”
Ethereum already has two major treasury holders—Tom Lee’s BitMine and Joe Lubin’s SharpLink—both expected to keep growing. New entrants may “have a harder time getting oxygen,” Novogratz warned.
Galaxy Digital collaborates with over 20 crypto treasury firms, earning management fees for overseeing their digital asset holdings. These partnerships have added roughly $2 billion in assets to Galaxy’s platform, generating what Novogratz called “recurring income that will go on and on.”
The rise of US crypto treasury firms has benefited from improved regulatory conditions. Early adopters followed MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin-heavy approach, while newer entrants have diversified into Ethereum, Solana, and other tokens.
Galaxy recently executed what Novogratz called “a 9-plus-billion-dollar trade” that he believes was “the largest or one of the largest Bitcoin trades in history.” The successful execution demonstrated strong market confidence in Galaxy’s brand and services. July marked Galaxy’s best month on record across all business lines.
Tokenized Stock Plans with Strong Q2 Performance
Galaxy has filed plans to issue tokenized versions of its GLXY Class A common stock through a prospectus supplement. The filing relates to up to 245 million shares available for resale by existing stockholders. Galaxy’s stock trades on both the Nasdaq and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “GLXY.”
Galaxy’s Q2 results showed the company added 4,272 Bitcoins during the quarter, bringing total holdings to 17,102 as of June 30. The firm reported net income of $30.7 million, shareholders’ equity of $2.6 billion, and $1.2 billion in cash and stablecoins. Galaxy also completed sales of over 80,000 Bitcoins on behalf of clients and holds $15 million in XRP tokens.
HBAR has experienced considerable volatility over the past month, struggling to recover recent losses and break the month-and-a-half-long downtrend.
Despite these challenges, the altcoin remains in a critical position as traders remain optimistic about its potential breakout. However, a failure to break key resistance levels could lead to further price declines.
HBAR Traders Are Bullish
Throughout this month, traders have shown strong bullish sentiment toward HBAR. The funding rate has remained positive consistently, indicating a dominance of long contracts in the market.
This suggests that traders are confident about a potential price recovery and are positioning themselves to capitalize on a rise in value. The consistent optimism reflects a belief that HBAR can rebound from its current downtrend.
Also, the positive funding rate shows that more investors are willing to place bets on the future of altcoin despite the ongoing challenges.
The macro momentum for HBAR reveals that short traders could face substantial losses if the price rises. The liquidation map indicates that approximately $38 million worth of short contracts could be liquidated if HBAR breaks its current downtrend and rises to $0.163.
This would have a significant impact on the market, potentially fueling further buying momentum.
Short traders have been betting on continued price declines, but a breakout above key resistance levels could force them to exit their positions. This would create additional buying pressure, supporting the potential for a larger upward move.
At the time of writing, HBAR is trading at $0.148, just under the critical resistance level of $0.154. The altcoin is looking to breach this resistance and break the downtrend line that has been holding it back.
A successful push past this level would be a key milestone in HBAR’s recovery.
The factors supporting a potential breakout indicate that HBAR could rise to $0.163 if it manages to flip $0.154 into support. Reaching this level could trigger the liquidation of short positions, further driving the price up.
This could help HBAR gain momentum and recover from its recent downtrend.
However, if the broader market turns bearish, HBAR’s price could fall to $0.139. Losing this support would be a bearish signal, potentially driving the price further down to $0.133.
Such a decline would invalidate the bullish thesis and shift the market outlook back toward the bears.