Ether and AI Coins Upstage Bitcoin in a Frenzy That Even Your Goldfish Noticed

What’s the fuss today?

By Omkar Godbole (all times ET unless someone reboots the universe again)

The crypto world spent the past 24 hours engaged in its favorite sport: frenetic hand-waving over Bitcoin’s every tick. At last—bitcoin catches a bid and hits new records, while social media bulls break out every rocket emoji they’ve got. 🚀 But before you start mortgaging the cat for more BTC, here’s a twist: in the shadowy corners of the market, AI-linked coins are throwing their own (surprisingly good) party.

markets don’t care about your “economic data” when there’s a really big robot in town.

Translation: AI in crypto is hot. Maybe dangerously so. Please send oven mitts.

Meanwhile, in our “it’s not all about Bitcoin!” segment, Ether quietly snuck into the limelight. ETH outperformed BTC yesterday, partially because BlackRock’s spot ether ETF made trading volumes look like Christmas in July, and Fidelity’s latest report patted Ethereum gently on the back, confidently declaring it the most useful of the programmable chains. (Sorry, Solana. Maybe next year.)

Apparently, ETH is a “medium of exchange” and a “store of value”—two hats it wears with more style than a crypto YouTuber at a hardware wallet launch.

Elsewhere in the animal-themed corner of the market, PUMP—a token with the subtlety of an energy drink ad—trades 40% above its own ICO price. Meanwhile, FART, VIRTUAL, and PENGU (yes, that’s real) enjoy double-digit gains, clearly living proof that naming conventions in crypto were designed during week-long Red Bull binges. SHIB looked ready to outperform BTC, but then remembered DOGE still exists and promptly tripped over itself.

On the “reasons to panic” front, economic headwinds now include trade wars and a Federal Reserve that’s more hawkish than a bald eagle on espresso, so macro traders are bracing for volatility. QCP Capital put it best: buckle up—it could get bumpy. Fasten your seatbelt, bring snacks, and if you’ve got a crystal ball, now’s the time.

Conferences (Because Zoom Fatigue Isn’t Just for Normies)

CoinDesk Policy & Regulation conference in Washington, Sept. 10. A select event where those who speak fluent lawyer meet those who regulate things they only half understand. Limited spots, as always. Discount code: CDB10 for 10% off, good through July 17. Because nothing says exclusive like early-bird coupons.

Day 1 of 4: Mallorca Blockchain Days (bring sunscreen and a whitepaper)
July 16: Invest Web3 Forum (Dubai – where summer is just a dare)
July 20: Crypto Coin Day 7/20 (Atlanta, home of the world’s best airport pretzels)
July 24: Decasonic’s Web3 Investor Day 2025 (Chicago – pizza not included)
July 25: Blockchain Summit Global (Montevideo, Uruguay)
July 28-29: TWS Conference 2025 (Singapore, because someone has to do it)

Token Talk

By Shaurya Malwa, who definitely owns too many tokens

PUMP is trading at $0.0056 on Hyperliquid, a 40% premium to its coming-out price, because apparently, we live in a world where you can speculate on a token before it even exists. 🪙
The PUMP-USD perpetual contract launched July 9. Up to 3x leverage—because what’s life without existential risk?
Volume hit $30 million in 24 hours, which is either impressive or a typo, depending on your cynicism levels.
Open interest: $17 million. Somewhere, a risk manager just fainted.
Binance is rolling out its own PUMP contract today. Oh joy—now there’s two places to lose your shirt.
Of the 1 trillion (!) total supply, 33% will be sprinkled among hopefuls. Fully unlocked at launch, because, why not?
PUMP is touting itself as more than a meme coin—a decentralized, Web3-native social platform aiming to out-TikTok TikTok, out-Twitch Twitch, and out-Facebook Facebook. Is your head spinning yet? Good.
Pump.fun has basically become Solana’s memecoin vending machine, at one point raking in $600 million in protocol revenue. Dreams really do come true—and most of them are spelled D-E-G-E-N.

Derivatives Positioning (A Field Guide to Herd Behavior)

BTC and ETH funding rates under 10%—which is like saying the stove’s on, but only at medium heat.
ETH perpetual open interest up four days in a row. Either traders know something or they’ve lost track of the calendar.
Funding rates for XRP, DOGE, ADA, HYPE, SUI—now over 10%. Greed, meet leverage!
The CME’s BTC futures basis rebounded slightly. Let’s call it “optimistically lethargic.”
Deribit traders are panic-buying calls on both BTC and ETH at the front end. This is what happens when the Fear of Missing Out gets a margin account.
Paradigm’s OTC network saw all sorts of complex flows. Basically, nobody is sure what to do, so they’re doing everything at once. Classic.

Market Movements (Because Numbers Mean Feelings)

BTC up 0.31%, now worth your annual salary multiplied by 800.
ETH gains 1.4% to $2,776.71. Ether party hats, anyone? 🎉
CoinDesk 20, staking rates, and every acronym you can shake a ledger at—most are up as well (stats pad below in case you need to show off on Twitter).

DXY, gold, silver, Nikkei, Hang Seng: all moving in their usual mysterious ways. Some are up, some are down, but can you really tell the difference anymore?
U.S. 10-Year Treasury: up (just slightly), because even bonds need to feel special sometimes.

Bitcoin Stats (For the Nerds and the hopelessly optimistic)

BTC Dominance: 64.55% (which is less than 100%, so technically someone else matters now).
Ether-to-Bitcoin ratio: 0.02506. Math teachers everywhere are just shaking their heads.
Hashrate: 902 EH/s. That’s “exahashes,” or, as your grandma calls it, “too many.”
Hashprice: $60.45. Still not accepted at the corner bakery.
Total fees: nearly $541K. If only your bank charged so little.
CME Futures OI: 151,575. If you know what this means, you may be legally obligated to buy khakis.
BTC priced in gold: 33.4 oz. This would sound cooler if pirates were involved.
BTC vs gold market cap: 9.47%. Hey, you don’t have to lug your coins around!

Technical Analysis (Otherwise Known As Chart Divination)

BTC broke out of a channel. Hooray! But don’t get crazy until it’s above $112K. Ask your local astrologer for additional confirmation.
MACD says “bullish.” Bears say, “wait for the double top.” Who needs Netflix when the suspense here is free?

Crypto Equities

MicroStrategy, Coinbase, and friends: All moving, mostly up, except the ones that aren’t. This will all change by lunch.
CleanSpark up 7.5%—the happiest people in the room are probably at their Christmas party right now.

ETF Flows (No, That’s Not a Medical Term)

Spot BTC ETFs

Daily flows: $215.7 million (if only that fit in a piggybank)
Cumulative: $50.13 billion (that’s *billion* with a “B”)
Total BTC in ETFs: 1.26 million

Spot ETH ETFs

Daily flows: $211.3 million
Cumulative: $4.74 billion
Total ETH: 4.22 million

Overnight Flows (Because Sleep Is For Amateurs)

Chart of the Day

Ether is now the busiest bee in the crypto futures hive. Yes, even busier than BTC.
Rumor has it the market makers are “short gamma” (which is either good for traders or a new Marvel villain, depending on who you ask).