MARKETS week ahead: July 24 – 30
Last week in the news
While EU markets finished the week in green, amid positive corporate results, US markets were traded in a mixed manner, as investors still need to digest the latest corporate data and prospectus for the future period. The S&P 500 was traded almost flat on Friday, after adding 0.69% during the week. The crypto market remained relatively flat on a weekly basis, with Bitcoin ending the week testing 30K support, while Ether was traded below 1.9K.
Market interest is currently focused on the next Fed move with respect to its monetary policy and increase of interest rates. The FOMC meeting will be held on July 26-27, where its members will decide whether current economic conditions support another rate hike. Majority of market participants continue to be of the opinion that another 25 bps rate increase is coming. Fed Chair Powell previously promised two rate hikes till the end of this year. There is a small portion of investors and economists who are of the opinion that Fed might pause during July`s meeting. Such an opinion is supported by the latest inflation data, which shows that it is cooling down, but still, it moves at a higher level from the Fed's target of 2%.
The Federal Reserve officially launched its new payment system called FedNow. It represents an instant payment system, which is expected to improve the flow of money for individuals and businesses. As it has been noted, 35 financial institutions have accepted FedNow, including big names like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. Fed is expecting to further develop the system and to include it into websites and applications of banks.
Ripple – SEC dispute might be over, but SEC`s fight against digital asset industry is still not. During the previous week SEC Chair Gensler asked the US government for additional $72 million of funds in order to protect investors in the crypto market from “noncompliance”. He also called the current crypto market a “Wild West” and stressed the need to protect investors' “hard earned money” from “fire and noncompliance” of the crypto industry.
Cathy Wood, CEO of Ark Investment fund, was commenting on the strategy of its Innovation Fund and noted that the fund had decreased its exposure to China to zero. The rationale for such a decision was a slowdown of this market. Funds are transferred to the local US market and companies within the tech industry like Tesla and Coinbase.
Metaverse continues to drag businesses, as they are trying to expand reach to the customers even in the digital world. During the previous week McDonalds, a fast food giant, opened a McNuggets Land in the Metaverse, as a sort of virtual restaurant.
The European Union is speeding up its efforts for the introduction of its digital currency – digital Euro. The Central bank of France conducted testing of the cross border payments, during the previous period, and concluded that a wholesale digital currency, created for use by business entities within the EU, will significantly improve cross border payments and settlement of transactions for various financial assets.
Crypto market cap
The celebration of Ripples' win over SEC has been short. During the previous week SEC Chair Gensler asked the US Government for additional funds in the amount of $72 million in order to fight the “Wild West” in the crypto industry. This move represents his determination to make crypto businesses comply with the current Securities laws in the US. There are still pending SEC lawsuits against several big players in the crypto industry, waiting for its court resolution.
Although, on one side there are businesses who are arguing the lack of clear crypto regulation, there are still those, including SEC, arguing that the regulation exists and it just needs to be implemented among crypto participants. Instead of making an argument-deal between the SEC and the crypto industry, it seems that the regulation in the US will be determined by the court decisions. On the other hand, investors are also weightening potential Fed moves on July`s FOMC meeting which will be held in a week ahead. Those were the main reasons why the crypto market slowed down during the previous week. Total crypto market capitalization was modestly decreased by 1%, losing
13B within a week. Major coins were the ones that were driving the crypto market cap to the downside. Daily trading volumes significantly dropped during the week to the level of 
49B on a daily basis, from 82B traded during the week before. Total crypto market capitalization increase since the beginning of this year stands at 54%, where it has added a total 409B to the market cap.
Major coins on the crypto market were slowing down, however, investors' interest is still on altcoins. Bitcoin lost 7.6B on a weekly basis or 1.3% and was followed by Ether, with a loss of 5B in market cap or 2.1%. Binance Coin also finished the week 2.6% lower from the week before or 1.65B. XRP continues to be positively impacted by the resolution of the Ripple – SEC dispute. The coin managed to add an additional 8.3% to its market cap during the week, increasing it for 3B. Several other coins had a very good week in relative terms. Stellar managed to gain 26% during the week, while Maker increased its market cap by 24% w/w. LINK was also in the group of significant gainers, adding almost 15% to its total capitalization. Within coins in circulation there had again been some interesting developments. BNB decreased its circulating coins by 1.3% on a weekly basis, which is something not frequently seen on the crypto market. At the same time, Algorand continues to increase its coins in circulation by 1.1% during the previous week. Solana had an increase in coins by 0.3% w/w, same as Stellar.
Crypto futures market
Crypto futures market was in a modest correction during the previous week, but most importantly, the prices are still holding above significant levels. BTC short term futures were traded lower by 1.3% on average, which is in line with the spot market. Longer term futures were lower by more than 6%. Futures maturing in December this year are still holding above
31K, finishing the week at level of $31.115. At the same time, futures maturing in December 2024 were last traded at price $33.605 on CME, down from 35.8K traded a week before.
ETH short term futures had a lower drop during the week than the spot market. These were traded around 1.5% lower from the week before. Longer term futures were traded around 6% lower from the week before, with December 2023 finishing the week at level of $1.942, while December 2024 ended the week at price of $2.064. On a positive side is that the price is still holding above 2K, which is a psychological level for ETH.
While EU markets finished the week in green, amid positive corporate results, US markets were traded in a mixed manner, as investors still need to digest the latest corporate data and prospectus for the future period. The S&P 500 was traded almost flat on Friday, after adding 0.69% during the week. The crypto market remained relatively flat on a weekly basis, with Bitcoin ending the week testing 30K support, while Ether was traded below 1.9K.
Market interest is currently focused on the next Fed move with respect to its monetary policy and increase of interest rates. The FOMC meeting will be held on July 26-27, where its members will decide whether current economic conditions support another rate hike. Majority of market participants continue to be of the opinion that another 25 bps rate increase is coming. Fed Chair Powell previously promised two rate hikes till the end of this year. There is a small portion of investors and economists who are of the opinion that Fed might pause during July`s meeting. Such an opinion is supported by the latest inflation data, which shows that it is cooling down, but still, it moves at a higher level from the Fed's target of 2%.
The Federal Reserve officially launched its new payment system called FedNow. It represents an instant payment system, which is expected to improve the flow of money for individuals and businesses. As it has been noted, 35 financial institutions have accepted FedNow, including big names like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo. Fed is expecting to further develop the system and to include it into websites and applications of banks.
Ripple – SEC dispute might be over, but SEC`s fight against digital asset industry is still not. During the previous week SEC Chair Gensler asked the US government for additional $72 million of funds in order to protect investors in the crypto market from “noncompliance”. He also called the current crypto market a “Wild West” and stressed the need to protect investors' “hard earned money” from “fire and noncompliance” of the crypto industry.
Cathy Wood, CEO of Ark Investment fund, was commenting on the strategy of its Innovation Fund and noted that the fund had decreased its exposure to China to zero. The rationale for such a decision was a slowdown of this market. Funds are transferred to the local US market and companies within the tech industry like Tesla and Coinbase.
Metaverse continues to drag businesses, as they are trying to expand reach to the customers even in the digital world. During the previous week McDonalds, a fast food giant, opened a McNuggets Land in the Metaverse, as a sort of virtual restaurant.
The European Union is speeding up its efforts for the introduction of its digital currency – digital Euro. The Central bank of France conducted testing of the cross border payments, during the previous period, and concluded that a wholesale digital currency, created for use by business entities within the EU, will significantly improve cross border payments and settlement of transactions for various financial assets.
Crypto market cap
The celebration of Ripples' win over SEC has been short. During the previous week SEC Chair Gensler asked the US Government for additional funds in the amount of $72 million in order to fight the “Wild West” in the crypto industry. This move represents his determination to make crypto businesses comply with the current Securities laws in the US. There are still pending SEC lawsuits against several big players in the crypto industry, waiting for its court resolution.
Although, on one side there are businesses who are arguing the lack of clear crypto regulation, there are still those, including SEC, arguing that the regulation exists and it just needs to be implemented among crypto participants. Instead of making an argument-deal between the SEC and the crypto industry, it seems that the regulation in the US will be determined by the court decisions. On the other hand, investors are also weightening potential Fed moves on July`s FOMC meeting which will be held in a week ahead. Those were the main reasons why the crypto market slowed down during the previous week. Total crypto market capitalization was modestly decreased by 1%, losing
13B within a week. Major coins were the ones that were driving the crypto market cap to the downside. Daily trading volumes significantly dropped during the week to the level of 49B on a daily basis, from 82B traded during the week before. Total crypto market capitalization increase since the beginning of this year stands at 54%, where it has added a total 409B to the market cap. Major coins on the crypto market were slowing down, however, investors' interest is still on altcoins. Bitcoin lost 7.6B on a weekly basis or 1.3% and was followed by Ether, with a loss of 5B in market cap or 2.1%. Binance Coin also finished the week 2.6% lower from the week before or 1.65B. XRP continues to be positively impacted by the resolution of the Ripple – SEC dispute. The coin managed to add an additional 8.3% to its market cap during the week, increasing it for 3B. Several other coins had a very good week in relative terms. Stellar managed to gain 26% during the week, while Maker increased its market cap by 24% w/w. LINK was also in the group of significant gainers, adding almost 15% to its total capitalization. Within coins in circulation there had again been some interesting developments. BNB decreased its circulating coins by 1.3% on a weekly basis, which is something not frequently seen on the crypto market. At the same time, Algorand continues to increase its coins in circulation by 1.1% during the previous week. Solana had an increase in coins by 0.3% w/w, same as Stellar.
Crypto futures market
Crypto futures market was in a modest correction during the previous week, but most importantly, the prices are still holding above significant levels. BTC short term futures were traded lower by 1.3% on average, which is in line with the spot market. Longer term futures were lower by more than 6%. Futures maturing in December this year are still holding above
31K, finishing the week at level of $31.115. At the same time, futures maturing in December 2024 were last traded at price $33.605 on CME, down from 35.8K traded a week before.ETH short term futures had a lower drop during the week than the spot market. These were traded around 1.5% lower from the week before. Longer term futures were traded around 6% lower from the week before, with December 2023 finishing the week at level of $1.942, while December 2024 ended the week at price of $2.064. On a positive side is that the price is still holding above 2K, which is a psychological level for ETH.
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