Connect with us

Uncategorized

Asia Morning Briefing: U.S. Loads Up, Germany Cashes Out as BTC Holds Near $119K

Published

on

Good Morning, Asia. Here’s what’s making news in the markets:

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk’s Crypto Daybook Americas.

As bitcoin (BTC) trades near $119,500, having just recently broken through another all-time high of $120,000, digital asset investment products are also breaking records for inflows – but there’s a regional disparity.

According to CoinShares, U.S.-listed funds dominated with $3.74 billion in inflows, while Germany saw $85.7 million in outflows, underscoring a growing divergence in global institutional sentiment.

This robust institutional appetite in the U.S. is exemplified by Vanguard’s evolving stance on crypto investments. Despite once branding bitcoin as an «immature asset class,» the $10 trillion asset manager is now Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR)’s largest shareholder, indirectly becoming the most significant Bitcoin holder in traditional finance, as Presto Research recently noted in a daily markets update.

Meanwhile, QCP Capital highlights in a recent note that institutional enthusiasm remains notably robust, exemplified by over $2 billion net inflows into spot BTC ETFs last week.

Yet, derivatives markets suggest a more nuanced approach. Leveraged long positions are expanding aggressively, with perpetual funding rates approaching an elevated 30% and open interest surpassing $43 billion, levels unseen since BTC reclaimed $100k in January. Such aggressive positioning raises caution flags, recalling February’s abrupt $2 billion liquidation event.

“Froth is building,” QCP warns.

(CoinDesk)

BTC Continues to Outpace Luxury Watches

Bitcoin (BTC) is up 27.87% year-to-date and 13.22% in the past month, easily outperforming the luxury watch market’s modest +4.5% rebound in Q2, according to a recent report co-authored by Morgan Stanley and WatchCharts.

Gains were concentrated in flagship models, Daytona, Nautilus, Royal Oak, while brands like Panerai, Breitling, and IWC underperformed. Inventory for watches under $5,000 remains historically elevated, and dealer turnover in that range continues to lag.

“Price recovery remains narrow and concentrated,” the report notes, driven by “renewed interest from high-end collectors and improved global risk appetite.”

Both BTC and watches, it adds, tend to benefit from “expansionary monetary environments and periods of wealth creation.”

But the speculative capital isn’t flowing evenly. Bitcoin has attracted more of the macro-driven bid, with institutional inflows and 24/7 liquidity making it the preferred high-beta asset.

The pandemic-era correlation between BTC and watches, both beneficiaries of easy money and speculative excess, broke down in late 2023 with the approval of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs.

BTC has since matured into a macro-sensitive, institutionally backed asset, while watches have returned to their roots: fashion.

Market Movements:

BTC: Bitcoin briefly approached $123,000 before cooling off, while crypto-related stocks held modest gains and analysts said the market remains far from euphoric, with one projecting BTC’s $2.5 trillion market cap could eventually converge with gold’s $22 trillion.

ETH: ETH surged past $3,079 in early trading on strong volume before retreating in the afternoon to settle near $3,011, forming a textbook breakout-pullback pattern with support holding above the key $3,000 level.

Gold: Gold slipped 0.1% after hitting a three-week high amid renewed tariff threats from President Trump and focus on trade talks and U.S. data, while silver surged to its highest level since September 2011.

Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets opened mixed Tuesday, with investors brushing off President Trump’s tariff shifts and turning attention to upcoming Chinese economic data, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 remained flat.

S&P 500:RBC Capital Markets raised its 2025 S&P 500 target to 6,250 from 5,730, but unlike Goldman and BofA, it expects little upside from current levels, with the index already above 6,280 as of July 11.

Elsewhere in Crypto

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Ваш адрес email не будет опубликован. Обязательные поля помечены *

Uncategorized

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Drops 3.1% as Index Trades Lower

Published

on

By

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.

The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 3578.43, down 1.3% (-47.45) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.

Two of 20 assets are trading higher.

9am CoinDesk 20 Update for 2025-07-15: vertical

Leaders: SUI (+3.4%) and XLM (+2.2%).

Laggards: BCH (-3.1%) and POL (-2.8%).

The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Crypto Banking Startup Dakota Raises $12.5M for Global Stablecoin Push

Published

on

By

Dakota, a crypto-integrated banking platform for businesses, has raised $12.5 million in a Series A round to expand its borderless banking services, the firm said on Tuesday.

The investment was led by CoinFund, with participation from 6th Man Ventures and Triton Ventures.

The announcement comes at a time when stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies tied to an external asset, predominantly to the U.S. dollar, are increasingly becoming part of traditional finance plumbing and a tool for cheaper, faster cross-border payments. Stablecoin regulation is also advancing in the U.S., with the Senate already having passed the GENIUS Act and the House aiming to vote on the proposal on Thursday.

«We believe stablecoins can revolutionize business banking,» Alex Felix, CIO of CoinFund, said in a statement. «Dakota is unlocking that potential by combining the familiarity of a bank account with the power of crypto rails.»

The startup, founded by alumni of Coinbase, Square, and Airbnb, lets businesses hold and move funds in U.S. dollars or stablecoins while using traditional payment networks like ACH, SWIFT and SEPA. Businesses can send or receive payments via regular bank accounts on the platform without touching crypto directly. Behind the scenes, it uses blockchain to settle transfers nearly instantly, offering an alternative to conventional banking.

The firm keeps customer deposits fully reserved and backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasuries, aiming to eliminate liquidity and counterparty risks.

With the funding, the firm is now expanding its services to over 100 countries, including the UK, European Union, Singapore and parts of Latin America.

«Business today is borderless, and dollars are a universal language,» said Dakota CEO Ryan Bozarth. «We want to give entrepreneurs from Bogotá to Bangalore the same access to U.S. dollar banking that a startup in San Francisco would have.»

Read more: House Gears Up for Crypto Market Structure Vote on Wednesday, Stablecoins Thursday

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Risc Zero’s ‘Boundless’ Incentivized Testnet Goes Live

Published

on

By

Boundless, the decentralized zero-knowledge (ZK) compute marketplace powered by RISC Zero, has launched its incentivized testnet (which it is calling “Mainnet Beta”) on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network.

With Boundless’ incentivized testnet, developers can build and test applications in an environment as if the protocol is in fully live format. The network has already landed early support from industry heavyweights like the Ethereum Foundation, Wormhole and EigenLayer.

A decentralized marketplace for zero-knowledge compute connects those who need zero-knowledge proofs — such as developers building rollups, bridges, or privacy-preserving applications — with a distributed network of independent “ZK provers or miners” who generate and verify those proofs. Instead of relying on centralized parties, this model allows anyone with the right hardware to contribute computing power and be rewarded for doing that cryptographic work.

Zero-knowledge (ZK) technology allows parties to prove that a transaction is valid without revealing sensitive details like identities or amounts. ZK proofs are widely seen as crucial to the next generation of privacy and scaling focused blockchain projects.

The network relies on a Proof of Verifiable Work (PoVW) consensus mechanism. “PoVW is an open proving market where ZK miners, like institutions and individuals with high-performance GPUs, are rewarded for successfully verifying proofs,» the team wrote in a press release shared with CoinDesk. “Unlike traditional Proof of Work, miners get rewarded for verification within a ZK Virtual Machine, ensuring efficiency, fairness, and security.”

In addition, those who will participate in the incentivized testnet will be able to earn early allocations of the network’s forthcoming token, $ZKC, with an airdrop event planned for later this year. Rewards are distributed based on the volume, speed, and complexity of proofs generated.

The team also shared that the network’s real mainnet is planned for the third quarter of 2025, with the token going live then too.

“Boundless makes blockchains more scalable by allowing secure, cross-chain computing without repeating the same tasks. This boosts efficiency, strengthens security, and lets developers and miners join in across different ecosystems,” said Shiv Shankar, the CEO of Boundless, in the press release.

Read more: Blockchain Capital Leads $40M Round for Crypto Firm RISC Zero

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2017 Zox News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by WordPress.