Monthly Review of July 2024

This monthly review looks at the most important cryptocurrency news from July. The most significant cryptocurrency news in July revolved around the launch of Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States, Bitcoin purchases, events negatively impacting cryptocurrency price movements, and positive views on Bitcoin.

              
July in the Cryptocurrency Markets
  
July was an interesting time for cryptocurrency price movements, with considerable differences in price changes among cryptocurrencies. Among the cryptocurrencies offered by Northcrypto, the best performers were Solana and Aave, whose prices increased by about 20% and 13% during July. The price of Bitcoin rose by about four percent in July. The price of Dogecoin fell by about two percent, while the prices of Ethereum and Litecoin were down more than five percent. The prices of Chainlink and Polygon fell by about ten percent, while the price of ApeCoin dropped nearly 25 percent.
Ethereum Spot ETFs Begin Trading in the United States
  
The most significant news in July was likely the start of trading for Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States on July 23rd. An ETF refers to an exchange-traded fund, while a spot ETF refers to an ETF backed by the underlying asset, in this case, ether. A total of eight ETFs began trading in the United States, including an ETF from the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock. The ETFs were initially approved in late May, and finally, about two months later, they started trading. The first trading day can be considered successful, as the combined trading volume of the ETFs rose to about one billion euros, with net inflows of approximately 100 million euros. Following this, net outflows were observed during the rest of the month. This has not come as a surprise, as the Bitcoin spot ETFs approved in January also saw mostly net outflows in the first few weeks.
News on Bitcoin Purchases
  
Corporate Bitcoin holdings continued to grow in July. Marathon Digital Holdings (Marathon), a U.S.-based company and one of the world’s largest Bitcoin miners, announced at the end of July that it had purchased over €90 million worth of Bitcoin. At the same time, Marathon announced a new strategy regarding Bitcoin holdings. From now on, Marathon intends to hold all the bitcoins it mines and periodically increase its bitcoin holdings through strategic market purchases. According to comments from Marathon, this strategy reflects the company’s confidence in the long-term value of Bitcoin. After the July bitcoin purchase, Marathon’s bitcoin holdings exceeded 20,000 bitcoins, valued at about 1.2 billion euros at the end of July.
In addition to Marathon, the Japanese company Metaplanet continued its bitcoin purchases. During July, Metaplanet completed bitcoin purchases worth approximately 6 million euros announced in June. This raised Metaplanet’s bitcoin holdings to around 250 bitcoins, valued at about 15 million euros at the end of July. Metaplanet’s bitcoin purchases, which began in April this year, have positively impacted the company’s stock price, which rose by about 520 percent by the end of July from the first purchase announcement made in early April.
In addition to companies, a purchase announcement also emerged in July regarding the Michigan State Pension Fund in the northern United States. This came to light from a report submitted by Michigan’s pension fund to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Michigan’s pension fund reported holding Bitcoin spot ETF shares worth approximately 6 million euros.
In addition to Michigan’s pension fund purchase announcement, an interesting announcement was made regarding the bitcoin purchase plans of Jersey City, a U.S. city. The city’s mayor, Steven Fulop, announced on the social media platform X that Jersey City is currently updating its bitcoin purchase filings with the SEC. There is no detailed information about Jersey City’s plans, but according to Fulop, Jersey City intends to follow in the footsteps of the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin’s state pension fund invested about two percent of its assets in Bitcoin spot ETFs in May. Jersey City is the second largest city in New Jersey, located on the east coast of the United States.
News Behind Negative Cryptocurrency Price Movements
  
At least two factors within the cryptocurrency market negatively impacted cryptocurrency price movements in July. The first factor was the start of customer fund repayments for the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange, which was hacked in 2014. According to the end-of-month data, during July, slightly under 60,000 bitcoins were repaid, accounting for just over 40 percent of all repayable funds. Mt. Gox was the largest exchange in Bitcoin’s early days, with over 70 percent of all bitcoin trading occurring there.
The second significant factor negatively impacting price movements was the bitcoin sales by the state of Saxony, located in eastern Germany. In July, Saxony sold about 50,000 confiscated bitcoins, which brought in slightly over 2.6 billion euros. As a result, the average selling price of the bitcoins was just under 53,000 euros. The price of Bitcoin at the end of the month was slightly under 60,000 euros, indicating that the timing of the sales was likely not optimal.
Positive Views on Bitcoin
  
In July, Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, and one of the world’s most influential figures in investment matters commented on Bitcoin in an interview with CNBC in the United States. Fink mentioned that he had previously been a Bitcoin skeptic. However, after studying Bitcoin, he realized he had been wrong. Fink now states that he believes Bitcoin is a legitimate investment asset with a place in investment portfolios. Additionally, Fink described Bitcoin as digital gold.
At the end of July, the annual Bitcoin conference was held, featuring several prominent speakers ranging from business leaders to presidential candidates. The most anticipated speaker at the conference, held in Nashville in the eastern United States, was likely former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is competing in this year’s presidential election. In his speech, Trump expressed his intention to make the United States the world’s cryptocurrency capital and a Bitcoin superpower if elected. Trump also stated his intention not to sell the confiscated bitcoins held by the United States. According to Trump, these bitcoins would serve as the foundation for a U.S. strategic bitcoin stockpile.
U.S. asset manager VanEck also published a highly positive report on Bitcoin in July. The report summarizes that Bitcoin price could potentially be $2.9 million in 2050. According to VanEck, this estimate is based on the possibility that by 2050, ten percent of the world’s international trade and five percent of domestic trade would be conducted using bitcoin. VanEck suggests that this would also lead to 2.5 percent of central banks’ reserves being held in bitcoin.
Summary
  
Ethereum spot ETFs began trading at the end of July after a two-month wait. It is now easier for institutional players to invest in the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, as the purchase and storage of ether are handled by the ETF issuer and its partners on behalf of institutions. Ethereum ETFs can be seen as paving the way for the approval of spot ETFs for other cryptocurrencies, and in July, rumors circulated about whether Solana would be the next cryptocurrency to receive a spot ETF in the United States.
In July, there was an unusually high amount of news related to bitcoin purchases. Mining company Marathon’s announcements of bitcoin purchases and a new Bitcoin strategy positively affect Bitcoin’s supply-demand dynamics. Marathon’s decision could have a significant impact, as it is highly possible that in the near future, other major Bitcoin mining companies will, like Marathon, no longer sell their mined bitcoins but will keep them and increase their bitcoin holdings through purchases. The Japanese company Metaplanet continued to grow its bitcoin holdings in July, following in the footsteps of the U.S. company MicroStrategy, but on a somewhat smaller scale. Announcements from the United States regarding Michigan’s state pension fund and Jersey City’s bitcoin purchases and purchase plans are starting to form a trend initiated by the Wisconsin pension fund in May. The continuation of this trend in the future currently seems highly likely, and the trend may spread to Europe in the near future.
In addition to several positive news stories, two events negatively impacting cryptocurrency price movements were reported in July. The start of Mt. Gox repayments has been anticipated and slightly feared for about ten years. After the repayments began, Bitcoin price did not drop significantly, which can be seen as a positive sign. Bitcoin’s "strength" was also demonstrated by its quick recovery from a price drop in early July, coinciding with Saxony’s state selling its confiscated bitcoins.
Several significant figures gave positive comments about Bitcoin in July. Previously known Bitcoin skeptics Larry Fink and Donald Trump have both turned into advocates for Bitcoin. This could have a significant positive impact on how both individual and institutional investors perceive cryptocurrencies in the United States and worldwide. The report by U.S. asset manager VanEck on Bitcoin is very positive regarding Bitcoin’s future, as VanEck envisions Bitcoin becoming a global medium of exchange and one of the world’s reserve currencies in the future.

Ville Viitaharju
Cryptocurrency specialist