Welcome to our July 2024 monthly crypto market recap!
In the past month, BTC has seen a change in sentiment, recovering from $53K to approximately $69K. ETH continues to trade at its $3.2K-$3.4K channel. Overall, the crypto market recovered slightly, currently at $2.57T, with general market sentiment leaning towards bullish, as seen in Santiment’s analysis of positive vs. negative comments toward BTC and the positive 7-day Call-to-Put skew for both BTC and ETH.
This month has been headlined by the launch of the spot ETH ETFs with over $100M inflows on its first day. The launch of these ETFs provides institutional investors with a new avenue to gain exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency. This milestone is expected to drive increased adoption and liquidity for Ethereum. In other crypto developments, Ripple made headlines by announcing its entry into the stablecoin market, positioning itself to compete with established players like Tether and USDC.
Meanwhile, Mt. Gox repayments to creditors continued, raising concerns about potential sell-offs that could exert downward pressure on Bitcoin prices. The fear of these creditors liquidating their holdings has contributed to the ongoing market uncertainty.
On the political front, Donald Trump proposed a strategic national crypto stockpile at the Bitcoin Nashville Conference, urging the public to “never sell your Bitcoin.” His presidential campaign has taken a pro-crypto stance, which could influence regulatory policies and market sentiment in the future. Additionally, he has stated that he would remove SEC Chair Gary Gensler “on day one” and appoint a “Bitcoin and crypto presidential advisory council.”
In the United States, the Producer Price Index (PPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed signs of stabilizing inflation. This has impacted the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook, with the June PCE Price Index rising 0.1% month-over-month and 2.5% year-over-year, both meeting expectations. Core PCE rose 0.2% month-over-month, slightly above estimates. Additionally, Q2 US GDP grew faster than expected at 2.8% QoQ, indicating robust demand despite higher borrowing costs.
Join us as we delve into the crypto market of July and uncover the stories that fueled the month’s leading performers. Stay ahead with our comprehensive monthly market recaps at TRHX Research and receive real-time updates with TRHX Pulse. Stay informed and adept at navigating the ever-evolving crypto landscape!
Helium (HNT) ⏶56.82%
Helium is a decentralized network that leverages blockchain technology to create a wide-reaching, low-cost wireless infrastructure. The Helium Network, also known as “The People’s Network,” provides wireless coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) devices using a unique incentivized model. Participants can earn HNT tokens by deploying Hotspots, which create a network coverage area and validate network data.
In July 2024, Helium completed a significant transition of its roaming users to a more interoperable and self-managed infrastructure. The infrastructure enhances the network’s scalability and reliability by allowing users to create and manage custom routes using their own Organizationally Unique Identifiers (OUI). This improvement is expected to drive further adoption and usage of the Helium IoT Network. Additionally, Helium Mobile, the first service provider on the MOBILE subnetwork, announced its expansion of coverage into Mexico, which targets high-traffic areas such as Leon, Tijuana, Guadalajara, Puebla, Toluca, and expanded areas in Oaxaca, significantly boosting network coverage. These developments and upcoming catalysts position Helium as a pioneering force in the decentralized wireless infrastructure space as well as a leader among Solana DePIN protocols.
Mantra (OM) ⏶49.78%
Mantra (OM) is an ecosystem focused on the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs). It is anchored by the MANTRA Chain, a Layer-1 blockchain that supports regulatory compliance for permissioned applications. Mantra aims to provide seamless integration with traditional banking systems, enabling the trading of various assets such as crypto, real estate, and equities. The $OM token, central to the ecosystem, will secure the network through Proof of Stake and influence liquidity emissions, with an expanded supply planned for the mainnet launch to incentivize validators. Partnerships like SwissBorg enhance $OM’s accessibility and utility, allowing easy management across multiple fiat and crypto assets.
OM’s price surge began with Blackrock’s announcement that its BUIDL product had surpassed $500 million in assets, positively impacting all tokens within the RWA sector, including OM. This initial boost was followed by data revealing that OM has an unusually high staking rate of over 21%, making it the highest-yielding token among the top 20 Proof of Stake (PoS) Layer-1 blockchains. This high yield generated substantial demand for OM as investors sought to capitalize on the attractive staking rewards. By the latter part of the month, Mantra announced that 267 million OM tokens were staked, representing a significant 32% of the circulating supply. Additionally, OM’s strong tokenomics, with 831 million tokens in circulation out of a total supply of 888 million, indicated less selling pressure from insiders, further bolstering investor confidence and contributing to the token’s upward momentum.
Jupiter (JUP) ⏶46.48%
Jupiter (JUP) is a leading decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator on the Solana blockchain. Initially focused on aggregating liquidity for token swaps, Jupiter has expanded to include GMX-style perpetual futures. JUP is the governance token of the Jupiter aggregator. It controls important parameters of the platform, including the DEX products and its launchpad.
In July, the price of JUP experienced a significant surge, closely following the price movements of SOL, exhibiting a leveraged beta effect as the largest DEX aggregator and transactional platform on Solana. Several key macroeconomic events also contributed to this rally. The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and the sudden withdrawal of President Joe Biden from the presidential race triggered a wave of speculation within the cryptocurrency markets. These events fueled the popularity of several memecoins within the Solana network, such as EAR and FIGHT, driving immense attention and transaction volumes. As the preferred aggregator for memecoin trading on Solana, Jupiter saw a substantial increase in activity, further propelling the price of JUP.
In addition, Jupiter has planned a series of strategic events towards the end of the month, which have been met with positive market sentiments. The last week of July was particularly eventful: on the 29th, the platform released the JUP essay, providing insights into its future plans and vision, which garnered substantial community interest. This release was followed by a community audit of JUP distribution on the 30th, enhancing transparency and trust within the ecosystem. The climax of these events was the voting on a critical proposal to reduce the token supply by 30% on the 31st, aiming to strengthen the token’s value proposition. These pivotal events are poised to shape Jupiter’s future significantly, reinforcing its commitment to community engagement and sustainable growth.
Solana Memecoins Rise Again:
Popcat (POPCAT) ⏶33.88%; Bonk (BONK) ⏶28.67%; dogwifhat (WIF) ⏶11.33%
The catalyst for the price appreciation in the Popcat, dogwifhat (WIF), and Bonk could likely be attributed to a mix of Solana beta and bullish events that went on in the respective projects. Solana’s price surged on 5th July and 13th July. Similarly, these price increases coincided with the price surges in Popcat, dogwifhat, and Bonk.
Popcat is a memecoin on the Solana network, popularized from an Internet meme from October 2020, featuring two images of a cat named ‘Oatmeal’ with one image showing a closed mouth and the other edited to form an ‘O’ shape with its mouth. On top of July being a cat-themed memecoin season, Bybit also mentioned Popcat on July 13. Furthermore, Popcat was ranked 2nd in Kucoin’s top cat-themed memecoins of 2024 article and mentioned by MEW, one of Solana’s top cat-themed memecoin projects. These mentions by institutions lend credibility and visibility of the Popcat project to a wide audience, potentially leading to the appreciation of its token.
Next, dogwifhat (WIF) is a memecoin of a dog wearing a hat that exists on the Solana network. On July 6, Bitstamp tweeted about a dog with the caption mentioning WIF. This represents an institution’s mark of approval and interest in WIF to their 503K followers. In addition, on July 15, WIF was mentioned by Forbes as the best-performing cryptocurrency in 2024 so far, which drew more attention to the token, increasing their market cap by over 1,000% to a value of $2.1T currently. This bullish news led to an increased vote of confidence in the memecoin project.Lastly, Bonk is an OG Solana memecoin, being the first Solana dog coin where 50% of the total supply was airdropped to the Solana community. On July 4, Bonk organized a treasure hunt event at the London hacker house event and a Bonk giveaway event that required participants to lock up their Bonk for six months. Bonk’s Telegram bot also saw an upgrade on July 18, resulting in increased transaction landing time and speed on Telegram. Locking up Bonk is bullish for the price and tokenomics as it implies more holders “hodling” the token than selling it, and improved product features increase user satisfaction in Bonk as a project. Moving forward, Bonk is aiming to be up to date with the latest events in the blockchain space by being present at events such as Blockchain&Bourbon and organizing BONKolympics in relation to the Olympics that are occurring simultaneously. Participants in the BONKolympics are able to bet on the sport and select which countries will make the podium or pick the top 5 countries by the medals they have won.
Solana (SOL) ⏶31.85%
Solana is an open-source, third-generation blockchain platform created in 2017 by former Qualcomm executive Anatoly Yakovenko, designed to enhance scalability while keeping costs low. Solana’s unique hybrid model allows it to process over 710,000 transactions per second without additional scaling solutions, distinguishing it from other blockchains like Ethereum. Solana’s consensus mechanism combines proof of history and proof of stake, ensuring efficient transaction validation and network security.
SOL, the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has been closely tracking the overall crypto market trends, driven by optimism surrounding the launch of spot ETH ETFs. This month, significant enthusiasm has also emerged due to the potential launch of a spot Solana ETF. Following the S-1 submissions from VanEck and 21Shares at the end of last month, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) filed for SEC approval to list Solana ETFs, initiating a countdown for a decision that must be made within 240 days. In parallel, Franklin Templeton, buoyed by the success of its spot Ethereum ETF, has also expressed interest in launching a Solana ETF, highlighting the increasing investor demand for diversified cryptocurrency ETFs. These developments have catalyzed substantial investor interest, as the approval of these ETFs represents a significant milestone, marking the third wave of spot cryptocurrency ETFs following the successful launches of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
As such, investors should pay close attention to any developments with the potential SOL ETFs. However, not all financial institutions share the same optimism. Major players like BlackRock have expressed reservations about the feasibility of launching SOL ETFs. Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock’s Head of Digital Assets, recently stated at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that the introduction of spot Ethereum ETFs is unlikely to pave the way for a broad range of other crypto ETFs, including those tied to Solana. Mitchnick emphasized that, beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, other cryptocurrencies lack the necessary market maturity, liquidity, and track record to justify ETF inclusion.
Bittensor (TAO) ⏶27.48%
Bittensor (TAO) is a decentralized network designed to enhance the capabilities and efficiency of artificial intelligence through a blockchain-based platform. By leveraging decentralized infrastructure, Bittensor aims to create a scalable, secure, and cost-effective environment for AI development and deployment.
In July 2024, a significant catalyst emerged for Bittensor with the launch of the Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund LLC. This new fund, created by the crypto asset manager Grayscale, focuses on bolstering investment in decentralized artificial intelligence within the cryptocurrency industry. Bittensor is one of the decentralized AI projects included in the fund’s basket, alongside other projects like Filecoin (FIL), Livepeer (LPT), Near (NEAR), and Render (RNDR). The broader market dynamics also play a role in the positive outlook for Bittensor. With companies like OpenAI driving advancements in AI, related protocols, including decentralized ones, have seen increased interest and value. This trend supports the growth and adoption of projects like Bittensor, positioning it as a key player in the evolving landscape of decentralized AI.
These developments showcase Bittensor’s potential and the significant opportunities ahead. As decentralized AI continues to gain traction, Bittensor’s innovative approach and strategic support from influential funds like Grayscale will likely drive its growth and impact in the AI and blockchain industries.
Ripple (XRP) ⏶27.00%
XRP Ledger by Ripple presents a wide variety of applications and use cases related to payments, including micropayments, DeFi, and, soon, NFTs. Deployed in 2012, the XRPL supports enterprises and Python, Java, and JavaScript developers with powerful utility and flexibility. Alongside its native coin, XRP, the XRP Ledger is used by developers to create solutions that solve inefficiencies, including remittance and asset tokenization. Currently, the five main applications of the XRP Ledger are payments, tokenization, DeFi, CBDCs, and stablecoins.
The speculation around a potential settlement in the SEC vs. Ripple case has intensified significantly in July 2024, contributing to the surge in XRP’s price. On July 25, the SEC was suspected of discussing settlement terms in a closed meeting, which heightened investor optimism. The anticipation of a settlement stems from the previous ruling by Judge Analisa Torres in July 2023, where Ripple was found to have violated U.S. securities laws by selling unregistered XRP to institutional investors. However, the judge also ruled that Programmatic Sales of XRP did not meet the third prong of the Howey Test, a critical factor in determining whether an asset is a security.
Pyth Network (Pyth) ⏶22.74%
Pyth Network is a blockchain-based Oracle solution designed to bridge the gap between real-world data and smart contracts. Launched in 2021 and initially built for the Solana blockchain, Pyth provides highly accurate and efficient pricing data for crypto and non-crypto assets to decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Unlike other oracles, Pyth sources data directly from financial institutions, ensuring speed and accuracy. The network uses a unique two-participant system, where publishers provide data and consumers request updates, making it a cost-effective and reliable data source. Pyth’s native token, PYTH, governs the network, allowing community members to vote on key decisions.
In addition to the beta effect on Solana, Pyth started the month strong by partnering with Ondo Finance, bringing its USDY/USD price feed to over 65 blockchains. This was followed by the integration of Pyth’s price feeds onto Starknet, just days after Starknet incorporated Chainlink price oracles, highlighting Pyth’s growing influence in the DeFi space. Towards the end of the month, Pyth further expanded its reach by integrating with Gravity, a Layer-1 Omnichain developed by the renowned social quest protocol, Galaxe. These significant developments have amplified Pyth’s utility and adoption across multiple blockchain ecosystems, increasing investor interest and contributing to the token’s price appreciation.
Internet Computer (ICP) ⏶17.36%
Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) is a decentralized blockchain network designed to enable the development of scalable, secure, and efficient applications. As a blockchain that aims to reinvent the internet by allowing developers to build, deploy, and manage dApps and websites directly on the blockchain, ICP offers unique benefits, including high speed and low cost, without relying on traditional cloud services.
In July 2024, ICP hosted the ICP EU Ideathon, an online boot camp and ideas pitch competition aimed at fostering innovation within AI, decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN), and the broader Web3 space. This event invites developers and entrepreneurs from across Europe to present their startup concepts and compete for a share of the €40,000 prize pool. The competition features two tracks: DeAI, which focuses on decentralized AI technologies, and DePIN, which seeks solutions for democratizing resource contribution and decentralizing physical infrastructure. The schedule includes an immersive online boot camp starting on June 28th, a submission deadline on July 7th, and evaluations from July 7th to 12th. Winners will be announced on July 12th during the Startup Connect: Brussels Edition event, co-hosted by Cointelegraph Acceleration, Newtribe Capital, and multiple ICP Hubs. This was likely the catalyst for the price action of ICP this month.
The network’s capabilities, such as device-level controls, custom routing rules, and affordable network fees, make it an attractive solution for various applications, including mission-critical operations and geospatial expansions.
Closing Remarks
As July draws to a close, the cryptocurrency market brims with excitement and opportunity. This month has been characterized by an interplay of positive market trends, progressive regulatory developments, and increasing anticipation surrounding significant upcoming events. These factors have collectively contributed to a vibrant and optimistic atmosphere within the crypto space.
JPMorgan corroborates this view, predicting that the crypto market will rebound starting in August 2024. The bank reduced its year-to-date net flow estimate to $8 billion from $12 billion due to a decline in Bitcoin reserves across exchanges. This decline is attributed to liquidations by creditors of Mt. Gox and Gemini, as well as being sold by the German government. These liquidations are expected to abate by the end of July, paving the way for a market recovery.
Many people are also expecting the Fed to hint at cutting their interest rates, and in August, the Federal Reserve will release the minutes from its most recent policy meeting, which might point in that direction. There is currently an 84% probability of a Fed rate cut by September of this year on Polymarket. Alongside this, the European Union will release its preliminary GDP growth rate for the second quarter of 2024, which may offer a glimpse into the economic performance of the Eurozone and its potential impact on global markets.
Several key crypto events are also happening in August. On August 13th and 14th, Istanbul Blockchain Week will take place in Istanbul, Turkey. This event will gather global blockchain leaders, developers, and enthusiasts to discuss the latest trends and innovations in the crypto and blockchain space. Additionally, from August 19th to 21st, the Web3 Summit will be held in Berlin, Germany. This summit will focus on Web3 technologies, providing a collaborative space for community-driven programming, workshops, and presentations from high-quality speakers.
As we move forward into August, our steadfast commitment to exploring the dynamic realm of cryptocurrency remains unwavering. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive analysis and expert guidance through the fluid landscapes of this evolving sector. Stay tuned for our ongoing in-depth explorations of the crypto sphere through TRHX Research and the TRHX Pulse Newsletter, where we will deliver the latest updates.
Disclaimer
This publication is provided for informational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing contained in this publication constitutes financial advice, trading advice, or any other advice, nor does it constitute an offer to buy or sell securities or any other assets or participate in any particular trading strategy. This publication does not take into account your personal investment objectives, financial situation, or needs. TRHX does not warrant that the information provided in this publication is up-to-date or accurate.
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