Bitcoin holds steady over $118,000, while Ethereum retreats slightly.
The cryptocurrency market experienced renewed volatility on Tuesday, with investors still in wait-and-see mode amid ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty as President Donald Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline looms. Most large-cap crypto assets are flat or slightly down over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin (BTC) held steady for the second consecutive day, hovering around the $118,800 mark – a 2% increase over the past week. BTC’s muted action comes after the world’s largest crypto reached a new all-time high of $123,000 last week.
“Following Bitcoin’s recent price surge, we are seeing a period of relative stability that is healthy for the market,” Przemysław Kral, CEO of Zondacrypto, said in a statement shared with The Defiant. “It allows investors to digest gains, prevents speculative overheating, and can set a foundation for further, sustainable growth.
Ethereum (ETH), meanwhile, slipped just over 1% to $3,728. The dip follows a strong 23% weekly rally and Monday’s breakout above $3,700, which marks its first time crossing that level since December.
XRP also fell slightly on the day to $3.52, giving back some of its recent weekly gains of 22%.
Solana (SOL) bucked the trend among large-cap crypto assets, increasing 4% on the day to $203, breaking above the $200 mark for the first time since February and flipping BNB to become the fifth-largest cryptocurrency. SOL is up over 27% on the week.
“While there is currently a calm confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term value, there has been fevered interest in altcoins,” Kral said. “Ethereum, Solana, XRP and other similar tokens have seen a monumental surge in value in the last week.”
Total cryptocurrency market capitalization is currently standing at $4.01 trillion, down 4.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Trading volume over the same period reached $273 billion.
Over the past 24 hours, more than $536 million in crypto positions were liquidated, according to CoinGlass data. Short positions made up $161 million, while long positions accounted for $375 million. Ethereum led liquidations with $169 million, followed by Bitcoin at $104 million.
ETH ETFs Break Weekly Record
In the exchange-traded fund (ETF) space, ETH ETFs attracted $296 million in inflows on Monday, extending a 12-day streak of positive flows. Last week set a new weekly record for ETH ETF inflows, with over $2 billion in net inflows for the week ending July 18, fueled by a single-day surge of over $726 million – the highest daily inflow ever recorded for ETH ETFs.
As of now, cumulative net inflows for ETH ETFs have reached $7.8 billion, while total trading volume has surpassed $3.1 billion.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded negative net flows of $131 million on Monday, breaking a 12-day streak of inflows, according to SoSoValue.
Fed Uncertainty
Experts explained that markets were choppy on Tuesday as a reaction to mixed signals from the Federal Reserve and growing political pressure on Fed Chair Jerome Powell to resign.
While Powell has not said he plans to step down, speculation has grown after months of criticism from President Donald Trump.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said he sees no reason for Powell to resign, however, he did renew his call for a sweeping internal review of the central bank’s operations, per CNBC.
“I know Chair Powell. There’s nothing that tells me that he should step down right now. He’s been a good public servant,” Bessent said on Fox Business. “His term ends in May. If he wants to see that through, I think he should. If he wants to leave early, I think he should.”
Meanwhile, President Trump’s August 1 tariff deadline is fast approaching. Most recently, he said he plans to send letters to more than 150 countries warning of potential new tariffs, telling reporters last week that the rates could be 10% or 15%, though they “haven’t decided yet.”
