Bitcoin News Today: Crypto Market Surges 90% as Institutional Interest and US Legislation Drive Gains

The crypto market is experiencing a notable surge today, with 90 out of the top 100 coins by market capitalization showing appreciation over the past 24 hours. This upward trend is driven by several factors, including increased institutional interest and favorable regulatory developments in the US. The market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market has decreased by 2% to $3.88 trillion, but the total crypto trading volume remains stable at $240 billion, a level that has been consistent for the past three days.

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a modest increase of 0.1%, maintaining its price at $118,085. Ethereum (ETH), however, has outperformed its peers with a 9% increase, currently trading at $3,425. XRP is the second-highest gainer, up 7.7% to $3.15. In the top 100 coins category, Floki (FLOKI) and Curve DAO (CRV) saw significant gains of 35.7% and 24.5%, respectively. On the other hand, Pump.fun (PUMP) and Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) experienced double-digit declines, with PUMP dropping 18.6% and PENGU falling by 10.5%.

The market's rally is fueled by accelerating institutional interest and favorable regulatory developments. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a procedural motion allowing three pieces of crypto legislation—the GENIUS stablecoin bill, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act—to proceed to final votes. The GENIUS Act, which already passed the Senate in June with bipartisan support, could land on the president’s desk this week. However, Congresswoman Maxine Waters argued that these bills would create “a casino for crypto billionaires to make more profits” and put hardworking Americans at risk for a future financial crisis.

According to Glassnode, Bitcoin's latest consolidation phase saw heavy accumulation in the $93,000–$97,000 and $104,000–$110,000 zones. Breaking above these dense supply clusters may establish strong support, forming a potential foundation for future market pullbacks. Bitcoin now enters a new phase of price discovery, with the majority of the supply held in profit. However, the market has just entered into a near-term overheated condition, according to Glassnode.

Dom Harz, co-founder of Layer-2 BOB, noted a surge in interest from institutions building out Bitcoin treasuries. He believes that as the infrastructure matures and innovation thrives, Bitcoin is poised to become far more than a store of value. Innovations within Bitcoin DeFi are laying the groundwork for this transformation, enabling institutions to hold Bitcoin and put the coins to work through DeFi applications. Harz described the current Crypto Week happening in the US as a historic moment for Bitcoin and crypto in general, reflecting the convergence of increased institutional inflows, growing confidence in digital assets, and a call for regulatory clarity.

At the time of writing, BTC trades at $118,085, with market watchers waiting for the price to reestablish itself within the $120,000 territory and hold it. Ethereum is currently trading at $3,425, with its rise being steadier than BTC’s over the past day. The next major upside targets for ETH are $3,454 and $3,757, with market participants also eyeing the $4,000 mark. The crypto market sentiment still stands firmly in greed territory, with the Fear and Greed Index increasing from 68 yesterday to 70 today. This suggests a willingness to invest and a positive view of the market, with further increases potentially indicating an overbought market.

On 16 July, the US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw additional positive flows for the tenth day in a row, reaching $788.4 million, nearly double the amount from the previous day. This is the record-high amount, significantly surpassing the previous $428.44 million. With that, the total net inflows hit $6.48 billion. BlackRock saw the highest share of this amount again, recording $763.89 million. Ark & 21 Shares, Fidelity, and Grayscale account for the rest. At the same time, US ETH ETFs saw positive flows for the ninth day in a row, recording a whopping $726.74 million on 16 July. Of this amount, BlackRock recorded $499.25 million, and Fidelity took in $113.31 million. Six other funds saw inflows, with no outflows reported.

Tom Lee, chief investment officer at Fundstrat and chairman of Bitmine Immersion Technologies, argued that the growth of stablecoins, in addition to Wall Street’s tokenization of real-world assets, is fueling interest in the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum has seen increased transaction activity as investor interest grows. Meanwhile, Senator Cynthia Lummis commented on the recent reports that the U.S. is holding about 85% less in its Bitcoin Reserve than previously thought, describing it as a total strategic blunder and setting the United States back years in the Bitcoin race.