News

Latest from across the web

Weekly News Roundup

Bitcoin recovered from a brief dip, trading around $108,000 for much of the week after reclaiming $110,000 early on. Traders are now eyeing a potential breakout above $116,000, which could spark a rally toward $165,000 if momentum sustains. Overall market tone is warming, with technical indicators signaling a continuation of the current bull cycle.

A major development this week saw Botanix Labs launch a Bitcoin Layer 2 mainnet built with Chainlink oracles, enabling Ethereum-style DeFi—featuring fast block times and low fees. Meanwhile, Ethereum continues to attract institutional capital: over $1.17B entered ETH spot ETFs in June, and inflows are expected to reach $10B by year-end, bolstering Ethereum’s formal market position

Mid-cap and alt tokens like Hyperliquid (+7.8%), Sui (+7.4%), and Pepe (+7.3%) led weekly gains, highlighting a renewed appetite for non‑blue‑chip assets. At the same time, attention is shifting toward US "Crypto Week" in mid-July, which will feature debates on major crypto bills like CLARITY, GENIUS, and the Anti‑CBDC Surveillance Act—expected to put wind in market sails.

Leaderboards

Powered by DefiLlama

What is DeFi?

DefiLlama’s leaderboards show that while centralized exchanges (CEXs) still dominate in volume terms, decentralized finance (DeFi) continues to grow in importance.

DeFi is a blockchain-based financial system that is permissionless and transparent and non-custodial, meaning that anyone with an internet connection can participate and users control their own assets, without intermediaries. The DeFi market includes numerous different services, including decentralized exchanges like Uniswap, stablecoins like DAI, lending protocols like Aave, and more.

While DeFi TVL (total value locked) declined in Q1 of 2025, the Trump administration shows a generally favourable outlook for the sector.

In April 2025, President Trump signed legislation overturning an IRS rule that would have classified DeFi platforms as brokers, requiring them to report user transactions. This move was seen as a significant victory for the DeFi industry, alleviating concerns about privacy and operational feasibility.

Tokens by market cap

Powered by CoinMarketCap

Why we are highlighting these token categories

While memecoins have been a huge story in crypto for the last year, AI Agents, Real-World Assets (RWA), and DePIN are reshaping the token economy in profound ways — each opening new frontiers for utility, scalability, and real-world impact. As the crypto space matures beyond speculation, these technologies are driving a more grounded and interoperable future for blockchain.

AI agents are increasingly being integrated into decentralized platforms, where they can execute smart contracts, optimize yield strategies, or help users navigate DeFi ecosystems.

RWAs refer to the tokenization of tangible or off-chain assets — such as real estate, bonds, invoices, and commodities — on blockchain networks. This bridges the gap between traditional finance and DeFi by bringing the value of trillions of dollars of real-world capital onto decentralized rails.

DePIN, or Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks, involve the use of blockchain tokens to coordinate and incentivize the deployment and maintenance of physical infrastructure. These systems rely on crypto economics to reward contributors for building out infrastructure in a decentralized, permissionless manner.

This week on X