SDM Daily Market Report - July 16, 2025

Trading Desk Insights

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Tuesday saw a brief dip in crypto prices after the House failed to advance two major pieces of industry legislation: the GENIUS Act (focused on stablecoins and already passed by the Senate) and the more complex CLARITY Act aimed at broader market structure reform. Hours later, Trump indicated that Republican holdouts had agreed to support the measures “after a short discussion,” injecting fresh optimism into the market.

Traders woke up to renewed bullish momentum across crypto markets. Funding rates are climbing and long positioning is picking up as "Crypto Week" headlines fuel risk-on sentiment. ETH has already doubled over the past three months, but the move is starting to look stretched relative to fundamentals as onchain activity like active addresses, network revenue, and gas fees remains mostly flat. Still, there’s a narrative tailwind: if the GENIUS Act passes, capital chasing yield from stablecoins could rotate into ETH staking and related strategies, further supporting ETH dominance. This rotation is reflected in the ETHBTC ratio, which just posted its strongest move since May.

In ETF flows, BTC attracted $403.1 million in inflows, eclipsing Monday’s tally, while ETH saw a respectable $192.3 million, about half of BTC’s figures.

Meanwhile, AI-themed tokens rallied 5% overnight, lifting the sector’s total market cap to $29.6 billion. The rally comes on the back of a wave of AI infrastructure updates from U.S. tech giants, reigniting risk appetite across both equities and digital assets.

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The News Room

SharpLink Gaming overtakes Ethereum Foundation as largest ETH holder

SharpLink Gaming has surged ahead of the Ethereum Foundation to become the top corporate holder of ETH, amassing around 280,706 ETH (~$867M) as of July 15. The firm spent approximately $213M buying 74,656 ETH over one week (July 7–13) at an average price of ~$2,852 per coin, and now stakes nearly all its holdings, earning an extra 415 ETH since June 2.

Fidelity subsidiary becomes largest Metaplanet shareholder with US $816M stake

National Financial Services LLC (Fidelity's custody arm) has acquired 84.4 million shares (12.9%) of Japan-based Bitcoin treasury firm Metaplanet, valued at approximately ¥121B (~US $816M) as of a July 15 filing. This explosive increase—from only 1.91 million shares on March 31—signals the ongoing rise in institutional interest, as Metaplanet holds 16,352 BTC (~$1.6B cost basis) and ranks among the top five public BTC holders.

Solana’s RWA ecosystem jumps 217% to US $553M

Solana’s tokenized Real‑World Asset market has skyrocketed 217% year-to-date, now totaling about $553M in RWA value, placing it third behind ZKsync Era and Ethereum. This sector growth—fueled by protocols like Ondo Finance and ONe’s institutional fund (~$276M of non-stablecoin RWAs) and a 684% surge in unique wallet holders (from 7.4K to over 58K) in just 30 days—reinforces Solana’s reputation for delivering high throughput at low cost.
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Crypto Charts

ETF Flow

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Disclaimer

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This research is for informational use only. This is not investment advice. Other than disclosures relating to Secure Digital Markets this research is based on current public information that we consider reliable, but we do not represent it is accurate or complete, and it should not be relied on as such. The information, opinions, estimates, and forecasts contained herein are as of the date hereof and are subject to change without prior notification. We seek to update our research as appropriate.

Any forecasts contained herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not to be relied upon as advice or interpreted as a recommendation. The price of crypto assets may rise or fall because of changes in the broad market or changes in a company's financial condition, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Past performance is not a guide to future performance, future returns are not guaranteed, and a loss of original capital may occur. Fluctuations in exchange rates could have adverse effects on the value or price of, or income derived from, certain investments. We and our affiliates, officers, directors, and employees, excluding equity and credit analysts, will from time to time have long or short positions in, act as principal in, and buy or sell, the securities or derivatives, if any, referred to in this research.

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