Significant updates on tariffs are emerging as the United States imposes widespread duties on remaining nations. Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues its upward trajectory, reaching a new all-time high, highlighting its resilience amidst geopolitical and economic shifts.

Market Overview

US equities closed higher across all three major indices on Wednesday, July 9th, with the Nasdaq leading gains at 0.95%, and the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both up over 0.49%. Stock futures, however, saw a slight decline. Oil prices dipped slightly to around $68 per barrel. Gold held steady at $3326 per ounce.

Despite challenges from geopolitical tensions and restrictions on chip exports to China, NVIDIA continues its strong growth, officially surpassing a market capitalization of $4 trillion. With this surge, NVIDIA becomes the first company in the world to achieve this impressive milestone and maintains its position as the world's most valuable company.

Bitcoin surged past its previous peak, at one point touching over $112,145, before settling back to around $111,000. Most major altcoins also saw gains. The overall crypto market capitalization saw a modest increase, remaining around $3.54 trillion.

Tariff Updates: Trump's Global Economic Pressure Campaign

In recent days, the Trump administration has continuously sent official tariff notification letters to numerous countries. To date, approximately 14 nations have received notices, with tariff rates ranging from 20% to 30%, including the Philippines (20%), Brunei and Moldova (25%), Algeria, Iraq, Libya, and Sri Lanka (30%). However, the most notable case is Brazil, the only country facing the highest tariff rate of 50%, which has provoked a strong response from its government.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared that Brazil is a sovereign nation with independent institutions and will not tolerate being "schooled" by anyone. He asserted that Brazil would retaliate against the US's 50% tariff with commensurate measures, based on a new law allowing the government to take retaliatory action if unilaterally subjected to economic measures by other countries.

According to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, these tariff letters serve as advance notice. The affected countries have until August 1, 2025, to negotiate to avoid the tariffs specified in the letters. After this date, the tariffs will officially take effect and can only be adjusted if the two parties reach a new trade agreement. Brazil is currently the first country to publicly oppose and threaten retaliation. Meanwhile, many other countries may be quietly negotiating without making public statements. It's worth noting that President Trump had previously stated he would impose even higher tariffs on any country that dared to retaliate against US tariff measures.

Concurrently, President Trump also announced a 50% tariff on imported copper, effective August 1, 2025. He emphasized that copper is a strategic material for sectors such as chip manufacturing, radar, warships, hypersonic weapons, and batteries. It is the second most used material by the US Department of Defense, and this tariff aims to revive the domestic copper industry, enhance national security, and strengthen the US's leading position in defense technology.

Despite concerns about a potential escalation of trade wars, financial markets appear to remain calm. In the latest session, all three major US indices remained in positive territory, reflecting a sentiment among investors that they are gradually becoming less affected by tariff news. This suggests that the market may be pricing in these tariffs as negotiation tactics rather than long-term, detrimental trade barriers, or perhaps that the liquidity provided by other policies is currently overriding these concerns.

Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes Reveal Internal Division

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's June 17–18 meeting reveal a clear division among officials regarding the path of interest rate cuts, set against a backdrop of persistent inflation and mounting pressure from President Donald Trump.

Some members expressed concern that new tariffs could fuel inflation, while others focused on signs of slowing economic growth and a decelerating labor market. Although the entire committee unanimously agreed to keep interest rates unchanged at the June meeting, many officials believed that starting to cut rates this year was necessary, arguing that tariff-induced inflation might be temporary and mild.

Opinions within the Fed are currently split into three main groups: one group desires an immediate rate cut in July; another believes rates should not be adjusted this year; and the remaining group suggests only a few minor cuts are needed as current rates are already near neutral. According to the projected path, the Fed is expected to implement two rate cuts in 2025 and continue with three more cuts in subsequent years. This internal disagreement highlights the complexity of monetary policy decisions in a volatile economic and political environment, creating uncertainty for market participants.

Bitcoin and Crypto Inflows: Institutional Accumulation Continues

The Bitcoin heatmap, updated by Glassnode, indicates that large wallets are actively accumulating. The data reflects that most wallet groups are either inactive or distributing, with the notable exception of wallets holding between 1,000 to 10,000 BTC, which are actively accumulating. These are likely wallets belonging to entities such as Bitcoin ETFs or large investment firms.

Capital continues to flow strongly into Bitcoin ETFs, evidenced by consistent daily positive inflows. Just this past Wednesday, US Bitcoin spot ETFs saw positive inflows of $215.7 million. ETH spot ETFs also recorded significant inflows of $211.3 million. SOL ETFs similarly experienced inflows of $33.5 million. These sustained institutional inflows across various crypto ETFs underscore a growing mainstream acceptance and demand for digital asset exposure.

Meanwhile, institutions like ProCap, founded by Anthony Pompliano, have continued their aggressive Bitcoin accumulation. ProCap purchased 3,700 BTC in a single day at an average price of $103,000 per BTC, bringing its total holdings to 4,950 BTC. Pompliano views this as the "professional sport" of investing, where those who accumulate the most will lead.

The supply of Bitcoin on exchanges and OTC desks continues to decline, forcing prices higher to attract sellers. This reflects how the Bitcoin market has operated for the past 15 years. Fox Business News has even told its audience that Bitcoin could rise to $140,000, indicating growing mainstream media attention and bullish sentiment.

Ethereum Gathers Increased Attention: A Digital National Economy

Over the past period, capital has strongly returned to Ethereum, to the extent that daily investments of $50 million, and even $100 million, have become commonplace. This represents a significant shift compared to the early days of Ethereum ETFs, when even a few million dollars daily was considered a positive sign.

Alongside Bitcoin, many companies are now actively accumulating Ethereum, notably Bit Digital. Bit Digital confirmed its withdrawal from Bitcoin mining activities, fully transitioning to Ethereum, and now holds over 100,000 ETH. The company aims to build the largest ETH treasury among publicly listed enterprises, focusing on accumulation, staking, and development within the Ethereum ecosystem.

The CEO cites that Ethereum is not merely a coin but a technological ecosystem attracting trillions of dollars on-chain. Ethereum allows network fees and value to return to stakers, a feature Bitcoin does not possess. Furthermore, Ethereum supports the tokenization of real-world assets like stocks, real estate, and art, transforming everything into digital assets that can be traded on the blockchain. The CEO asserts that Ethereum is the sole platform for the future of digital finance, with no second option.

This narrative extends beyond individual investors, having captured the attention of major companies in the crypto space, even though the market still features numerous other coins like BNB, Solana, Cardano, etc. Importantly, even traditional financial news channels are increasingly discussing Ethereum and its key features such as staking and asset tokenization, topics that have been debated since 2020-2021, but are now gaining greater prominence.

Additionally, Fidelity, a financial firm managing $4.9 trillion, recently published an analytical report likening Ethereum to a digital national economy. The report points out that Ethereum's activity closely resembles the GDP of a real nation, comprising four main components: consumption (gas fees as consumption tax, application and NFT revenue as digital goods value), government spending (ecosystem subsidies and validator rewards), investment (staking and liquidity pools supporting transactions), and imports/exports (blockchain bridges and stablecoins). ETH is not just a token but functions as Ethereum's national currency, used for transaction fees, as a medium of exchange, and a store of value, similar to gold in a traditional economy.

According to data, in 2023, ETH accounted for 68% of decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume and 31% of lending deposits, while in 2024, DEX trading volume increased to 74%, but lending deposits decreased to 21%. Fidelity concludes that Ethereum is truly a digital economy, and increasing interest from traditional investors indicates significant efforts to shape perceptions of coins beyond Bitcoin.

One of the most influential voices currently is Tom Lee—a renowned Bitcoin bull—who has also shifted his focus to promoting Ethereum by establishing BitM, a company dedicated to accumulating Ethereum with substantial capital. Tom Lee encourages people to pay attention to Ethereum in a similar way they might have missed out on Bitcoin when its price was low. These actions appear to be deliberate efforts to attract Wall Street's attention to Ethereum, suggesting a potential rotation of institutional interest within the crypto market.

US Accelerates Crypto Legislation: GENIUS, CLARITY Bills in Focus

The US Congress is accelerating the process of passing legislation related to the crypto market, with both the House and Senate actively involved. Currently, two Senate committees, the Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee, are handling comprehensive crypto bills. The Banking Committee held a hearing today, while the Agriculture Committee is expected to hold a hearing next Tuesday. Concurrently, the House is preparing for "Crypto Week" with several proposed bills, including the GENIUS Stablecoin Act and the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, aimed at establishing clear legal frameworks for the digital asset market.

At today's hearing, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott emphasized that the Senate's recent passage of the GENIUS Act 2025 stablecoin bill is a crucial stepping stone, and he hopes the House will soon approve it next week. He sees this not only as a legislative victory but also as proof of Congress's ability to overcome political differences and work together for the common good. Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren, despite being a well-known crypto skeptic, expressed her willingness to negotiate but warned of potential conflicts of interest from President Trump's side. She accused Trump of wanting weak crypto laws to serve personal interests and cautioned that the House bill could enable companies like Meta or Tesla to tokenize shares to evade SEC oversight, which she called a "dangerous shortcut" if not strictly controlled.

The House's Digital Asset Clarity Act has passed relevant committees, with its core content empowering the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to regulate the digital asset market. However, former CFTC Chairman Tim Massad warned that this 236-page bill contains numerous legal loopholes. Senator Tim Scott also emphasized his goal of clearly distinguishing between asset types such as commodity, security, and the methods for trading and custodying digital assets, asserting that Congress does not need more barriers but rather truly effective laws.

In terms of timeline, President Trump has set an August deadline for Congress to finalize stablecoin and crypto market structure bills. The stablecoin bill is expected to be signed into law as early as next week, while the comprehensive crypto market infrastructure bill will require more time, with Senator Tim Scott setting a September 30th deadline for the Senate to complete its passage. This dual-track approach reflects a concerted effort to bring regulatory clarity to different aspects of the crypto ecosystem.

Other Key Crypto Updates

Pioneer AI Foundry is converting Solana to Bitcoin to optimize performance. The company currently holds 2,288 SOL and 1.15 BTC. They are offering a $2 million bond package with a 7.5% interest rate and plan to use these funds for operations and further Bitcoin acquisition. This highlights a strategic shift towards Bitcoin as a core treasury asset, even by AI-focused companies.

Global companies continue to accumulate Bitcoin. Remixpoint (Japan) has raised $215 million to increase its holdings from 1,051 BTC to 3,000 BTC. Meanwhile, H100 Group AB (Sweden) acquired an additional 47.33 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 247.54 BTC. The trend of Bitcoin accumulation continues to spread globally, driven by institutional interest.

LQWD Technologies, a Canadian company specializing in Lightning Network strategies for Bitcoin, has increased its fundraising target to 12.3 million CAD (approximately $9 million). These funds will be used for three purposes: purchasing BTC, expanding Lightning Network infrastructure, and general operational and development needs. This focus on Lightning Network development signals a belief in Bitcoin's scalability for micro-transactions.

Sources

• Bloomberg
• CoinDesk
• U.S. Treasury
• TradingView
• Reuters
• SEC
• ADP Employment Report
• US Department of Labor
• Glassnode
• CryptoQuant
• Standard Chartered Bank
• Fox Business News
• Fidelity Digital Assets
• House Ways & Means Oversight Subcommittee
• Senator Tim Scott
• Senator Elizabeth Warren
• former CFTC Chairman Tim Massad
• Pioneer AI Foundry
• Remixpoint
• H100 Group AB
• LQWD Technologies

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please do your own research before making investment decisions.

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