Robinhood L2 triggers optimism in Ethereum, Siler "stirs up the water"-Coinholders 'Digest, July

Launch of Robinhood Chain drives up Ethereum prices

The successful release of Robinhood Chain, a second-layer network, has boosted investor sentiment towards Ethereum. The newly launched blockchain uses Ethereum as a native Gas token, and approximately $141 million in Ethereum has been bridged to the chain. Currently, the number of wallets holding Ethereum on the network exceeds 500,000, and in the past 24 hours, its DEX transaction volume has reached US$877.56 million, surpassing the Ethereum main network and competitor L2Base. This L2 is a derivative project of TradFi trading platform Robinhood, which provides tokenized shares to customers in 120 countries, further strengthening the EVM-compatible ecosystem.

Many experts had thought L2 was bad for Ethereum because they took activity away from the main network without repaying much transaction fees. However, even some former Ethereum bears are now reassessing this view. Internet celebrity Ansem wrote: "Lightweight and Robinhood L2 is quietly becoming the best Ethereum bullish layout in a long time." Mike Dudas of 6th Man Ventures added: "The Robinhood chain is the best thing I have seen in the Ethereum space in years."

(Robinhood soared in 24-hour DEX trading volume, source: DeFi Llama)

Ethereum also benefits from its 47% real-world asset market share, according to Rwa.xyz Leon Waidmann, director of research at Lisk, pointed out that the total locked position value (TVL) on Ethereum reached US$260 billion, exceeding Ethereum's market value of US$210 billion. Waidmann said this distorted signal suggests that "ETH is undervalued" and that the current relative valuation is even lower than the 2022 bear market.

British politicians consider a permanent ban on cryptocurrency donations, after the Nigel Farage scandal

Members of the UK's ruling Labor Party are considering a comprehensive ban on digital asset donations in response to Nigel Farage's resignation from Parliament and the possible impact of crypto billionaires on his policies. The Guardian reported on Thursday that Labour MPs have proposed making permanent the moratorium on crypto donations implemented in March this year, after it emerged that the Reform Party leader himself had received millions of pounds of so-called "gifts" from industry figures.

Farage surprisingly resigned from Parliament last week in an attempt to take action before the British Parliamentary Standards Commissioner investigated his donations. "Let me be clear: I haven't done anything wrong," Farage said on X Live. "I did not break the law at all, nor did I misuse public funds." The main party has refused to send candidates against him in the upcoming by-election, and his strongest political opponent is the comedy character "Count of the Dumpster", who is backed by critics of the Reform Party.

U.S. Bitcoin reserves are blocked, and federal agencies compete for control: Bloomberg

The Trump administration's efforts to build a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve have reportedly encountered obstacles, with the Commerce Department and the Treasury Department having differences on the reserve structure and which institution should be primarily responsible for position supervision. U.S. President Donald Trump 's March 2025 executive order requires SBR to be located within the Treasury Department, and other agencies will assist in asset seizures to build reserves. However, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that there are concerns about whether the Treasury Department has legal authority to manage Bitcoin (BTC) positions, in part because of its volatility. Sources said the Ministry of Commerce has become a contender to oversee the reserve. In addition, the Justice Department is working with departments to identify legally feasible options.

Wyden urges Senate leaders to retain developer protection provisions in encryption bill

Democratic U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has urged Senate leaders to ensure protections for crypto developers are retained in crypto market structure legislation. In a letter to Senate Minority Leader John Thun and Majority Leader Charles Schumer, Wyden asked for the retention of the part of the Clarification Act called the "Blockchain Regulation Definiteness Act." "Developers who develop and publish software that allows users to manage their own digital assets, and who do not control user assets, should not be considered money transmitters simply because they create or publish the software," Wyden wrote. The letter was sent against the backdrop of opposition to BRCA by certain groups and lawmakers. Last month, a group of law enforcement groups and the Catholic League argued the bill could create loopholes in the regulation of illegal activities. Senate leaders are pushing for the bill to pass this month.

Trump calls himself a "crypto boss" partly out of political considerations

U.S. President Donald Trump said he got into cryptocurrencies "for political reasons" and turned to support crypto after seeing how much money the industry made. At a press conference in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump announced the launch of the " Trump Account"(an investment account for minors under the age of 18). When asked whether the account allows holding Bitcoin (BTC), Trump added: "There is a bit of political reason for me to get involved in it. I realized that there are a lot of people who love encryption." During his first term, Trump He once claimed that he was "not a fan" and called Bitcoin a "scam." Since then, he and his family have established deep business interests in the crypto space, and Trump has been criticized for his pro-crypto stance and for making more profits from crypto than any listed exchange or miner in 2025. Five senators have called for a committee hearing to investigate whether Trump's policies may be affected by crypto funds from United Arab Emirates-related entities and other entities.

Winners and Losers

As of the weekend, Bitcoin (BTC) was at US$63,762, Ethereum (ETH) was at US$1,800, and Ripple (XRP) was at US$1.08. According to CoinMarketCap data, the total market value is US$2.2 trillion. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the three altcoins with the biggest gains this week were: DeXe (DEXE) up 94%, Pyth Network (PYTH) up 19%, and Arbitrum (ARB) up 15%. The three biggest declines this week were Bonk (BONK) down 19%, Jupiter (JUP) down 18%, and Pi (PI) down 16%.

Best forecast of the week

Bitcoin approaches end of bear market: Real Vision's Jamie Coutts

Jamie Coutts, chief crypto analyst at Real Vision, said that Bitcoin may enter a late bear market stage and its downward momentum is beginning to slow down. "I think we are going through most of the bear markets. Obviously it's not over yet, but you know, I think we're at least close to the second half,"Coutts said in an interview with Cointelegraph's Trade Secrets. He pointed out that Bitcoin's volatility has dropped by about 50% compared to the previous market cycle, indicating that the current decline may be milder than previous bear markets. Coutts added that he was reluctant to predict a bitcoin price of $1 million in 2030 because of the many variables, but said: "I would prefer a forecast for the next two to three years, where bitcoin should reach $200,000 to $250,000."

Worst News of the Week (FUD)

Strategy's Saylor needs clear information about the Bitcoin turn to convince investors

Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, believes Strategy's recent sale of $216 million worth of bitcoin to pay STRC dividends and the way Michael Saylor communicates decisions are "confusing BTC's short-term prospects." "We believe that effectively communicating MSTR's new strategy (using BTC to support STRC) is key to convincing the market that a large sell-off is unlikely; this in turn should support BTC prices," Kendrick wrote in a note to clients on Friday. "In fact, if this signal is effective, it should eliminate the need for MSTR to actually sell any BTC by supporting the price of the STRC." Kendrick said Strategy's long-standing "never sell" approach limits what the company can do with its industry's largest library of digital assets. "The problem with the 'never sell' approach is that it limits what MSTR's BTC positions can do-or more importantly, what they are thought to be able to do," Standard Chartered analysts said.

Kalshi appeals against a New York court's refusal to block enforcement of state gambling laws

Kalshi is appealing against a federal judge in New York rejecting his request to prevent New York State Gaming Commission officials from enforcing local laws against his sports-related event contracts. The appeal escalates the legal battle over whether the sports prediction market is a federally regulated derivative or a state-regulated gambling product, an issue that has sparked divisions in U.S. courts. Judge Analisa Torres rejected that argument, holding that the New York gambling law applied to Kalshi's sporting event contracts and had not been replaced by the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act. The court said Kalshi failed to "clearly or substantively" demonstrate that it was likely to win. "Kalshi suffered significant losses in the financial capital that could have a ripple effect on other cases, particularly Connecticut and other SDNY lawsuits," lawyer Daniel Wallach wrote.

Traders lose US$1 million due to signing phishing token authorization

According to online data, an encryption user lost nearly $1 million after signing a phishing token authorization on Ethereum on Wednesday. Scam Sniffer's alert on Thursday revealed that one victim lost 999,999 USDT (USDT), resulting from a phishing token authorization scam on Ethereum. The fraudster first tried to withdraw the entire US$1 million through multiple calls, but failed due to insufficient funds, and then accurately withdrew the remaining balance through subsequent transfers within a few seconds. "The script recalculated and extracted the exact remaining balance," Scam Sniffer said. Social engineering through phishing token authorization has become a common method of encryption fraud. According to CertiK data, a total of 248 fishing incidents occurred in 2025, with a total loss of US$723 million. Scammers trick victims into giving malicious actors access to their wallets, in the form of seemingly harmless transactions. Victims mistakenly thought that clicking "approve" would only trigger a minor action, but malicious links gave attackers the right to drain funds from their wallets.