Crypto News Today (July 24): BTC and ETH fell, DeFi market bucked the trend and rose 9.8%

Today's crypto market headlines: MoonPay, British crypto tax, Hyperliquid and other top 15 news

Overall crypto market dynamics, July 24, 2026

Today's total market value fell 1.3% to US$2.3 trillion. Bitcoin and Ethereum both fell, while the DeFi sector rose sharply by 9.8%. The Fear and Greed Index fell to 28, and market caution further deepened.

24-hour review of the crypto market: prices, trading volumes and trends

The total market value of the global cryptocurrency market today reached US$2.3 trillion, with an overall decline of 1.3% in the past 24 hours, and total trading volume recorded US$58.9 billion.

Bitcoin (BTC)'s market dominance remains solid at 56.6%, and Ethereum (ETH) accounts for 9.82%. In the past 24 hours, Polkadot and the XRP ledger ecosystem have become the biggest winners in the market.

Bitcoin and Ethereum Price Analysis

Bitcoin's price today was US$64,961.68, down 1.4% in the past 24 hours, with transaction volume of US$23.7 billion and a market value of US$1.3 trillion.

Ethereum's price today was US$1,871.42, down 3% in 24 hours, with trading volume of US$10.06 billion and a market value of US$225.84 billion.

24-hour popular crypto token prices

Invesco QQQ trust tokens: US$693.61, down 1.92%, with transaction volume of US$337.36 million.

Ripple (XRP):$1.10, down 2.84%, with trading volume of $1.05 billion.

AKEDO: US$0.002287, up 28.51%, with trading volume of US$229.64 million.

DOGE: US$0.06923, down 5.03%, with trading volume of US$839.95 million.

Billions Network: US$0.03130, up 23.73%, with trading volume of US$170.58 million.

Top three gains in the 24-hour

Audiera: US$3.00, up 15.96%, with trading volume of US$24.45 million.

World Liberty Financial: US$0.05756, up 11.10%, with trading volume of US$240.68 million.

Aggressive: $5.30, up 2.97%, with trading volume of $71 million.

The top three declines in the 24-hour

Pi Coin: US$0.08349, down 9.32%, with trading volume of approximately US$13.24 million.

Lighter: $2.15, down 6.58%, with trading volume of approximately $32.12 million.

SPX6900:$0.3376, down 6.27%, with trading volume of approximately $4.85 million.

stablecoins and DeFi dynamics

The stablecoin market fell slightly 0.1% in the past 24 hours, with a market value of US$3.035 trillion and a transaction volume of US$52 billion.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) market overall rose 9.8%, with a market value of US$63.4 billion and trading volume of US$3.31 billion. DeFi's dominance in the global crypto market is 4.5%.

Today's Crypto Fear and Greed Index

Today's index stood at 28, down from yesterday's 31, reflecting deepening market fears as volatility and selling pressure increase. The index combines factors such as volatility, trading volume, social media sentiment, surveys and market dominance. The trend has improved compared to last month's "extreme fear" level (17), indicating that market sentiment is gradually recovering despite the short-term correction.

Today's Top 15 Encryption News

1. Stripe plans to acquire OpenRouter: According to the Wall Street Journal, Stripe is in deep negotiations to acquire AI model aggregator OpenRouter. The transaction may be valued at nearly $10 billion, but has not yet been finalized.

2. ARK Invest big move: Cathie Wood's ARK Invest bought $51.2 million worth of Tesla shares and $8.09 million worth of Circle shares, while reducing its Figma holdings worth $19.52 million and Robinhood holdings worth $4.12 million.

3. Argentina considers crypto-asset policy: The Argentine government may allow investment funds to hold Bitcoin and use digital assets as collateral for loans. The draft still requires presidential approval and congressional review before becoming law.

4. Political prediction ETF is coming: Hedgeye is planning to launch political prediction ETFs that track the performance of both parties in U.S. federal elections. They are Democratic and Republican funds, and are expected to be listed on NYSE Arca.

5. Britain cracks down on crypto tax evasion: UK Revenue and Customs recovered more than £ 8 million in tax from 502 crypto investors in two years. Starting in 2026, new OECD reporting rules will make it more difficult to hide encryption benefits.

6. Cows become digital collateral: A Brazilian farm used AI smart collars to tokenize 10 cows and obtained 100,000 reais in agricultural credit through B3 's first livestock collateral tokenization transaction, aiming to reduce valuation costs.

7. Bitcoin mining stocks bucked the trend: Although the Nasdaq index fell 2% on Thursday, stocks of mining companies such as Hut8 and Riot Platforms bucked the trend as investors bet that miners will shift power and land resources into lucrative artificial intelligence data center businesses.

8. MoonPay cooperates with Discover: MoonPay has partnered with the Discover Network to allow U.S. Discover cardholders to purchase thousands of crypto assets, including BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL, directly through the platform.

9. Q2 agreement fees fell: In the second quarter, on-chain agreement fees fell 33% year-on-year, with DEX and Launchpad fees falling significantly, but the token repurchase and destruction mechanism kept the value flowing to holders relatively stable.

10. Bitwise reveals pledge trends: Bitwise's Q3 report found that major chain activities increased, but network revenue declined, due to expansion and lower fees, which led to the growth of block space exceeding the growth of demand.

11. Hyperliquid performed strongly in the quarter: Hyperliquid processed $652 billion in perpetual contract transactions in the second quarter, and its share of non-crypto asset transactions climbed to 32%, indicating that institutional interest is surpassing traditional tools.

12. Zama launches privacy transaction capabilities: Privacy project Zama launched Confidential Quotes, which uses encryption technology to hide the direction and size of transactions on Ethereum, thereby reducing MEV risks. Full public launch is planned for September.

13. CFTC delays decision: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has extended its public comment period for 24/7 futures and sustainable energy contracts by 30 days to August 26 to solicit industry feedback as it finalizes rules.

14. Odos protocol ceases operations: Transaction aggregator Odos will cease operations on July 30. Its app will enter read-only mode on July 27, and users will need to withdraw assets or export keys in advance.

15. Robinhood Chain CEO account stolen: Vlad Tenev's X account was hacked and a fraudulent token named Vladhood was falsely promoted, and the platform then marked the information and deleted the relevant post.

Comparative analysis

The total market value of the crypto market expanded from a decline of 0.7% to 1.3%, and trading volume fell from US$62.6 billion to US$58.9 billion, indicating weakening liquidity. The Fear and Greed Index fell further from 31 to 28, and caution deepened. However, the DeFi sector reversed, rising sharply 9.8% today, compared with a 1.5% decline yesterday, indicating that certain sectors are regaining momentum despite overall market weakness and continued bearish sentiment.

What this means for crypto users

Readers and users of crypto news see that mainstream assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are being sold off due to fear, but DeFi's strong growth and the rise of altcoins suggest there are still selective opportunities in the market. Users should pay close attention to sector rotation, because overall market caution does not mean that all asset classes are underperforming.