#CryptoScamSurge The cryptocurrency market saw a 0.56% increase over the past 24 hours, continuing an upward trend over 30 days at +19.57%. Key factors for this performance include: optimism surrounding the Ethereum network upgrade, institutional accumulation, and technical breakouts in altcoins.
Driving Ethereum's roadmap (positive impact)
The ETH system rose by 3.65% after developers concluded the zkEVM integration plans on layer one (from Q4 2025 to Q2 2026), aiming to reduce verification costs by 80% and increase decentralized finance (DeFi) capacity.
Institutional demand (positive impact)
Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of $1.18 billion last week, while ETH ETFs reached $16.6 billion (+59% monthly). Corporate treasuries like SharpLink Gaming added $275 million in ETH.
Altcoin breakouts (mixed impact)
Projects like NEWT (+34.8%) and SYRUP (+16.89%) saw gains due to new product launches and low supply volatility, although relative strength index (RSI) levels between 76 and 85 indicate overbought risks.
Detailed analysis
1. Leap in Ethereum's infrastructure (positive impact)
Overview:
Ethereum announced the zkEVM upgrade on layer one and adjusted validator economics by lowering the minimum staking to 1 ETH, raising ETH dominance to 11.53%, the highest level since December 2024. The network now processes 19 million transactions daily, with stablecoins representing 54% of Ethereum's market value of $738 billion.
What it means:
Developers are preparing for Ethereum's transition to a role as 'digital oil' – a store of value and settlement layer for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Fidelity's recent report describes ETH as a sovereign digital economy, aligning with its 25.6% weekly rise.
What to watch for:
Launch block verification within 10 seconds via zkEVM on the mainnet by November 2025.
2. Strategic reserve narratives (positive impact)
Overview:
The 'strategic reserve category for digital currencies in the U.S.' (+0.45%) gained momentum as the GENIUS Act progresses, which could allow storing BTC and ETH in Treasury vaults. Bitcoin ETFs now hold 1.62 million BTC valued at $192 billion, equivalent to 10 times the daily mined supply.
What it means:
Institutions are treating cryptocurrencies as a major hedge tool – with BTC's correlation to gold reaching +0.70 over 30 days, and ETH's correlation to the Nasdaq-100 rising to +0.85.
What to watch for:
The Digital Asset Working Group report issued by the Trump administration on July 22, expected to address the Federal Reserve policies for digital currencies.
3. Slowdown in derivatives (mixed impact)
Overview:
Open interest in perpetual futures contracts decreased by 2.18% to $626 billion, with funding rates dropping by 15% to 0.0089%. However, BTC liquidations rose by 27% ($64.98 million), mostly for long positions, indicating profit-taking near the resistance of $120,000.
What it means:
The market is digesting gains healthily – as spot trading volumes (-55% weekly) indicate a phase of accumulation before a new upward wave.
Summary
Today's gains reflect the execution of Ethereum's technical roadmap with significant institutional centralization, while altcoins benefit from liquidity waves. Traders should watch for ETH support at $3,400 and Bitcoin's dominance level at 60.84% – as a drop below 60% could accelerate liquidity rotation towards altcoins.
Will Ethereum stick to zkEVM deadlines, or will scaling delays revive doubts about 'supremacy'?
