According to Fixygen, the global cryptocurrency market is nearing the end of the week without a clear direction: Bitcoin held steady at around $64,500, while Ethereum fell significantly, and inflows into U.S. cryptocurrency ETFs remained volatile.
As of Friday, Bitcoin was trading at approximately $64,400. On Monday, July 20, the leading cryptocurrency opened the week at around $64,680. Thus, the weekly decline was less than 0.5%, indicating consolidation following the market’s massive drop in previous months.
Ethereum showed significantly weaker performance over the same period. At the start of the week, its price was around $1,870, while by Friday it had fallen to approximately $1,620. The weekly decline reached 13%.
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market was estimated at approximately $2.2 trillion. Bitcoin accounted for about 59% of the total market value, reflecting sustained investor demand for the largest and most liquid digital asset amid uncertainty.
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $274 million in net inflows over four trading days from July 20 to 23. On Monday, inflows totaled $226.8 million; on Tuesday, $203.2 million; and on Wednesday, $69.1 million.
However, on Thursday, investors withdrew $225.1 million from Bitcoin ETFs. The bulk of the outflow—$202.5 million—came from BlackRock’s IBIT fund. This virtually wiped out a significant portion of the positive results from the beginning of the week. Data for Friday had not yet been published at the time of writing.
Spot Ethereum ETFs attracted approximately $174.5 million from Monday through Thursday. Net inflows were recorded daily, including $72.7 million on Wednesday and $26.3 million on Thursday. However, these inflows were unable to prevent a decline in the price of Ethereum, indicating that pressure on this asset persists across the broader market.
Earlier, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs broke an eight-week streak of outflows, during which investors withdrew more than $8 billion from the funds. The return to inflows was a positive sign, but the volume remains insufficient to indicate a sustained recovery in institutional demand.
A report published this week by CoinGecko showed that the cryptocurrency market capitalization in the second quarter of 2026 fell by 12.6%—from $2.4 trillion to $2.1 trillion.
The market capitalization of stablecoins decreased by 1.6% to $305.1 billion. This marked the first quarterly decline in this metric since the third quarter of 2023 and may indicate a partial withdrawal of liquidity from the cryptocurrency system.
Spot trading volume on the ten largest centralized crypto exchanges fell by 27.9% in the second quarter—to $1.95 trillion. In May, the figure dropped to $619 billion—the lowest monthly level since the start of the year—before rebounding to $695 billion in June.
Trading volume in perpetual futures on the largest centralized exchanges decreased by 10%—from $14.1 trillion to $12.7 trillion. The more moderate contraction of the derivatives market compared to the spot segment indicates that traders remain primarily interested in short-term and speculative trades.
One of the week’s major regulatory developments was the publication on July 22 of an updated version of the U.S. CLARITY Act. The bill aims to establish comprehensive rules for the digital asset market and allocate authority between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
In May, the Senate Banking Committee approved the bill by a vote of 15 to 9. However, the updated version sparked new disagreements, particularly regarding investor protection, combating illicit financing, and limiting conflicts of interest among government officials.
Thus, the week did not provide the market with a clear signal. Bitcoin showed relative stability, but Ethereum’s decline, the sharp reversal of flows into Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday, and weak quarterly figures for exchange activity indicate that market participants remain cautious.
The final results of the week will depend on Friday’s flows into U.S. ETFs, the situation in global risk markets, and further progress on cryptocurrency legislation in the U.S.
