This Bitcoin Bull Run is built different

🧠 Bitcoin’s quiet revolution: The whales are HODLING

Forget panic dumps. 2025 is the year of conviction.

The first half of 2025 has been anything but typical for Bitcoin. With prices hovering above $100,000 and new all-time highs in sight, you’d expect sell-offs, profit-taking, and FOMO-driven chaos.

But this cycle? It’s defined by silence.

Whales aren’t cashing out. In fact, they’re doubling down.

Liveliness is down

On-chain data shows a sharp drop in Bitcoin’s “liveliness” — a metric that reflects whether coins are being spent or held. Since January, large holders have been sitting tight, choosing accumulation over distribution.

Even when BTC briefly dipped into the $80,000s, the market didn’t flinch. Panic selling has been replaced by long-term conviction.

Key stats from H1 2025:

• Over 62% of BTC hasn’t moved in 12+ months

• 800,000 BTC were scooped up by whales in June alone

• Wallets holding 100–10,000 BTC saw the steepest growth

• On-chain transaction fees remained low, between $0.15 and $0.30, signaling low movement despite high prices

No signs of capitulation

Retail investors likely sold in previous cycles. What’s left is a more mature market — less reactive, more strategic.

Even short-term holders have leaned into the HODL trend, with a majority of coins now parked in six-month or older wallets.

Corporate wallets are changing the game

Institutions continue to quietly accumulate, with daily BTC buys moving directly into cold storage or custodial solutions. Exchange reserves and OTC desks are being drained in the process, pushing supply even further off the market.

Why it matters:

The BTC market is evolving. Less speculation. More belief. The current structure suggests a potential supply squeeze — not from hype, but from fundamentals. And with new spot ETFs making it easier for long-term investors to get in, don’t expect those coins to move anytime soon.

📚 Read Also: China faces rising pressure to embrace stablecoins

China is under increasing pressure from prominent economists and policy advisers to explore using stablecoins for cross-border payments, as the United States accelerates efforts to entrench the dollar’s global dominance through crypto innovations.

📊 Market Watch:

Lending is back: Ethereum loans hit record highs

Lending activity on Ethereum has returned to all-time highs, a quiet but telling sign of renewed confidence in decentralized finance.

After a long winter of risk-off behavior, users are once again locking up assets and borrowing with conviction. Active loans on Ethereum now sit between $22.6 billion and $24 billion, depending on the tracker the highest level ever recorded.

This isn’t just a bounce. It’s a trend.

• In June alone, lending grew by $2 billion

• Ethereum holds $35.3 billion in lending collateral

• Total DeFi lending across all chains is now $55.4 billion

• Aave leads with $15 billion in loans

• Smaller protocols like Spark have rebounded sharply, up 40% since April

ETH’s price action has played a role. Sitting around $2,550, it hasn’t seen the wild swings that once triggered mass liquidations. Most borrowers remain cautious, with liquidation levels set well below current prices — meaning risk is far more contained than in previous cycles.

There’s also growing diversity. Lending isn’t just happening on Ethereum anymore. Base, Coinbase’s L2, is quietly building momentum with over $2 billion in locked collateral. Meanwhile, newer protocols like Morpho are attracting attention by offering fixed-rate, fixed-term loans, the kind of stability that makes DeFi usable, not just speculative.

📚Read Also: OG Bitcoin whales move 20,000 BTC amid US Crypto week buzz

This move comes in when US lawmakers prepare for a landmark legislative blitz, “Crypto Week.” The event is scheduled for July 14–18, when the House is set to review and potentially pass three key bills.

🏛️ Regulation Watch

Trump scores major win as house passes $4 Trillion mega-bill

Biggest tax cuts since 2017, deep Medicaid rollbacks, and a July 4 signing plan.

After a grueling 24-hour standoff marked by floor speeches, closed-door negotiations, and political theater, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Donald Trump’s signature legislative package in a razor-thin 218–214 vote.

Clocking in at over 887 pages, the bill revives Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and wraps in a sweeping mix of immigration crackdowns, defense spending, and safety-net reductions. The final step? Trump’s signature, expected on July 4, just before military jets fly overhead.

A long night on Capitol Hill

House Speaker Mike Johnson spent all of Wednesday corralling votes, working the floor, and meeting factions at the White House. At one point, a vote was held open for more than nine hours, while Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-length speech to stall proceedings.

Only two Republicans voted against the bill. No one could confirm what final concessions won over the remaining holdouts from the House Freedom Caucus.

What’s inside the bill:

• Extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

• Roughly $1 trillion cut from Medicaid

• Rollbacks of wind and solar tax credits

• $50B fund for rural hospitals to soften healthcare blow

• Increased defense spending

• Immigration policy tightening

Democrats, meanwhile, blasted the legislation as cruel and opaque. Jeffries called it “one big, ugly bill” and criticized Republicans for starting the debate at 3:28 AM. He accused them of “passing it under the cover of darkness.”

The Congressional Budget Office estimated the changes could leave 11.8 million more Americans uninsured by 2034.

Independence Day optics

White House Budget Director Russ Vought privately met with GOP skeptics, floating possible executive actions post-signing—but gave no written guarantees.

Now, only one step remains: Trump’s signature. House leaders say he’ll sign the bill on July 4, during the Independence Day celebrations.

📚Read Also: FTX seeks court approval to limit payouts in crypto-banned regions

The FTX Recovery Trust wants the US bankruptcy court to decide on a new claims process for users from 49 crypto-restricted jurisdictions.

🎟️ Top events you can’t miss

Network with visionaries. Learn from builders. Find your next big break.

From blockchain summits to AI breakthroughs and fintech revolutions, these upcoming events offer front-row access to the ideas and people shaping tomorrow.

1. Malaysia Blockchain Week 2025

   📍 Kuala Lumpur | 🗓️ July 21–22
   A bold showcase of Malaysia’s Web3 ambitions, with the theme "Voyager." This is where global partnerships are made and next-gen ideas take flight.

2. World AI Conference

   📍 Shanghai | 🗓️ July 26–28
   Asia’s premier AI event brings together scientists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to explore the future of machine intelligence and governance.

3. Connected Banking Summit – Southern Africa

   📍 Johannesburg | 🗓️ July 23
   The go-to gathering for banks, fintechs, and blockchain leaders driving financial transformation across Southern Africa.

4. RAISE Summit 2025

   📍 Paris | 🗓️ July 8–9
   An AI strategy summit with a business lens—expect real-world use cases, expert panels, and a clear playbook for AI success.

5. Floating Man Festival – Polkadot Conference

   📍 Serbia | 🗓️ August 7–10
   A one-of-a-kind Polkadot event fusing tech, governance, music, and decentralized living in the Liberland borderlands.

👉 Explore the full list and register now

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