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What to know:

By Francisco Rodrigues (All times ET unless indicated otherwise)

Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering around $108,600, pretty much unchanged over 24 hours. The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index added 1.8%, shrugging off the uncertainty surrounding President Trump’s recent tariff threats against various countries.

President Donald Trump sent letters to 14 nations, including key partners in Asia, warning that tariffs will be applied starting Aug. 1 unless they make concessions to the U.S. when it comes to trade. Trump also said he will impose a 50% tariff on imported copper and up to 200% on pharmaceuticals.

Traditional markets were also muted in their responses. U.S. equity indexes were flat in yesterday’s session, while Europe opened with a slight upward momentum and Asian indexes closed higher. The U.S. dollar index is pretty much unchanged.

The market’s reaction suggests the so-called TACO — Trump always chickens out — trade is still in play. It's a reference to the president’s negotiation pattern, in which tariffs are announced and then reversed. That's even after he said “there will be no change” to next month's deadline.

Still, past tariff announcements stoked inflation concerns, and this latest one comes as the Federal Reserve tightens liquidity to the tune of $40 billion a month, according to analysts at crypto hedge fund QCP Capital.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has warned that tariff‑driven price spikes might delay any rate cuts, which would make risk assets like crypto less attractive for investors.

Nevertheless, earlier scares of a U.S. recession have cooled, with perceived odds of that happening this year dropping to 20% on Polymarket, the lowest since January.

Over the past week, cryptocurrency investment products brought in nearly $1 billion in net inflows, according to CoinShares data, pushing total assets to a record $188 billion. Bitcoin funds captured the lion’s share of those flows, with ether, solana and XRP funds logging solid demand.

Combined with a stream of corporate treasuries raising funds to buy bitcoin, demand remains elevated for the leading cryptocurrency.

Apart from exceptions like PNUT and some Grok-influenced memecoins, most other altcoins aren't faring as well. Bitcoin’s dominance has risen nearly 12% year-to-date to now account for roughly 65% of the ecosystem's total market capitalization.

Whether the TACO trade will hold its merit ahead of the August deadline remains to be seen. Stay alert!

The launch of StarGate, VeChain’s new staking platform, kicks off an exciting era of enhanced rewards and more attractive tokenomics for the real-world-proven blockchain. 

StarGate, part of the ‘VeChain Renaissance’ technical roadmap, delivers greatly enhanced staking APYs, while Renaissance introduces consensus upgrades, interoperability tools, and new features that make building on VeChain more rewarding than ever.

Key features and benefits of StarGate include:

Staking Nodes from as low as 10K $VET (~$200)

A massive 9.1% APY for certain Node types

Unique, secure NFT-based staking model

A 5.48 Billion $VTHO ($10+ Million) bonus pool for the first 6 months

Intuitive staking and reward claiming mechanics

StarGate is more than a staking program - it's the launch of a more decentralized, economically attractive era for stakers and builders alike. With thousands of new Nodes onboarded, VeChain welcomes a new generation of holders joining its mission to deliver the real-world potential of blockchain, and drive Web3 mainstream.

Visit StarGate to learn more.

Crypto

• July 9, 11 a.m.: The Isthmus hard fork activates on Celo (CELO) mainnet, an Ethereum layer-2 network, aligning its L2 stack with Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade and improving scalability, interoperability and security through key Ethereum Improvement Proposals.
• July 10: Polygon (POL) PoS set to activate the Heimdall hard fork on mainnet, reducing finality time to around 5 seconds, and bringing "faster checkpoints, smoother UX, safer bridging, and head-room for the next wave of upgrades."
• July 14, 10 p.m.: Singapore High Court hearing on WazirX’s Scheme of Arrangement, marking a critical step in the exchange's restructuring after the $234 million hack on July 18, 2024.
• July 15: Alchemist staking update launches, allowing token holders to stake ALCH for access to advanced features, premium benefits and ecosystem rewards, potentially boosting token utility and demand.
• July 15: Lynq is expected to debut its real-time, interest-bearing digital asset settlement network for institutions. Built on Avalanche’s layer-1 blockchain and powered by Arca’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund shares, Lynq enables instant settlement, continuous yield accrual and improved capital efficiency.

Macro

• July 9, 8 a.m.: Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) releases June consumer price inflation data.
  • Core Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.38% vs. Prev. 0.3%
  • Core Inflation Rate YoY Est. 4.22% vs. Prev. 4.06%
  • Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.27% vs. Prev. 0.28%
  • Inflation Rate YoY Est. 4.31% vs. Prev. 4.42%
• July 9, 10 a.m.: U.S. Senate Banking Committee holds a hybrid hearing titled “From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrow’s Digital Asset Markets” with CEOs of Blockchain Association, Chainalysis, Paradigm and Ripple testifying. Livestream link.
• July 9, 2 p.m.: Release of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes from the June 17–18 meeting.
• July 10, 8 a.m.: The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) releases June consumer price inflation data.
  • Inflation Rate MoM Est. 0.2% vs. Prev. 026%
  • Inflation Rate YoY Est. 5.32% vs. Prev. 5.32%
• July 10, 8:30 a.m.: The U.S. Department of Labor releases unemployment insurance data for the week ended July 5.
  • Initial Jobless Claims Est. 235K vs. Prev. 233K
  • Continuing Jobless Claims Est. 1980K vs. Prev. 1964K
• July 10, 1:15 p.m.: Fed Governor Christopher J. Waller gives a speech at an event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. Livestream link.
• July 10–11: The fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome, bringing together global leaders and stakeholders to advance Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction as the war with Russia drags on.
• July 11, 8:30 a.m.: Statistics Canada releases June employment data.
  • Unemployment Rate Prev. 7%
  • Employment Change Prev. 8.8K
• Aug. 1, 2025, 12:01 a.m.: Reciprocal tariffs take effect after President Trump’s July 7 executive order delayed the original July 9 deadline, making this the start date for higher tariffs on imports from countries without trade deals.

Earnings (Estimates based on FactSet data)

• None in the near future.

Governance Votes & Calls

Unlocks

Token Launches