Markets Tilt Risk-On as Institutions Scale Onchain Exposure
Weekly Market Update #79
In partnership with Elementus
Happy start to the week! Welcome back to the Reflexivity Weekly Market Update — your concise rundown of the biggest moves in crypto. If someone forwarded you this, you can sign up here for free to get it straight to your inbox!
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Before jumping into last week’s action, check out some of the research published last week by the Reflexivity team:
Major Market Developments:
🏦 Standard Chartered opens institutional spot desk for BTC & ETH
💸 PayPal ports PYUSD to Arbitrum for cheaper on‑chain payments
🏛️ US House clears GENIUS stablecoin & crypto‑market bills for floor vote
🏗️ BlackRock amends ETH ETF to allow on‑chain staking
🏰 Coinbase wallet rebrands to @baseapp and rolls out Flashblocks on Base
🌊 Lido debuts stVaults for cross‑module staking yield
🐻 Berachain enters its next growth “Phase” (dev roadmap tease)
🔄 JupiterExchange introduces JLP loans to unlock LP collateral
🔀 DeBank launches DeBank Swap for in‑wallet dex aggregation
💳 Euler Finance unveils Euler‑powered credit cards for DeFi spenders
Fear & Greed Index:
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index ticked up to 67 (Greed) this week. The move signals that traders are leaning risk‑on again, buoyed by fresh institutional headlines and steady ETF inflows, yet the reading is still shy of the “extreme” zone, suggesting optimism rather than euphoria. Historically, prints in the mid‑60s often precede short‑term volatility as participants weigh profit‑taking against momentum, so a brief cooling phase wouldn’t be surprising even as the broader sentiment trend remains constructive.
Note: The index ranges from 0 (extreme fear during capitulations and sell-offs) to 100 (extreme greed during euphoric, overbought conditions).
ETF Flows:
Bitcoin ETFs (14 – 18 Jul): Net + $2.4 bn. BlackRock’s IBIT supplied almost the lot (+ $2.6 bn), led by big creations on 16 Jul ($764 m) and 17 Jul ($497 m). Modest help came from HODL and BTC (+ $72 m combined), while FBTC, ARKB and GBTC together drained about – $290 m.
Ethereum ETFs (same window): Net + $2.2 bn. ETHA drove the show (+ $1.8 bn) with four straight nine-figure days, and FETH added + $0.1 bn. Grayscale’s trust enjoyed a rare + $0.2 bn inflow; minor funds chipped in a few million each.
Overall, demand was broad but still heavily concentrated in BlackRock’s products.
Spotlight 🔦
On July 18th, Hyperliquid reached new all-time highs for open interest:
Furthermore, two weeks ago, Hyperliquid activated the CoreWriter system contract on mainnet, completing a trust‑minimised bridge between the high‑performance HyperCore order‑book and the solid‑EVM smart‑contract layer. Together with new read precompiles, CoreWriter lets any HyperEVM contract push instructions to – and pull state from – HyperCore in a single transaction. Practical upside:
Fully on‑chain LSTs: Staking, reward accrual and governance for liquid‑staking tokens can now live entirely inside HyperEVM, yet still tap HyperCore’s validator set and liquidity for HIP‑3 deployments.
Robust DeFi oracles: Lending markets can query live order‑book prices via read precompiles and trigger liquidations on HyperCore through CoreWriter, eliminating external price feeds.
By welding low-latency trading rails to a general-purpose VM, Hyperliquid provides builders with a unique palette: CEX-like performance with native smart-contract composability, a crucial step toward bringing full-stack finance on-chain.
Rapid Reflexivity: Quick Market Takes ⚡
Standard Chartered becomes the first tier‑1 bank to run spot BTC/ETH trading desks, signalling mainstream liquidity is shifting on‑chain.
PayPal’s pyUSD expansion to Arbitrum validates L2s for consumer‑scale payments and may pressure rivals to match fee‑less transfers.
House passage and Trump’s signature on stable‑coin bills remove a core policy overhang; issuers gain a federal framework at last.
BlackRock amending its ETH ETF to stake holdings hints at a new yield race among asset managers and could lift staking APRs network‑wide.
BaseApp relaunch plus Flashblocks give Coinbase users cheaper swaps and frontrun protection, likely boosting Base’s daily active addresses.
Lido stVaults introduce opt‑in yield strategies governed jointly by token holders and node operators, aiming to fend off EigenLayer‑style restaking migrations.
Berachain’s fresh PoL phase sweetens validator rewards, keeping momentum ahead of mainnet and reinforcing Bera’s “liquidity‑as‑security” narrative.
Why ENA was amongst the top performers this week:
StablecoinX’s reverse‑merger with TLGY unlocked $360 M for an Ethena‑only treasury strategy, with $260 M earmarked for six weeks of aggressive ENA buys. An extra $60 M from the Ethena Foundation aligns its own upside with shareholders, as buybacks translate growth directly into token demand. The result: a first‑of‑its‑kind “pure‑play” ENA reserve poised to capture rising institutional appetite for on‑chain dollars, fueling the week’s sharp rally.
Disclaimer: This research report is exactly that — a research report. It is not intended to serve as financial advice, nor should you blindly assume that any of the information is accurate without confirming through your own research. Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets are incredibly risky, and nothing in this report should be considered an endorsement to buy or sell any asset. Never invest more than you are willing to lose, and understand the risk that you are taking. Do your own research. All information in this report is for educational purposes only and should not be the basis for any investment decisions that you make.