Crypto news

The outgoing week proved truly momentous for the crypto market. The leading cryptocurrency not only demonstrated an impressive rally but also made headlines amid significant regulatory initiatives and technical innovations in the Ethereum ecosystem. Here, I break down the key events that shaped market dynamics.

Bitcoin rally: short squeeze and institutional appetite

Bitcoin's price confidently broke through psychologically important levels, reaching $79,500 on Binance — for the first time since mid-May. Over the day, the asset gained nearly 8%, and over the week, the increase exceeded 22.5%. This move was accompanied by record liquidation of short positions: within the first 24 hours, positions worth about $3 billion were forcibly closed, of which $2.7 billion were shorts.

Contrary to skeptics' expectations, the growth driver was not organic demand but a classic short squeeze triggered by the U.S. Treasury's announcement of plans to double the volume of Treasury bond buybacks under its liquidity support program. However, CryptoQuant analysts also note signs of recovering spot demand, which may indicate a shift away from the bearish phase.

Altcoins showed even more impressive dynamics: Ethereum gained 29.3%, XRP rose 50%, and HYPE and Dogecoin climbed 41.3% and 32%, respectively. Institutional investors also stepped up: spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a weekly inflow of $1.92 billion — the largest since October 2025 — while Ethereum funds attracted $697 million.

Ethereum Foundation warns: Glamsterdam upgrade will hit wallets

The upcoming Glamsterdam hard fork brings not only improvements but also potential problems for users. The Ethereum Foundation team warned that the gas model change associated with EIP-8037 could break a number of crypto wallets, indexers, and fee estimation tools. Solutions with a "hard-coded maximum gas limit" are especially vulnerable.

The new state-gas dimension will affect operations that create new state: while a regular ETH transfer to an existing address will retain a cost of 21,000 units, sending to a new address will incur an additional fee. Developers need to revise smart contracts relying on the old logic and test systems on the public Plataberget testnet.

Regulators advance: GENIUS Act and new SEC rules

The U.S. Treasury presented a draft rule for implementing the GENIUS Act — the first federal law on payment stablecoins. The document establishes strict reserve requirements (a 1:1 ratio) and limits the list of permissible assets to highly liquid instruments. This is an important step toward legalizing the digital dollar, but it also raises barriers for issuers.

In parallel, the SEC proposed the Regulation Crypto Assets draft, which simplifies capital raising through tokens. The initiative provides two exemptions from registration requirements: up to $5 million over four years and up to $75 million over a 12-month period. It also proposes a "safe harbor" for investment contracts that could remove certain assets from the scope of securities laws.

Solana speeds up

Solana activated the first stage of reducing slot time from 400 to 350 ms under SIMD-0525. This is the first change since the network's launch. Further stages involve reductions to 300, 250, and 200 ms, which should significantly accelerate transaction confirmation. However, the team has built in a mechanism to halt the upgrade if the share of missed blocks increases.

My take: The market is clearly overheated after such a surge, and a correction is inevitable. However, ETF inflows and positive regulatory shifts form a solid foundation for medium-term growth. As for Glamsterdam — it is a reminder that technical updates in Ethereum always carry risks for users, and neglecting testing can prove costly.