Bitcoin Stagnates, Altcoins Thrive on Major Regulatory Developments in the US: This Week’s Crypto Recap

The past seven days were quite tumultuous, to say the least. The cryptocurrency market went through a period of enhanced volatility, and even though Bitcoin is trading flat at the end of it, this doesn’t show the full picture.

This time last week, BTC was going through a considerable correction, which resulted in a crash to around $112,000 on August 2nd. From there, the price attempted to recover and pushed above $115K a day later, but the sellers weren’t having it and initiated another serious assault, which resuled in a drop below $113,000.

That’s when the situation started to turn. Bitcoin was able to recover and started consolidating above $114K before the first important news of the week took place. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, which aims to permit Americans to include Bitcoin and other digital assets in their 401(k) retirement plans. The policy wants to expand individual investment freedom, while also reducing government control over retirement assets, citing the potentially greater returns alternative investments can deliver.

Bitcoin, alongside the rest of the market boomed on the news, but what happened next was a sight to behold for a huge community within the crypto industry.

Ripple’s ongoing legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission reached a turning point. Both parties filed a joint stipulation seeking a dismissal of the appeals. The case is more or less over, pending an approval of the court. This ends a more than 5-year old legal dispute which has put the classification of crypto assets as securities or commodities in the spotlight. A lot of it took place during Biden’s administration, when the former Chairman of the US SEC – Gary Gensler – was regulating by enforcement.

In any case, many of the altcoins have charted considerable gains during the last seven days. Ethereum is up by 9% and is currently trading just slightly below $4,000, while XRP itself is up by about 6%. Cardano’s ADA is up by 9.6%, Stellar’s XLM i sup by 11%, and so forth.

it’s interesting to see if Bitcoin will continue losing its grounds or if another rally would leave the altcoins in the dust.

Market Data

Market Cap: $3.92T | 24H Vol: $154B | BTC Dominance: 58.8%

BTC: $115,977 (+0.5%) | ETH: $3,937 (+9%) | XRP: $3.22 (+6%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Trump Signs Executive Order to Allow Bitcoin and Crypto in 401(k)s. US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to allow Bitcoin and other digital and alternative assets into US 401(k) retirement plans.

XRP’s Price Skyrockets by 13% as Ripple and SEC Drop Court Battle. The case between the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs, spanning for more than 5 years, is about to end. Both parties have agreed to withdraw their appeals.

Bitcoin Miners Weather the Storm: No Capitulation in Sight at 7.4% Price Surge. Bitcoin miners are holding strong as prices increase by 7.4% from the last difficulty bottom. They are showing no signs of capitulation, despite the ongoing market turmoil.

Massive Bitcoin Price Prediction by Arthur Hayes: Calls for BTC at $250K. The co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, has made yet another massive Bitcoin price prediction, calling for $250,000 because of incoming money printing in the United States.

Roman Storm Convicted in Tornado Cash Case. Tornado Cash developer, Roman Storm, has been found guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. He wasn’t found guilty on the two other counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Vitalik Buterin, Anders Elowsson Propose EIP-7999 for Ethereum Fee Overhaul. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and developer Anders Elowsson have introduced EIP-799, which aims to overhaul the network’s fee structure by unifying multiple resource costs under a single maximum fee.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Solana, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.