Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) and other digital assets were under pressure to end the week amid a global rout in technology stocks.
BTC was down about 1% and trading at $64,000 U.S. late on the afternoon of July 17 as investors rotate out of stocks tied to the artificial intelligence (A.I.) trade. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was down as much as 5% amid heavy selling of A.I. stocks. At one point, the technology-laden Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: $NDAQ) index was down more than 550 points.
The situation is weighing on crypto as other digital assets such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) fell as much as 3%. ETH was trading at $1,830 U.S. in late day trading. Bitcoin’s price had broken above $65,000 U.S. earlier in the week. But the gains proved short-lived as crypto got dragged down by the tech selloff.
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Also pressuring digital assets are rising oil prices, with Brent crude, the international standard, up 5% on July 17 and trading at $88 U.S. a barrel. Oil prices have risen 30% over the last two weeks as fighting between the U.S. and Iran continues. Higher energy prices raise the prospect that the U.S. Federal Reserve will lift interest rates to combat inflation, which is bad news for risk assets such as cryptocurrencies.
Here’s what else happened with crypto over the past week…
Strategy Leaves Bitcoin Holdings Unchanged: Cryptocurrency treasury firm Strategy (NASDAQ: $MSTR) left its holdings of Bitcoin unchanged over the past week. The company led by Chairman Michael Saylor made no Bitcoin purchases or sales in the last seven days, leaving its holdings at 843,775 BTC. Instead, Strategy increased its U.S. dollar reserves by $466.7 million U.S. to $3 billion U.S. through at-the-market stock sales.
Organized Crime Moves Billions Using Crypto: The Paris-based watchdog group, the Financial Action Task Force, is warning that organized crime is moving billions of dollars in illicit funds around the world using cryptocurrencies. A new report states that crypto-enabled crime has become more “complex and interconnected.” In particular, criminal groups are using crypto to launder money and are also using crypto to perpetrate scams and investment fraud. Crypto money laundering reached a record $158 billion U.S. globally in 2025, according to Chainalysis.
Citadel Securities Invests $400 Million In Crypto.com: Leading hedge fund Citadel Securities has invested $400 million U.S. in Crypto.com as part of a funding round that valued the digital asset exchange at $20 billion U.S. Crypto.com has concluded its first institutional funding round since it was founded a decade ago. Among the notable investors in the latest round for privately held Crypto.com was hedge fund Citadel Securities, led by well-known investor Ken Griffin.
Morgan Stanley Brings Crypto Trading To E*TRADE: Morgan Stanley (NYSE: $MS) has added cryptocurrency trading to its popular E*TRADE platform. The online brokerage is now allowing users to trade Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies. While E*TRADE is known for its zero-commission stock trades, it is charging clients a 0.50% fee on each trade involving Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana (CRYPTO: $SOL). Customers can now buy, sell, and hold the three cryptocurrencies through the brokerage platform.
Kalshi Allows Betting On Clinical Trials And Drug Decisions: Prediction market Kalshi is allowing users to bet on the outcomes of clinical trials and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions pertaining to regulatory reviews and new drugs. People can now bet on the outcome of late-stage clinical trials and whether or not the FDA approves a certain medication for use in the U.S.
U.S. Freezes $131 Million In Iran-Linked Crypto Wallets: The American Treasury says it has frozen $131 million U.S. worth of digital assets in multiple cryptocurrency wallets tied to Iran’s Central Bank and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard. Iran has reportedly spent years building cryptocurrency infrastructure to circumvent sanctions from the U.S. and other nations. Iran legalized Bitcoin mining in 2019 and relies on stablecoins to help it evade economic sanctions, says the U.S. government.
Binance To Become Crypto Super App: Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced plans to become a “super app” for digital assets such as Bitcoin. Binance says its next phase of growth will come from payments and financial services rather than cryptocurrency trading. In a media interview, Shunyet Jan, Binance’s head of spot trading, said that the exchange is looking to morph into a cryptocurrency super app in coming years. “We’re trying to not just be a crypto exchange, but be a super app that involves payment,” said Jan.
Bitcoin Mining Declined In June: Production levels for Bitcoin miners fell in June of this year. Publicly traded Bitcoin miners CleanSpark (NASDAQ: $CLSK), BitFuFu (NASDAQ: $FUFU) and Canaan (NASDAQ: $CAN) reported lower bitcoin production last month. The weaker production comes despite Bitcoin’s mining difficulty falling more than 10% in June to its lowest level of 2026. Bitcoin miners use banks of high-powered computers to solve complex mathematical equations that lead to the minting of new BTC.
Prediction Market Trading Volume Hits $50 Billion: Betting on the World Cup propelled trading volumes on prediction markets to $50 billion U.S. in June. This year’s FIFA World Cup has officially become the biggest sports betting event in history. Kalshi posted $31 billion U.S. in trading volumes for June, a 70% increase from May of this year, with betting on sports accounting for 85% of the trading on its platform. Kalshi said that World Cup betting on its platform totaled $22.42 billion U.S. in June.
Ethereum Staking Generates 98% Of Bitmine’s Revenue: Crypto treasury firm Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: $BMNR) says that Ethereum staking generated 98% of its revenue in its latest quarter. The company, led by Chairman Tom Lee, said Ethereum staking became its dominant source of revenue during the quarter ended May 31, generating $45.7 million U.S. Lee has forecast that Bitmine’s annualized staking revenue will reach $284 million U.S. once all of the company’s Ethereum holdings are staked.
