Bitcoin and Ethereum price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$116,854, down by 1.2 percent over the last 24 hours and its lowest valuation of the day. The highest valuation today was US$119,100.

Bitcoin price performance, July 21, 2025.

Chart via TradingView.

The signing of the GENIUS Act, which will regulate stablecoins with one-to-one reserves, sparked renewed investor confidence in stablecoins, while Bitcoin pulled back slightly.

Last week’s spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows reached roughly US$2.2 billion, supporting market momentum. Analysts note institutional interest remains strong but still has room to grow.

Ethereum (ETH) was priced at US$3,733.95, down by 0.7 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation as of Monday was US$3,731.27, and its highest was US$3,848.92.

Altcoin price update

• Solana (SOL) was priced at US$193.61, up by 6.3 percent over 24 hours. Its lowest valuation on Monday was US$191.12 as the markets opened for the day, and its highest was US$198.29.

• XRP was trading for US$3.54, up 0.2 percent in the past 24 hours. The cryptocurrency’s lowest valuation was US$3.53 as the markets opened, and its highest was US$3.64.

• Sui (SUI) is trading at US$3.95, up by 0.1 percent over the past 24 hours. Its lowest valuation of the day was US$3.96 and its highest was US$4.09.

• Cardano (ADA) was trading at US$0.8794, up by 0.6 percent over 24 hours, and its lowest violation of the day. Its highest was US$0.9295.

Today’s crypto news to know

Crypto funds record all-time high weekly inflows

Digital asset investment products posted an impressive US$4.39 billion in inflows last week, marking the highest weekly total on record, according to data from CoinShares.

This eclipses the previous high of US$4.27 billion set in late 2024, highlighting a fresh wave of institutional demand.

Ethereum products accounted for US$2.12 billion — their strongest weekly showing ever — nearly matching the US$2.2 billion inflow into Bitcoin funds. Analysts have attributed the spike to increasing confidence in the cryptocurrency, bolstered by improving US regulatory clarity and ongoing ETF demand.

Altcoins like Solana and Avalanche also saw gains, but ETH led the market by volume and momentum. The current 14 week streak of inflows has now pushed 2025’s year-to-date total beyond 2024’s full-year inflows.

CoinShares notes that Ethereum’s US$6.2 billion year-to-date figure now represents 23 percent of total ETH assets under management, underscoring a shift in portfolio allocation trends.

Ether Machine set to raise over US$1.6 Billion in Nasdaq debut

The Ether Reserve, a new institutional vehicle holding Ethereum, is going public via a merger with energy investment firm Dynamix (NASDAQ:DYNX). The deal, which will list the combined entity under the name ‘The Ether Machine” on the Nasdaq, is expected to raise more than US$1.6 billion and launch with 400,000 ETH on its balance sheet.

This would make it the largest publicly traded Ethereum-holding entity to date.

Shares of Dynamix surged over 100 percent in premarket trading following the announcement.

Investors backing the deal include major industry names such as Blockchain.com, Kraken, and Pantera Capital, who have committed over US$800 million through an upsized common stock offering.

Ether has climbed steadily amid regulatory clarity around stablecoins and new institutional inflows.

Andrew Keys, formerly of ConsenSys, will chair the board. Once finalized, the company will trade under the ticker “ETHM,” with deal closure expected by Q4 2025.

BitGo submits IPO filing

Digital asset custodian BitGo announced that it has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed IPO of its Class A common stock.

The filing adds the company to a growing list of crypto companies seeking public exposure. Bullish, a crypto exchange, recently filed for an IPO with the SEC, with plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange, and crypto asset manager Grayscale also submitted a filing to the SEC earlier this month.

GameSquare expands digital asset treasury

Building on its previously outlined ETH strategy, GameSquare Holdings (NASDAQ:GAME), a next-generation media and technology company, has expanded its digital asset treasury, with its board of directors approving an increase in the program’s authorization from US$100 million to US$250 million.

In an press release, the company explained that this expanded framework now includes a new NFT yield strategy, allocating an initial US$10 million. The company aims to deploy capital into high-quality Ethereum-based assets to generate sustainable stablecoin yields, targeting a 6- to 10 percent return.

CEO Justin Kenna emphasized that this initiative, developed over months of planning, represents “the future of capital strategy for modern media companies,” focused on generating “real on-chain yield that funds innovation.”

‘We are excited to be among the first public companies to include NFTs as part of a diversified digital asset strategy, Kenna added. “This reflects the innovative approach to our treasury management initiatives. With deep experience building in-game and real-world creative environments, GameSquare is uniquely positioned to understand the cultural and economic value of these digital assets.”

Aave to launch centralized services

Major crypto lending platform Aave will soon launch a centralized version of its services on Kraken’s Ink blockchain.

An Aave request for comment for the deployment of a whitelabel version of Aave v3 for the Ink Foundation, the organization behind the Ink blockchain, was approved with 99.8 percent of the votes cast in favor. An Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) will be drafted next, followed by an on-chain vote. This partnership aims to expand Aave’s reach into institutional lending, generating new revenue for the Aave community.

Chinese expansions behind lithium oversupply

Although the long-term outlook for lithium remains positive, oversupply and market saturation have added headwinds during the first half of 2025. Demand, particularly from the electric vehicle (EV) sector, remains strong, but global lithium mine supply has outpaced it, rising by an estimated 22 percent in 2024 alone.

“We’re forecasting similar year on year increases for both 2025 and 2026 equivalent to around 260,000 tons of additional (lithium carbonate) alone just this year,” explained Fastmarkets’ Lusty.

“Chinese producers have been particularly aggressive in terms of expanding capacity.” Australia, Argentina and Chile are also driving growth alongside emerging producers like Brazil, and several African nations.

According to data from the US Geological Survey, mined supply from China increased 14.85 percent from 35,700 metric tons in 2023 to 41,000 in 2024, however an asterisk notes that the tallies are estimates, and exact numbers may be “withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data.”

For Fastmarkets, the total is likely higher.

“China has rapidly expanded its mining footprint, boosting domestic lithium output by 55 percent since 2023 and is on track to surpass Australia as the world’s top producer by 2026,’ said Lusty. “One of the most notable developments has been the rise of African supply that we started to see over the last two years,” said Lusty.

Africa’s emerging role in the lithium sector

The importance of African supply to the future lithium market was also the topic at Claudia Cook’s presentation, ‘The Lithium Market Shift: China’s and Africa’s Role in Redefining Supply.’

During the 20 minute overview Cook explained that China is increasingly looking to African hard-rock lithium supply to provide feedstock for the country’s growing chemical segment.

So much so that by 2030 18 percent of global hard-rock lithium supply will originate from the continent.

Additionally, the continent will see a 170 percent uptick in hard-rock lithium supply output between 2025 and 2035, according to Cook, who attributes the massive expansion to China’s need to diversify its lithium sources due to domestic supply constraints. To facilitate this demand, China has invested heavily in African production.

“In 2025, 79 percent of African output will be China owned,” she said. “That percentage reduces down to 65 percent in 2035 however, with the increase in tonnage, even though there’s a reduction in percentage, there’ll be an almost doubling in terms of how much that’s actually being put out.”

Regionally, Cook pointed to Zimbabwe and Mali as the country’s poised to see the most growth.

In 2025, Zimbabwe alone is expected to account for 70 percent of African lithium supply, though its share is projected to fall to 43 percent by 2035 as new countries come online.

Despite that shift, African output overall is set to rise significantly, with nations like the DRC, Ethiopia, and Namibia expected to begin production by 2035, said Cook.

Lithium demand surges, but prices lag

The rapid increase in supply has pushed prices to multi year lows, levels that are unsustainable and fail to incentivize new production. Despite this demand remains strong and is expected to grow.

According to the US Geological Survey, global consumption of lithium in 2024 was estimated to be 220,000 tons, a 29 percent increase from revised consumption of 170,000 tons in 2023.

Much of the demand story is attributed to soaring global EV sales, which were up 35 percent in Q1. Lithium consumption in this segment is projected to grow 12 percent annually through 2030.

“Globally, electric car sales this year are forecast to surpass about 20 million units in 2025 representing more than a quarter of all cars sold,” said Lusty.

Future lithium demand remains underpinned by deep structural shifts in global energy consumption.

“We’re witnessing extraordinary battery demand tied to the electrification of the global economy and the rise of renewable energy,” said Lustyt, pointing to surging electricity needs and the increasing role of storage solutions.

In 2024, global electricity demand rose by over 4 percent, adding 1,100 terawatt-hours to the grid, more than Japan’s total annual consumption. This marks the largest year-on-year increase outside post-recession rebounds and reflects broad trends such as greater electricity access, the proliferation of energy-intensive appliances, the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centers, and the shift to electric-powered heavy manufacturing.

Notably, 95 percent of future demand growth is expected to be met by renewables like solar and wind, further boosting the need for battery energy storage systems (BESS) to manage intermittency and stabilize grids.

“Batteries are now essential — not just for EVs, but to balance power systems across sectors,” Lusty added.

Data centers, in particular, are becoming a key growth driver. Since 2017, their electricity use has grown 12 percent annually, according to Fastmarkets, with the US seeing half its centers concentrated in five regional hubs.

By 2030, BESS demand from data centers alone could represent a third of the market, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 35 percent over the next five years.

Overall, lithium demand is forecast to grow 12 percent annually through 2030, underpinned by EV adoption, renewable integration, and digitalization. While China currently accounts for 60 percent of global demand, that dominance is expected to wane as other regions scale up.

“The long-term fundamentals remain intact,” he said, “and it’s hard to envision a future where lithium isn’t central to the global economy.”

What’s next for lithium in 2025?

After June saw prices slip to year-to-date lows, lithium saw a brief uptick in early July amid speculation about supply cuts from Australian miners Mineral Resources (ASX:MN,OTC Pink:MALRF) and Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR,OTC Pink:LINRF). However, gains were reversed after the rumors were denied.

In the US, policy uncertainty continues to weigh on sentiment. A rollback of EV tax credits under the Trump administration could spark a short-term sales bump, but longer-term support appears fragile.

New fair competition rules in China, aimed at curbing downstream dumping, have fueled speculation about broader impacts. While upstream effects are unclear, the policy contributed to July’s brief price rise.

“The nascency of the lithium market means that it is prone to be led by sentiment,” wrote Cook in a monthly update.

‘We have especially seen this at play this month as prices ticked up momentarily mainly from rumors of supply cuts, highlighting how twitchy and reactive the market currently is,’ she continued.

‘These rumors have since been denied … However, with healthy inventory levels and continued ramp-up of production, the reported supply cuts, even if they proved true, may not be enough to dip the market into a deficit.”