From Trump's $5 Trillion Spending Plan to Ripple Banking License: The First Week of July: Crypto Markets in Turmoil

In the first week of July, the global cryptocurrency market was caught in a whirlwind of turbulence. Against the backdrop of policy uncertainty with the U.S. Congress's 'Crypto Week' announcement, a series of significant news followed, including Trump's $5 trillion fiscal spending bill, Ripple's bank license application, FTX bond freeze plan, and a massive Bitcoin movement after 14 years. With the launch of a Solana-based ETF, Novitex exchange's hack recovery, and the U.S. cryptocurrency tax reform movement, the market heated up considerably. The most attention-grabbing event was the U.S. House of Representatives' 'Crypto Week' announcement. Scheduled for July 14th, this event will focus on reviewing three major bills related to BTC, ETH, and stablecoins. Particularly, the movement to strengthen the legal clarity of digital assets, including a bill regulating central bank digital currencies (CBDC), is expected to directly impact both investors and companies. Trump's $5 trillion 'Big Beautiful Bill' also caused significant waves. Although cryptocurrency-related provisions were omitted, the astronomical fiscal spending raised concerns about potential dollar value weakness. This has rekindled interest in Bitcoin as an inflation hedge. Experts suggest the possibility of Bitcoin's price rapidly rebounding. Ripple applied for a federal bank license with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Simultaneously, they requested a master account from the Federal Reserve, officially expressing their intention to directly hold stablecoin reserves. CEO Brad Garlinghouse emphasized this as a "new standard of trust." This is significant as stablecoin issuers, following Circle, are attempting to enter the institutional framework. Meanwhile, the FTX bondholder conflict resurfaced as a global issue. The FTX Recovery Trust proposed freezing claims from 49 countries, including China and Russia, with 82% of the total bond amount belonging to Chinese investors. The final judgment is scheduled for July 22nd, with claims being lost if no objections are raised within 45 days. On the security front, a report revealed cryptocurrency losses due to hacking amounted to approximately $2.5 billion in the first half of the year. However, the number of attacks decreased by 52% compared to the previous quarter, suggesting a shift towards quantity over quality. Bybit and Cetus Protocol accounted for most of the damages. On July 4th, another shock was the movement of 80,000 Bitcoins (worth about 11.12 trillion won) dormant since 2011. These assets were distributed across eight wallets, and the use of recent address formats suggests a strategic movement by a 'whale' rather than a hack. However, a test transfer to Bitcoin Cash (BCH) just before the transfer has raised speculation about a pre-key verification attempt. Regulatory improvement issues are also noteworthy. U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis unveiled a draft amendment to eliminate double taxation in mining, staking, and lending, and provide tax exemptions for transactions under $300. This is considered a groundbreaking measure to promote trading participation by general investors in the U.S. Connections with traditional finance are expanding. Rex Shares and Osprey Funds launched the first U.S. Solana (SOL) ETF 'SSK', including staking returns. While the SEC has not officially approved it, the lack of additional comments has made the launch possible. The ETF includes the staking token JitoSOL, aiming to bridge traditional finance and DeFi. Iran's largest exchange, Novitex, resumed some services after last month's $100 million hack. Only verified accounts can access wallets, and withdrawals have been progressively ongoing since June 30th. The incident, confirmed to be linked to an Israeli hacker group, had significant international repercussions. Lastly, Robinhood ($HOOD) entered the derivatives market by introducing micro futures products for BTC, SOL, and XRP. Based on CME Group's infrastructure, even small investors can now easily access leveraged trading. This is seen as a continuation of its recent acquisitions of Bitstamp and Wonderfi. This week's cryptocurrency market sought direction at the crossroads of institutionalization, regulation, security, and infrastructure expansion. Particularly, the U.S. policy changes and Trump's massive bill are likely to have medium to long-term impacts on the Bitcoin market, requiring careful observation from investors.