Ethereum (ETH) price climbs 30%
The crypto market has bounced back to life after months of quiet. Bitcoin set the tone, but ether and a string of other major coins climbed sharply too. Which brings back a question that seemed premature not long ago: has the market actually turned? And right on cue, BlackRock has published a report on bitcoin's right to exist. More on that in this edition of Bitvavo's Market News.
Market update
Ether, the coin behind the Ethereum network, jumped 30% over the past week, from ā¬1,620 to ā¬2,110. That's its biggest weekly gain since May 2025 and its highest price since January 2026.
This rally confirms a change of character. In mid-July, ether reached an interesting point as the price approached ā¬1,600 from below, a level that had previously acted as support and was now being tested as resistance. The descending trendline from the bull market top ran through that same level. In a setup like that, a continuation of the downtrend is the most likely outcome. Ether broke out to the upside anyway.
Part of the fuel behind the rally comes from speculators closing short positions. But we're also seeing trading volume pick up on spot markets and money flowing into crypto ETFs. The rebound is broadly distributed across the crypto market: BTC gained 23% over the week, SOL 27%, and XRP 52%.
The odds that the bear market is over have gone up. It's still too early to call a new bull market with any certainty though. That would need confirmation on higher timeframes, such as a weekly close above the 50-week moving average. For ETH that sits at ā¬2,250, and for BTC at ā¬70,300.
Featured
Does bitcoin still belong in an investment portfolio?
InĀ a new report, BlackRock calls bitcoin an "emerging global monetary alternative". The world's largest asset manager sees bitcoin as a scarce asset that can offer protection against a well-known characteristic of traditional money: it continuously loses value over time. The timing is, incidentally, impeccable, as BlackRock published the report a day before the bitcoin price surged last week.
What prompted the report was, ironically, a stretch in which bitcoin was far less impressive. The coin lost more than half its value from the previous bull market top. So BlackRock is asking the question again: after a drop that steep, is bitcoin still attractive to investors?
The answer is a clearĀ yes.
One key argument sounds familiar after last week, when the U.S. governmentĀ visibly struggled with rising interest rates on government bonds. BlackRock points to the continued growth of government debt and budget deficits. As long as there's no credible path to structurally reduce these, the asset manager believes there's a continued risk that governments will choose currency debasement or other drastic measures. This increases the appeal of assets whose supply cannot be easily expanded.
According to BlackRock, the price decline changes little, as BlackRock primarily views it as a correction of an overheated market. Around the peak, over $90 billion in bitcoin futures were open, much of it heavily leveraged. When the market fell, forced liquidations followed. At the same time, inflows into bitcoin ETFs dried up and doubts arose about companies like Strategy.
BlackRock calls it a "positioning correction," not a break in the investment narrative. It's a temporary phase, driven in part by an AI bubble that put other investments on hold.
For professional investors, there's something else at play: bitcoin not only needs to convince as a monetary alternative but also needs to add something to a portfolio. According to BlackRock, its correlation with the S&P 500 over the past ten years was only 0.18. On top of that, bitcoin's returns are highly positively skewed, meaning steep losses are offset by the occasional exceptionally large gains.
That means even a small position can make a difference. In BlackRock's historical analysis, a classic portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds with 1% to 2% bitcoinĀ delivered clearly higher returns without a proportional increase in risk. According to BlackRock, having bitcoin in your portfolio, even if it's just a little, is a good idea.
BlackRock doesn't make a price prediction. However, the asset manager expects the market structure to keep maturing, volatility to decrease over time, and institutional inflow to return. The broader expectation is clear: bitcoin is gaining a strategic place alongside stocks and bonds for an increasing number of long-term investors.
In other news
After Coldcard, trouble at Trezor and SafePal too. There's trouble brewing among hardware wallet providers. While the storm around Coldcard has somewhat subsided, funds are still beingĀ stolen, albeit at a slower pace. ForĀ Trezor andĀ SafePal, the issue isn't wallet hacks but leaked customer data. In both cases, a webshop system was affected, and personal data belonging to over 13,000 Trezor customers and nearly 40,000 SafePal customers is now exposed. Therefore, a warning is appropriate: scammers often eagerly exploit stolen data, so stay alert.
Irregularities at bankrupt exchanges Bitmart and Knaken. Bitmart announced its closure at the end of July. Last week, reports emerged of people whoĀ can't access their funds, and company employees are asking their own management for an "explanation" on social media. For Knaken, the settlement is in the hands of a Rotterdam-based bankruptcy trustee, whoĀ published their first findings last week. This confirms what was already known: the company had several rough years and faces a significant deficit in its balance sheet. The chance that Knaken customers will recover their full funds is "extremely small." Limited-time offer: move your crypto to Bitvavo and earn up to 10% APY.Ā Learn more.
White House "Crypto Summit" underscores Trump's crypto policy. InĀ a closing speech, Trump reiterated the main talking points of the meeting, which drew the entire financial sector. Trump urged politicians to bringĀ the Clarity Act to his desk, said he wants America to remain the "undisputed leader" in the crypto world, stated that that the Democratic war against the crypto sector is definitively over, and responded to the idea of the U.S. investing heavily in bitcoin by saying he prefers to leave that to his advisors.
Trump wants to bring Hyperliquid to the U.S. That's tricky, because the platform doesn't look anything like a classic derivatives exchange with a board and continuous market supervision. The president therefore tasked CFTC Chairman Mike Selig with charting a legal path. Last Thursday, SeligĀ hinted at details in a speech. A new legal framework is in the works, one that Hyperliquid will have to fit into. The HYPE price reacted strongly to the idea and is up over 30% from a week ago.
Satoshi Radio: InĀ the latest episode of Satoshi Radio, the topic is, of course, the bitcoin price. It shot up more than 10% in a single evening, only to close the following week even more impressively. What triggered it? The episode also covers an important meeting at the White House, the regulatory plan B being drafted for the Clarity Act, and data leaks at hardware wallet manufacturers.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a marketing communication or recommendation. None of the content herein should be considered as investment advice or a substitute for it. Bitvavo makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of the provided information. Investments involve risks. There is a possibility of losing your entire invested capital.