The Daily: Bitcoin sees fresh all-time highs, Ethereum reclaims a key level, BlackRock’s crypto ETFs set new records, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

It’s Friday! Bitcoin smashed past $118,000 to set another fresh all-time high earlier this morning as spot ETF inflows, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” and rate-cut hopes help fuel the surge.

In today’s newsletter, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attract $1.2 billion in their second-largest daily inflows, BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF notches $300 million in a record one-day haul, Ark Invest offloads Coinbase and Robinhood shares amid the crypto rally, and more.

Meanwhile, Grayscale presses the SEC to allow its multi-crypto fund to launch, citing investor harm.

Let’s get started.

BTC hits fresh all-time high as spot Bitcoin ETFs add $1.2 billion

Bitcoin surged more than 5% to a new all-time high of nearly $119,000 early Friday as more than $1 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs drew in $1.18 billion in daily inflows on Thursday alongside the price surge — the second-largest since launch.
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF IBIT added $448.5 million on Thursday alone, becoming the fastest ETF to cross $80 billion in assets under management as a result.
Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, said that calmer macro conditions and rising institutional adoption have “reignited interest in bitcoin.”
“The shift reflects growing confidence in BTC as a long-term asset similar to gold,” Liu said. “Strong institutional demand may continue unless macro uncertainty around the July 15 CPI data sparks profit-taking and cools momentum.”
Regulatory changes, such as the GENIUS Act and easing tax rules, are also lowering barriers for institutions to invest in bitcoin, according to Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research.

ETH reclaims $3K as BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF sees $300M record daily inflows

The price of ETH jumped 9% to reclaim the $3,000 level for the first time in five months as new bitcoin all-time highs breathe fresh life into the broader crypto market.

However, in contrast to BTC, ETH remains around 38% down from an all-time high of $4,878 set back in November 2021, according to The Block’s Ethereum price page.
The second-largest cryptocurrency was last above $3,000 on Feb. 2, having corrected sharply from $4,100 in December to a low of around $1,387 in April amid the Trump “Liberation Day” tariff turmoil.
Meanwhile, BlackRock’s ETHA set a new daily inflow record of $300.9 million on Thursday as the combined U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs collectively pulled in $383.1 million.

Ark Invest offloads Coinbase and Robinhood shares amid the crypto rally

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest offloaded $6.5 million worth of Coinbase shares and $5.8 million in Robinhood stock from one of its funds on Thursday amid the crypto price rally.

The ARK Innovation ETF also sold $1.7 million worth of shares in Jack Dorsey’s Block during the same trading session as the investment firm continued to rebalance its fund weightings.
Coinbase and Robinhood stocks closed up 4% and 4.4% on July 10, tracking bitcoin’s surge to all-time highs.
Crypto exchange Coinbase announced a partnership with Perplexity AI on Thursday, while trading platform Robinhood faces a Florida probe over crypto pricing claims.

SharpLink buys 10,000 ETH directly from Ethereum Foundation

Nasdaq-listed SharpLink Gaming bought 10,000 ETH directly from the Ethereum Foundation for $25.7 million, boosting its treasury to 215,634 ETH ($558 million).

The company, chaired by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, aims to become the largest publicly traded ETH holder, aggressively building its treasury since June.
SharpLink said its buying, staking, and restaking strategy strengthens Ethereum’s ecosystem by removing supply and supporting decentralization.
SBET shares rose 10% pre-market as investors reacted to the rare direct sale from the foundation to a public company, and are currently trading up 16% on Friday.
Meanwhile, BTC Digital established a $1 million ETH reserve with plans to scale further.

GMX token surges 14% after hacker returns funds from $40 million exploit

The GMX hacker began returning over $40 million in stolen funds after accepting a $5 million white-hat bounty on Friday, prompting a 14% rebound in the GMX token price.

The exploit targeted a re-entrancy bug in GMX V1’s GLP pool on Arbitrum, forcing the team to halt V1 trading and minting but leaving V2 unaffected.
GMX plans to reimburse affected users and hold a DAO vote on further measures while issuing guidance to prevent similar attacks.

Looking ahead over the next 7 days

U.S. CPI inflation data are out on Tuesday. UK CPI numbers follow on Wednesday alongside U.S. PPI figures. Eurozone CPI data and U.S. jobless claims are released on Thursday.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will speak on Tuesday.
Aptos, Starknet, Sei, EigenLayer, Arbitrum, ZKsync, ApeCoin, Official Trump, and Euler are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.