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Bitcoin (BTC) dropped volatility on the last weekend of July as the monthly close drew near.

200-week moving average in focus for July close

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD retaining $24,000 as resistance into July 30.

The pair had benefitted from macro tailwinds across risk assets in the second half of the week, these including a flush finish for United States equities. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index gained 4.1% and 4.6% over the week, respectively.

With off-speak trading apt to spark volatile conditions into weekly and monthly closes thanks to thinner liquidity, however, analysts warned that anything could happen between now and July 31.

“Just gonna sit back and watch the market up until the weekly close like always,” Josh Rager summarized.

Uniswap (UNI) looks ready to post its best monthly performance in more than a year as it rallied approximately 80% in July, but signs of an extended pullback in the near term are emerging. 

Uniswap price nearly doubles in July

UNI's price is having one of its best months ever, reaching nearly $9 on July 30 versus nearly $5 at the beginning of the month, best returns since January 2021's 250% price rally. 

Merge FOMO an UNI "fee switch" proposal

Uniswap's gains primarily surfaced due to similar upside moves in a broader crypto market. But they turned out to be relatively massive due to an ongoing euphoria surrounding "the Merge."

Notably, the Ethereum blockchain's potential transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September has triggered a buying hysteria among related toke.

Additionally, UNI may also have been drawing its gains from a so-called "fee switch" proposal.

Uniswap (UNI) looks ready to post its best monthly performance in more than a year as it rallied approximately 80% in July, but signs of an extended pullback in the near term are emerging. 

Uniswap price nearly doubles in July

UNI's price is having one of its best months ever, reaching nearly $9 on July 30 versus nearly $5 at the beginning of the month, best returns since January 2021's 250% price rally. 

Merge FOMO an UNI "fee switch" proposal

Uniswap's gains primarily surfaced due to similar upside moves in a broader crypto market. But they turned out to be relatively massive due to an ongoing euphoria surrounding "the Merge."

Notably, the Ethereum blockchain's potential transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake in September has triggered a buying hysteria among related toke.

Additionally, UNI may also have been drawing its gains from a so-called "fee switch" proposal.

Argentina’s economic restrictions have reached the sports industry, with the first signing of a local football player with cryptocurrencies hitting national headlines.

The transfer of midfielder Giuliano Galoppo from Banfield's Athletic Club to Sao Paulo Futebol Clube was made in USD Coin (USDC), exceeding $6 million and up to $8 million depending on the volatile exchange rate of the Argentine peso, according to local sources. The transfer was made possible through a collaboration with the Mexican crypto exchange Bitso.

“We are very proud to work with these two clubs for this historical signing of Sao Paulo with all the safety, transparency and flexibility that the crypto economy has to offer,” said Thales Freitas, Bitso’s director in Brazil.

The transfer happened amid a difficult economic situation for Argentinian sports clubs. The reported exchange gap between pesos and dollars keeps escalating, affecting the possibility for football players to get signed by international teams and inducing them to renegotiate their contracts to adjust their salaries to the volatile dollar price.

The country’s unstable economy has led to a major adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially stablecoins. The tendency toward stablecoins notoriously escalated after the shocking resignation of Argentina’s economy minister earlier this month.

Bitcoin mining involves a delicate balance between multiple moving parts. Miners already have to face capital and operational costs, unexpected repairs, product shipping delays and unexpected regulation that can vary from country to country — and in the case of the United States, from state to state. On top of that, they also had to contend with Bitcoin’s precipitous drop from $69,000 to $17,600. 

Despite BTC price being 65% down from its all-time high, the general consensus among miners is to keep calm and carry on by just stacking sats, but that doesn't mean the market has reached a bottom just yet.

In an exclusive Bitcoin miners panel hosted by Cointelegraph, Luxor CEO Nick Hansen said, “There’s going to definitely be a capital crunch in publicly listed companies or at least not even just publicly listed companies. There’s probably close to $4 billion worth of new ASICs that need to be paid for as they come out, and that capital is no longer available.”

Hansen elaborated with:

“Hedge funds blow up very quickly. I think miners are going to take 3 to 6 months to blow up. So we’ll see who’s got good operations and who’s able to survive this low margin environment.”

Bitcoin (BTC) hit a six-week high above $24,000 on July 29, extending its rally that picked up momentum after the United States Federal Reserve hiked rates by 75 basis points on July 27. If the rally sustains for the next two days, Bitcoin could be on target to close the month of July with gains of more than 20%, according to data from Coinglass.

It is not only the crypto markets that have seen a post-FOMC rally. The U.S. equities markets are on track for big monthly gains in July. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are up about 8.8% and 12% in July, on track to their best monthly gains since November 2020.

The crypto and equities markets have risen expecting that the pace of rate hikes by the Fed will slow down in the future. Arthur Hayes, ex-CEO of derivatives platform BitMEX, believes that the Fed will not increase rates further and may eventually return to accommodative monetary policy and more neutral rates.

Could Bitcoin and altcoins extend their recovery over the next few days? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin closed below the 20-day exponential moving average ($22,213) on July 25 but the bears could not sustain the lower levels. The bulls bought the dip below $21,000 and propelled the price back above the moving averages on July 27.

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied on the back of the United States Federal Reserve's decision to hike interest rates on July 27. Investors interpreted Federal Reserve chairman Jeremy Powell’s statement as more dovish than the previous FOMC committee meeting, suggesting that the worst moment of tight economic policies is behind us.

Another positive news for risk assets came from the U.S. personal consumption expenditures price (PCE) index, which rose 6.8% in June. The move was the biggest since January 1982, reducing incentives for fixed income investments. The Federal Reserve focuses on the PCE due to its broader measure of inflation pressures, measuring the price changes of goods and services consumed by the general public.

Additional positive news came from Amazon after the e-commerce giant reported that its quarterly financial results beat the $119.5 billion estimated revenue by 1.4%. Moreover, Apple released its 2Q results on the same day, matching analyst revenue estimates, while presenting earnings 3.4% above the market consensus.

Top traders have increased their bullish bets

Exchange-provided data highlights traders’ long-to-short net positioning. By analyzing every client’s position on the spot, perpetual and futures contracts, one can better understand whether professional traders are leaning bullish or bearish.

There are occasional discrepancies in the methodologies between different exchanges, so viewers should monitor changes instead of absolute figures.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw fresh volatility after July's final Wall Street open as highs north of $24,000 remained solid resistance.

Resistance strikes BTC at $24,000

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reflected bulls' continuing struggle as BTC/USD lurched around the $24,000 mark on July 29.

The pair had attempted to match the week's local top of $24,450, this ultimately failing to materialize as a resurgent U.S. dollar pressured crypto despite the gains of U.S. stocks .

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) continued higher during the Wall Street trading, passing 106 after falling to its lowest levels since July 5.

Record eurozone inflation added to the mix of macro triggers on the day, while the monthly close remained a guessing game for Bitcoin analysts.