Crypto exchanges 07.07: ETFs back with 265.7 million

Tuesday, 7 July 2026, passed in a mood of cautious optimism in the crypto market: Bitcoin touched 64,400 dollars in the overnight hours before easing back to around 63,200, holding on to a weekly gain of roughly six percent. The most significant turn, however, came in fund flows - US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted 265.7 million dollars on Monday, the largest daily inflow in more than a month. In Europe, meanwhile, the first full week after the end of the MiCA transitional period is under way: Binance is publicly contesting its exclusion from the EU market, while licensed exchanges, including the Nordic player Firi, are actively competing for millions of former global-platform customers.

Bitcoin tests resistance at 64,000 dollars

Bitcoin reached 64,400 dollars in the early hours of Tuesday, but the rally faded and the price settled around 63,200 dollars - virtually unchanged on the day, yet up roughly six percent on the week. The recovery from the 21-month low near 58,000 dollars set at the end of June continues, even though Bitcoin closed the first half of the year down about 20 percent, with its first weekly close below the 200-week moving average since 2023. Ethereum held near 1,770 dollars with an 11.6 percent weekly gain, XRP traded at 1.13 dollars and Solana at 80 dollars. Most major assets moved little during the day, keeping the bulk of the previous week's advance.

ETF flows turn: 265.7 million in a single day

US spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in 265.69 million dollars on Monday, 6 July - the largest daily inflow in more than a month and the second positive day in a three-session stretch. BlackRock's IBIT alone absorbed 209.4 million, ARK's ARKB added 32.98 million and Grayscale's mini Bitcoin fund 42.25 million dollars. The turn follows the 221.7 million dollar inflow on 2 July, which snapped a ten-day outflow streak totalling 2.7 billion dollars. The context remains harsh, though: the previous, holiday-shortened trading week still ended with a net outflow of 526.6 million dollars - the eighth negative week in a row - and June, with 4.5 billion dollars in outflows, was the worst month in the products' history. If the inflows hold for a few more sessions, it would be the first tangible signal that institutional demand is returning.

Derivatives point to a possible cycle bottom

Derivatives market data paint a picture of capitulation that some traders read as a late-stage washout rather than the start of a new decline. Yusuf Fakhro, partner at ARP Digital, notes that the institutional bid has all but vanished: open interest in CME Bitcoin futures sits at a 32-month low, while the six-month options skew - the premium paid for protection against a drop - has reached its fourth-highest level on record, with the only parallels in June and November 2022, both of which proved to be near major cycle bottoms. When downside protection gets this expensive, the market may already have priced in the worst.

Binance fights the narrative, the licensed take the market

In Europe, the first full week after 1 July, when the MiCA transitional period ended, continues. Binance's Europe head Gillian Lynch said publicly on 3 July that the company had met Greece's licensing requirements and argued that MiCA should be judged by who it licenses, not who it excludes. The facts on the ground remain unchanged: since 1 July Binance offers EU users no new spot orders, deposits or sign-ups, while Coinbase, Kraken and OKX passport their services across the entire EEA on a single authorisation, and by industry estimates up to 10 million EU users are looking for a new platform. According to CASP Tracker, the number of licensed service providers has reached 283.

In the region, competition for these customers is becoming ever more visible. Norway's Firi, which on 22 May became the first trading platform to receive CASP authorisation under Article 63 of MiCA, is using the licence to expand into Sweden - its third market after Norway and Denmark. Bybit, in turn, continues to phase in restrictions on Bybit Global access for EEA residents, including all the Baltic and Nordic countries, steering customers to its licensed Bybit EU platform, which requires a separate account.

Security incidents: the BONK governance attack and Summer.fi

Tuesday brought to light an unusual attack on the governance of the Solana-ecosystem BONK community: an attacker spent roughly four million dollars acquiring voting power and pushed through a malicious proposal that threatens around 20 million dollars from the project treasury. A day earlier, the DeFi protocol Summer.fi halted its Lazy Summer vaults after a six million dollar exploit. Both cases remind Baltic and Nordic users too that the risks of decentralised protocols and governance tokens persist regardless of how tightly regulated the centralised exchange sector becomes.

Macro backdrop: Hormuz returns to the agenda

Oil rose 0.6 percent on Tuesday to about 72.45 dollars per Brent barrel after a laden liquefied natural gas carrier was struck off the Omani coast as it left the Strait of Hormuz - a fresh test of the ceasefire reached in late June. In Asian markets, the technology sell-off resumed: South Korea's Kospi index fell 6.7 percent and Samsung shares lost 8.3 percent. Notably, Bitcoin has decoupled from this sell-off this week - in the first half of the year the crypto market regularly followed technology stocks lower. In the stablecoin segment, Visa data show Circle's USDC continuing to pull ahead of Tether's USDT in transaction volume.

What it means for users

For users in the region, Tuesday's developments offer three takeaways. First, the turn in ETF flows combined with capitulation signals in the derivatives market suggests the market may be forming a bottom, but the recovery remains fragile as long as resistance at 64,000 dollars has not been cleared. Second, the MiCA reality is settling in: the choice of licensed platforms in the region is growing, and Firi's entry into Sweden shows competition for Nordic customers is intensifying - which over time means better terms for users. Third, the BONK and Summer.fi incidents are a reminder that DeFi and governance-token risks demand just as much caution as the choice of exchange.

Sources

• ESMA - Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)
• CASP Tracker - MiCA license list 2026: all crypto companies in the ESMA CASP register
• CoinDesk - Bitcoin drops after a run at $64,000, shrugging off Strategy's $213 million BTC sale
• CoinDesk - Live markets: Bitcoin and ether ETFs drew inflows Monday
• KuCoin - Bitcoin ETF sees $265.7M net inflow on July 6
• SpendNode - Bitcoin ETFs Take In $221.7M, Snapping a 10-Day, $2.7B Outflow Streak

This article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Facts were verified and the text edited by Toms Ābeltiņš. This article does not constitute investment advice.