News

Crypto Jul 5: Cardano up 31% weekly, BTC holds $62.8K

Daily overview of the global crypto market on Sunday, July 5: top 15 coins, stablecoins, NFTs, ETF flows and regulation. Bitcoin consolidates in the $62,500-63,000 corridor, Cardano gains 31.5% on the week, speculative capital rotates into small caps (LAB +82.8%). Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows extend to a fifth consecutive day, and the US Senate prepares the unified CLARITY bill text.

Toms Ābeltiņš

6 July 20268 min read

Crypto Jul 5: Cardano up 31% weekly, BTC holds $62.8K

On Sunday, July 5, the crypto market caught its breath after a three-day rebound - Bitcoin consolidated in the $62,500-63,000 corridor (~$62,800, +0.5%), holding the $62,000 support for a fourth day. The day's star was Cardano (+6.4% on the day, +31.5% on the week), while speculative capital flowed into smaller names: LAB +82.8%, Vanar Chain +63.4%, Rocket Pool +34.6%. Worldcoin fell 6.8% after Eightco disclosed holdings of 283M WLD. Total market cap stood at ~$2.24 trillion and the Fear & Greed Index edged up to 24. Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows extended to a fifth consecutive day, though the 30-day balance remains around -$6.27 billion. H1 2026 set a record for security incidents (207), yet losses shrank to $972 million.

Global crypto market on July 5: Bitcoin consolidates, Cardano up 31% on the week, speculative capital rotates into small caps

On Sunday, July 5, the cryptocurrency market caught its breath after a three-day rebound - Bitcoin spent most of the day consolidating in the $62,500-63,000 corridor and traded around $62,800 (+0.5% on the day). While the majors quietly defended their gains, speculative capital rotated sharply into smaller, high-risk names: LAB jumped 82.8%, Vanar Chain 63.4% and Rocket Pool 34.6%. The day's leader in the top 20 was Cardano (+6.4% on the day, +31.5% on the week). Sentiment remains depressed - the Fear & Greed Index edged up from 21 to 24 points, still in extreme fear territory.

Market overview

Total crypto market capitalization stood at roughly $2.24 trillion on July 5 (+0.7% over 24 hours). The rebound that began after the July 1 low ($58,278 for Bitcoin) is holding for now: spot Bitcoin ETF inflows extended to a fifth consecutive day, and short covering still dominated derivatives - Bitcoin 24-hour liquidations reached $47.5 million, of which 87.9% were shorts, while Ethereum saw $43.4 million (67.3% shorts).

Analysts caution, however, that the bounce occurred in thin holiday trading: the real test comes when US institutional players return in full force in the new week. Bitcoin open interest has climbed 5% over the month to $46.65 billion, and rising leverage combined with neutral funding rates means sharp moves could trigger liquidation cascades in either direction. A price recovery against a backdrop of extreme fear still looks more like forced short covering than organic buying conviction.

Top 15 coins on July 5

The majors mostly consolidated on Sunday; the exception was Cardano, which extended an impressive weekly rally.

1. Bitcoin (BTC) ▲ ~$62,800 (+0.5% on the day)

Bitcoin oscillated in the $62,500-63,000 corridor - a fourth day above the $62,000 support level. The technical picture: holding $62,000 is critical, as losing it would reopen the path to the 58,300 zone; on the upside, reclaiming the 200-week average (~$62,500) and the $64,000 resistance matters most. BTC dominance sits around 56%.

2. Ethereum (ETH) ▲ ~$1,765 (+0.5% on the day)

Ethereum held above the psychologically important $1,750 level and traded around $1,765. BlackRock's new staked Ethereum fund drew $100 million on day one, and exchange ETH reserves are at record lows while staking sits at record highs.

3. Tether (USDT) ◆ ~$1.00 (stable)

USDT held its peg with a market cap around $184 billion. In the MiCA enforcement era, USDT availability on regulated EEA exchanges keeps shrinking, while global demand outside the EU remains steady.

4. BNB ◆ ~$572 (-0.1% on the day)

BNB traded essentially flat around $572. On July 3 Binance added VANRY, AEUR, PYR and SCRT to its monitoring tag (an elevated-risk flag) - ironically, Vanar Chain then became one of the weekend's biggest gainers.

5. USDC ◆ ~$1.00 (stable)

USDC held its peg with a market cap around $73 billion. Competitive pressure on Circle from the Open USD consortium (Coinbase, Visa, Mastercard, Google) remains one of the defining stablecoin-market stories.

6. XRP ◆ ~$1.14 (-0.4% on the day)

After Saturday's one-month high (~$1.16), XRP eased slightly on Sunday and consolidated around $1.14. Medium-term support still comes from ETF inflows (+$59.4M in June) and the growth of the RLUSD stablecoin, although Standard Chartered recently cut its XRP target citing stalled fund inflows.

7. Solana (SOL) ▼ ~$80.6 (-2.5% on the day)

After a ~15% weekly gain and reclaiming the $80 level, Solana corrected to $80.6 on Sunday; unusually, longs dominated its liquidations (78.9%). In the background, positive news: Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana ecosystem on the $6 billion Alatau crypto-city project, and tokenized-stock volumes on the network already exceed memecoin activity.

8. TRON (TRX) ▲ ~$0.325 (+0.6% on the day)

TRX continued to show low volatility and a steady grind higher - the network remains one of the largest USDT settlement layers.

9. Hyperliquid (HYPE) ▼ ~$68.6 (-3.7% on the day)

HYPE saw profit-taking down to $68.6 after the gains of previous days. Derivatives exchange volumes were below average over the holiday weekend.

10. Dogecoin (DOGE) ▼ ~$0.076 (-1.9% on the day)

DOGE eased to $0.076 - the memecoin segment stayed in the shadows overall, while speculative attention concentrated on DeFi and restaking tokens.

11. Zcash (ZEC) ▼ ~$457 (-1.4% on the day)

ZEC cooled slightly to $457 after its strong Friday and Saturday run, keeping its place in the top 12. The privacy-coin narrative remains one of 2026's most durable stories.

12. Cardano (ADA) ▲ ~$0.19 (+6.4% on the day, day's leader)

Cardano extended its rally from the six-year low of late June: +6.4% on the day and +31.5% on the week on $981 million of turnover - one of the largest prints in the top 20. No single confirmed catalyst has surfaced, but the sustained volume points to real institutional or narrative-driven demand.

13. Stellar (XLM) ▼ ~$0.199 (-3.4% on the day)

XLM took profits after the Open USD announcement-driven surge and slipped back below the $0.20 level.

14. Monero (XMR) ▲ ~$331 (+1.5% on the day)

XMR continued a measured climb to $331, confirming privacy coins' relative strength versus the broader market.

15. Chainlink (LINK) ◆ ~$7.88 (-0.7% on the day)

LINK consolidated around $7.88. The TokenWorks incident, in which CryptoPunk #5450 was acquired via a Chainlink callback vulnerability, remains in focus - a reminder of oracle-integration risks.

Stablecoins

Total stablecoin capitalization held above $260 billion: USDT ~$184.1B, USDC ~$72.9B. On the regulatory front, mid-2026 marks the shift from legislation to enforcement: in the EU, MiCA authorization has been mandatory for issuers since July 1 (non-compliant ones face removal from EU markets), while the US Treasury is targeting final GENIUS Act rules in July. The battle between Ripple's RLUSD and the Open USD consortium for the regulated payments market keeps reshaping the industry's balance of power.

NFT market

After the previous week's 37% jump in volumes (~$88M weekly), the NFT market was quiet over the holiday weekend. On a half-year basis, total NFT sales volume reached roughly $2.8 billion in H1 2026 - a smaller market than in its golden era, but a steadier one. Notably, the Moonbirds collection's BIRB token (+24%) made Sunday's top-gainers list, reflecting renewed interest in NFT ecosystem tokens.

ETF flows

Spot Bitcoin ETFs extended their positive streak - inflows have now been recorded for five consecutive days, led by BlackRock's IBIT; the July 2 session of +$223.5M (FBTC +$166.0M, ARKB +$91.8M) remains the largest of the streak. The bigger picture stays negative: the 7-day balance is around -$2.13 billion and the 30-day balance around -$6.27 billion. Ethereum ETFs drew $29M on the last trading day, but the 30-day balance is around -$795 million. The analyst consensus: whether the inflow streak survives the next full trading week is the single most important recovery indicator.

Security incidents

No major new hacks were reported on July 5, but half-year reports published over the weekend paint a two-sided picture: H1 2026 set a record for incident count - 207 separate cases - yet total losses were $972 million, less than half of the $2.3 billion in H1 2025. The second quarter alone set a record with 83 incidents and $775M in losses, including the KelpDAO ($293.7M) and Drift Protocol attacks. Chainalysis attributes roughly 76% of 2026 hack losses to North Korea's Lazarus Group, while impersonation scams have grown 1,400% year over year.

Regulatory news

Over the July 4-5 weekend the US Senate was preparing the unified final text of the CLARITY (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) bill, and the House Financial Services Committee will hold a special field hearing on the bill in New York on July 17 - widely seen as July's main regulatory catalyst. In Europe, MiCA has fully entered its enforcement phase: since July 1, stablecoin issuers require authorization, and ESMA's temporary register is being integrated into permanent systems.

Macro context

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's signal that inflation risks have eased, together with weaker June US labor-market data, remains the macro foundation of the rebound - markets no longer treat 2026 rate hikes as the base case. In focus this week: the Fed's June meeting minutes on July 8, the ECB minutes on July 9, and the full return of US institutional trading after the holiday weekend. Crypto still trades in tight correlation with AI stocks - capital rotation between the two asset classes was one of the causes of the spring decline.

Key figures - July 5

Bitcoin: ~$62,800 (+0.5% on the day; fourth day above $62,000)
Ethereum: ~$1,765 (+0.5% on the day; above $1,750 support)
Cardano: ~$0.19 (+6.4% on the day; +31.5% on the week - top 20 leader)
Total market capitalization: ~$2.24 trillion (+0.7%)
Fear & Greed Index: 24 (extreme fear; +3 points vs July 4)
BTC liquidations 24h: ~$47.5M (87.9% shorts)
BTC open interest: ~$46.65B (+5% over the month)
Spot Bitcoin ETFs: fifth consecutive day of inflows; 30-day balance ~-$6.27B
H1 2026 security incidents: 207 (record); losses $972M (-58% vs H1 2025)
Next catalysts: Fed minutes July 8, CLARITY hearing July 17

This article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.

Norriwire Briefing