Bitcoin Volatility and On-Chain Activity Drop to October 2023 Levels
BTC volatility and on-chain activity have dropped to levels seen almost two years ago, raising concerns among analysts about waning retail investor interest. Despite the price increase and institutional interest, on-chain activity has reached a 20-month low. In June, total transaction volume fell 15% from May to October 2023 levels, when BTC traded around $28,000–$35,000.
Implied volatility has also declined. On July 5, there were only about 5,000 unconfirmed transactions in the mempool, and later about 15,000, well below the peak of 150,000 in late 2024, when BTC first surpassed $100,000. At the same time, interest from large holders continues to grow.
Ethereum Foundation Announces Switch to ZK
The Ethereum Foundation has announced a plan to integrate ZK proofs into the mainnet. The first step will be the launch of a zkEVM client for the L1 layer, initially as an optional solution, which may eventually become mandatory.
The new model will allow validators to verify blocks using three independent ZK proofs, without re-executing transactions. They must meet a number of requirements: latency up to 10 seconds, security at the level of 128 bits, size - up to 300 KB. The necessary hardware should not exceed $100,000 in cost.
At first, zk clients will use a limited number of validators, but as trust grows and audits are passed, this system may become standard. The initiative is aimed at increasing decentralization and the inclusion of solo stakers in the protection of the network.
Vitalik Buterin Announces Ethereum Network Security Improvement Idea
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and developer Tony Warstetter proposed EIP-7983, an initiative to introduce a gas limit of 16.77 million per transaction to improve the network's resilience to DoS attacks and simplify the calculation of on-chain value. If the limit is exceeded, the transaction will not be included in the block and will be rejected. Currently, the limit only applies to the entire block — 36 million gas.
The proposed limit will be applied regardless of the block parameters set by validators. It will also improve compatibility with zkVM and encourage the splitting of large transactions into smaller ones. Although the EIP is not reversible and is incompatible with previous versions, the developers note that it will only affect a small share of users, since most transactions fit into the proposed limit.
Ethereum Tests $3,000 Rate
Amid BTC growth, Ethereum broke through the $3,000 mark for the first time since February, although at the time of publication, quotes had slightly rolled back below the round level. Over the past 24 hours, the price of ETH has grown by 7.5%, and the capitalization has reached $360 billion, according to CoinGecko. Since the local bottom of $1,385, recorded on April 9 amid market panic due to Donald Trump's statements, ETH has risen in price by 115%.
POL Up 8%
The Polygon project's POL token has risen in price by more than 8% amid preparations for the Heimdall v2 hard fork, scheduled for July 10. The update is called the most complex since the launch of Polygon PoS in 2020. It should eliminate outdated architectural elements and reduce the finalization time to ~5 seconds. According to the developers, the implementation in the main network will take about 30 minutes, not counting possible failures. At the time of publication, POL is trading at about $0.2, and its capitalization exceeds $1.8 billion, according to CoinGecko.
RLUSD Reaches $500M Capitalization
Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin has exceeded $500 million in capitalization in seven months. According to CoinGecko, it is among the top 20 dollar stablecoins with a daily trading volume of $36.6 million.
It also became known about Ripple's partnership with Bank of New York Mellon, which will store the dollars and treasury bills that back RLUSD. BNY is one of the largest custodians with assets under management of ~$52 trillion. The bank has been serving crypto clients since 2022 and has its own digital assets division.
The strengthening of RLUSD coincided with Ripple's application for a banking license in the United States. If approved, the company will be able to directly issue stablecoins and store client deposits within the framework of federal regulation.
