Crypto Markets End Q2 On A High Note

Crypto markets posted a strong finish to the quarter despite the news that the Securities and Exchange Commission may prompt a number of financial powerhouses to revisit their Bitcoin ETF filings.

Bitcoin fell under 1% to around $30,300 and has been trading relatively sideways since rising above the $30,000 mark on June 23. Meanwhile, Ether rallied 4% to $1,923.

Stock markets continued to build on recent bullish momentum, with the S&P 500 rising more than 1% to close at its highest level since April 2022.

TradFi Giants Refile ETF Applications

Markets were whipsawed earlier in the day after it was reported that BlackRock and Fidelity could face hurdles with their recently filed spot Bitcoin ETF applications. According to Reuters, concerns were raised by the SEC regarding exchanges’ failure to include details of crypto trading platforms that would help to detect fraud in the underlying spot market.

The CBOE has since refiled applications on behalf of Fidelity, Van Eck, Invesco and WisdomTree. All the filings name Coinbase, the leading U.S. crypto exchange, as a potential partner.

DeFi Rally

In the DeFi sector, top gainers include Maker’s MKR, with a 14% surge, trailed by Aave, which briefly rallied 9%. Curve’s CRV and Optimism’s OP were also up around 8%.

Overall decentralized exchange volumes are down 1.7% this week to $15.9B.

Aside from Bitcoin and Ether, top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, posted gains of at least 2%. Litecoin led the way with a 24% increase, followed by Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with a 22% surge, and Solana (SOL) with an 8% gain.