Crypto today: Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP rallies grind to a halt as Ether ETF fails to push the altcoin higher

• Bitcoin hovers around key support at $65,000, early on Thursday, institutional demand helps sustain recent gains. 
• Ethereum suffers a correction, dips to $3,100 on July 25, despite optimism surrounding ETF approval by the regulator.
• XRP sustains above psychologically important $0.60 level. 

Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP updates

• Bitcoin is trading at $66,198 at the time of writing, sustaining above key support at $65,000. As Bitcoin supply on exchanges shrinks, the asset has room for extending gains further. Combined with steady institutional demand, Bitcoin has bullish potential in July. Bitcoin price struggles at $64,000 amid positive exchange inflow and Mt. Gox transfer concerns
• Ethereum suffered a steep correction that pushed the altcoin closer to $3,000 support. The altcoin failed to recover from its decline despite the optimism surrounding the Spot Ethereum ETF by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Crypto Today: Mt.Gox concern dissipates as Bitcoin holds steady, XRP rallies, Ethereum is the underdog
• Ripple and SEC have a closed-doors meeting scheduled for July 25. The cross border payment remittance firm could see a resolution of the lawsuit soon. XRP hovers around $0.62, above key psychological support. Ripple lawsuit to move forward with closed-door meeting on July 25, XRP hovers around $0.62

Chart of the day

OP/USDT daily chart 

Optimism (OP) could sweep liquidity in the Fair Value Gap (FVG) between $1.532 and $1.581 before resuming a rally towards the lower boundary of the FVG at $2.274. A correction in Optimism is likely since the momentum indicator Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) signals waning positive momentum in Optimism’s price trend. 

The green histogram bars are consecutively smaller and closer to the neutral line, as seen in the OP/USDT daily chart. 

Market updates

• Santiment data shows that Synthetix.io (SNX), dYdX (DYDX), Osmosis Zone (OSMO) are the top DeFi related coins by notable development activity in the past 30 days. 

• Shibarium, Shiba Inu’s Layer 2 partnered with BadIdea AI to enhance their bridge for cryptocurrencies. The project integrates AI with blockchain to secure addresses and improve user experience for Shiba Inu users. 

• In Q2 the $450 million Metis Layer 2 project fund supported the launch of the Liquid Staking Blitz. The fund brough Artemis and Enkin, two other projects into the fold, per Messari Research.

Industry updates

• Russian lawmakers passed a bill legalizing Bitcoin mining, and acceptance of crypto payments for international trade. 
• Solana and NEAR protocol are connected via a bridge that went live early on July 25. 

• Fireblocks announced the launch of a Web3 startup toolkit, on July 25.