Wednesday, July 30 was Ethereum's 10th birthday. Happy Birthday! On July 30, 2015 the Ethereum mainnet officially went live, minting the first block (genesis block). There was nothing poetic like in Bitcoin's genesis block, but it did include pre-allocated Ether to the accounts that participated in the 2014 Ethereum ICO. Among the well wishes on CT (Crypto Twitter), I thought Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's anecdote about Vitalik was the best. The crypto world surely would've been different had the visa issue worked out!
Wednesday was also FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) day. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady, but two Trump-appointed members dissented, calling for a 0.25 percent cut. The first multi-Governor dissent in over thirty years.
Interestingly, some analysts welcomed the decision, not on policy grounds, but because the Fed resisted overt political pressure from Trump for a cut and preserved the appearance of independence. There was upbeat data to defend holding rates steady: U.S. GDP grew 3% in Q2, topping the 2.3% forecast.
Earnings season looked strong for crypto companies this week, at least superficially. Strategy reported a record-breaking Q2 2025, posting $10 billion in net income, up from a $102.6 million loss in Q2 2024. Tether reported nearly $4.9 billion in quarterly profit, and Coinbase reported $1.43 billion net profit in Q2 2025, up from just $36 million a year earlier.
In each case, the eye-popping year-over-year numbers were largely driven by a combination of GAAP changes that took effect in 2025, and the appreciation of substantial bitcoin holdings.
The shift to fair value accounting, in which unrealized crypto asset gains can be recorded as net income, caused a one-time boost in income especially noticeable when compared to reports from one year ago. Strategy had a $14 billion unrealized gain from bitcoin, Tether $2.6 billion in gains from bitcoin and gold, and Coinbase $362 million from crypto gains.
Unfortunately, this means these crypto companies were not significantly more profitable from operations, but benefited from their crypto holdings appreciating. A data point to support this is that Coinbase's transaction volume grew 5% year-over-year. A 5% increase seems low for a bull market.
There was plenty of legitimately bullish news this week. Billionaire investor Ray Dalio argued on a podcast that a 15% allocation to gold or bitcoin is prudent. PayPal launched Pay with Crypto, a new service enabling US merchants to accept payments in crypto with instant conversion to stablecoins or fiat.
Finally, Chase and Coinbase partnered to expand crypto access. This fall, Chase cards can fund Coinbase purchases. In 2026, rewards points will convert to USDC, and Chase accounts will link directly to Coinbase. Crypto is converging with TradFi!
-David Sencil
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