Gate Research Institute: Bitcoin's annual transaction volume surpasses Visa | Merlin 2.0 creates "interest-bearing and tradable" BTC

Summary

1. Merlin 2.0 upgrade officially released, aiming to create a "yield-bearing and tradable" BTC
2. The crypto mining company MARA will issue $850 million in convertible notes to purchase more Bitcoin.
3. Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon jointly launched a tokenization plan for money market funds.
4. The scale of Ethereum lending has exceeded 30 billion USD, setting a historical record.
5. Bitcoin's annual transaction volume has surpassed Visa for the first time, moving towards a global value settlement network.
6. Gate Launchpool launches ZKWASM, with a total prize pool of 500,000 ZKWASM.

Market Interpretation

Market Commentary

• BTC Market - This week BTC rose by 0.72%, underperforming against altcoins. The BTC price fluctuated between $117,300 and $119,995, overall showing a trend of decline followed by a rise. From July 17 to 20, the price gradually fell from $119,289 to a low of $117,300, and then on July 22, there was a significant increase, breaking through $119,000. However, on July 23, the price slightly retreated to $118,754, indicating some selling pressure at the high levels. In the short term, the market may continue to test the resistance level of $120,000.
• ETH Market —— This week ETH surged by 9.48%, outpacing the average gains of altcoins. Over the past 7 days, ETH has shown a steady upward trend, with its price climbing from $3,368 on July 17 to $3,765 on July 22, indicating strong market confidence. Although the price slightly retraced to $3,746 on July 23, the overall trend remains bullish, and trading volume remains active. In the short term, Ethereum may continue to challenge resistance levels above $3,800, with market sentiment staying optimistic.
• Altcoins —— This week, the overall trend of mainstream altcoins has shown an upward movement, with the median price change of the top 100 cryptocurrencies being 3.40%. CFX is the token with the highest increase this week, rising by 75.22% over the past 7 days.
• ETF and Contract Market - In terms of ETF capital, BTC ETF has shown a net outflow in the past 3 days, primarily due to BTC consolidating around $120,000 recently, with a decline in the 7-day yield. Meanwhile, ETH ETF has achieved a continuous net inflow of funds for 12 days, as ETH has led altcoins in the past 7 days, with token prices briefly breaking $3,800. Regarding contracts, in the past 24 hours, BTC and ETH contracts have liquidated $67.14 million and $149 million respectively.
• Macroeconomic data - The preliminary expectation for the one-year inflation rate in the U.S. for July is 4.4%, while the market expectation is 5.0%. This data reflects a moderation in consumer expectations for future inflation pressures, which may provide more flexibility for adjustments in the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
• Stablecoins - The total market value of stablecoins has risen to $269.8 billion, with additional off-market funds flowing in.
• Gas Fee —— This week, the Gas fee on the Ethereum network has significantly decreased compared to last week. As of July 24, the average Gas fee for the day was 0.477 Gwei.

Popular Concepts

This week, the cryptocurrency industry continues to rise, with market sentiment remaining optimistic, and most mainstream altcoin sectors closing higher. According to Coingecko data, the Oracle, RWA Protocol, and Chain Abstraction sectors have all shown an upward trend this week, with increases of 8.9%, 8.2%, and 8.2% respectively over the past 7 days.

Oracle

An oracle is a key interface between the blockchain and the external world, responsible for importing off-chain data into the blockchain, including market prices, weather information, event results, etc., enabling smart contracts to access external information. Given the inherent closed nature of blockchains, oracles play a crucial role in fields such as DeFi, prediction markets, insurance, and gaming. In addition to bridging the limitations of blockchains, they also facilitate the interaction between smart contracts and real-world data, expanding the application scope of blockchain technology. — Over the past 7 days, this sector has increased by 8.9%, with UMA, Chainlink, and April rising by 16.0%, 11.7%, and 10.2%, respectively.

RWA Protocol

The RWA Protocol tokenizes real-world assets (such as real estate, bonds, etc.) through blockchain technology, significantly enhancing asset liquidity and accessibility, bridging traditional finance and the digital economy. Its core value lies in achieving digital management and trading of assets through smart contracts, lowering investment barriers and increasing transparency. — The sector has risen by 8.2% over the past 7 days, with Centrifuge and Ondo increasing by 11.9% and 9.7%, respectively.

Chain Abstraction

Chain Abstraction aims to simplify the user and developer experience by hiding the complexities of on-chain financial interactions. The goal of Chain Abstraction is to enable developers to build chain-agnostic applications quickly and securely, which can run seamlessly across all rollups without worrying about the complexities of underlying execution. Its vision is to allow users to interact with decentralized applications without needing to understand the underlying cryptographic concepts. The aim is to eliminate all technical complexities and provide an intuitive user experience. -- Over the past 7 days, this sector has increased by 8.2%, with Router Protocol and Agoric rising by 55.0% and 54.3%, respectively.

This Week's Focus

Merlin 2.0 upgrade officially released, aiming to create a "yield-bearing, tradable" BTC

The founder of the Bitcoin Layer2 project Merlin Chain, Jeff, stated in an interview that the Merlin 2.0 upgrade plan has been officially released. This version will focus on the "yield capability and cross-chain trading capability of BTC," aiming to upgrade Bitcoin from a single value storage asset to an on-chain currency with yield and liquidity. In the future, Merlin Chain's core goals will revolve around two directions: first, enhancing the practicality of BTC, making it usable for multi-chain interactions, DeFi investments, and asset trading; second, lowering the entry barriers for both retail and institutional investors into the BTC ecosystem, allowing BTC not only to outperform the market but also to participate in new narratives and projects, capturing higher potential returns.

The recent upgrade plan of Merlin Chain represents an important step in the Bitcoin ecosystem's expansion of functions and deepening of application scenarios. Its significance lies in promoting the transformation of Bitcoin from a traditional value storage tool to a multi-functional, cross-chain financial asset, providing users with more flexible investment and trading possibilities. This development not only enhances Bitcoin's competitiveness in the decentralized finance sector but also attracts more retail and institutional investors by lowering the participation threshold, thus broadening market coverage. In the future, as Merlin Chain continues to innovate in cross-chain technology, yield mechanisms, and ecological integration, Bitcoin is expected to play a more central role in the multi-chain ecosystem, stimulate new investment narratives, and drive overall progress in the blockchain industry, injecting more vitality and opportunities into the cryptocurrency market.

The encrypted mining company MARA will issue $850 million in convertible notes to purchase more Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency mining company MARA Holdings has announced the issuance of $850 million in 0% convertible notes to purchase more Bitcoin (as well as to repay $50 million of old notes and for general corporate purposes). This move by MARA Holdings highlights its strong confidence in the long-term value of Bitcoin and its strategic layout to optimize asset allocation through capital operations. This action not only provides the company with funds to increase its Bitcoin holdings, strengthening its investment position in the cryptocurrency market, but also demonstrates a robust financial management strategy by repaying old debts and supporting daily operations.

Goldman Sachs and BNY Mellon jointly launched a currency fund tokenization plan.

Goldman Sachs has partnered with BNY Mellon to launch a blockchain-based tokenization solution for money market funds. BNY clients can now invest in tokenized money funds through the Goldman Sachs platform, with holdings recorded on the blockchain. This project has attracted participation from large asset management institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Federated Hermes, aiming to build a real-time, low-friction digital financial infrastructure.

The blockchain money market fund tokenization scheme launched by Goldman Sachs in collaboration with BNY Mellon marks an important advancement in the integration of traditional finance and blockchain technology. Its significance lies in the substantial enhancement of investment efficiency and transparency through digital holding records and real-time trading mechanisms, providing clients with a more convenient and cost-effective financial service experience. This innovation has attracted participation from several top asset management institutions, reflecting the broad recognition of the potential application of blockchain in the financial sector. In the future, this scheme is expected to accelerate the adoption of blockchain technology by more traditional financial institutions, building an efficient and decentralized digital financial ecosystem, further bridging the gap between traditional markets and emerging technologies, and bringing broader digital transformation opportunities to the global asset management industry.

Highlight Data

The scale of Ethereum lending has surpassed 30 billion dollars, setting a new historical high.

According to Token Terminal data, as of July 2025, the total active loan scale of lending protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem has surpassed $30 billion, a nearly tenfold increase from less than $3 billion at the beginning of 2023. This rapid upward trend not only reflects the recovery of DeFi lending activities but also indicates that on-chain capital utilization rates and leverage preferences are continuing to rise, especially against the backdrop of a warming market risk appetite and a steady increase in ETH prices, where users are more inclined to leverage assets for operations or liquidity cycles.

The increase this time is driven by two factors. On one hand, the liquidity of staked assets has improved due to the narrative brought about by LRT (liquid staking derivatives), with assets like stETH and rsETH widely used in lending protocols, facilitating capital circulation and the popularization of leverage strategies. On the other hand, derivative leverage structures from lending protocols such as Aave, Morpho Blue, and Ethena Labs have continuously enhanced capital efficiency. Moreover, institutional-level funds are intervening through composite strategies like EigenLayer, Instadapp, and Gearbox, making Ethereum the main battlefield for on-chain leverage and interest rate strategies. Overall, this trend signifies that Ethereum is transitioning from an "asset settling platform" to a "center for on-chain leverage and yield strategies."

The annual transaction volume of Bitcoin has surpassed Visa for the first time, moving towards a global value settlement network.

Data from the regulated digital asset bank Sygnum shows that by mid-2025, the Bitcoin network's annual transaction volume will reach $20 trillion, surpassing Visa's settlement scale of $13 trillion for the same period, highlighting its potential as a global value transfer infrastructure. Bitcoin not only approaches traditional financial giants in transaction volume but also completes large cross-border settlements in a trustless manner, with its decentralization, security, and censorship-resistant characteristics increasingly favored by institutions and high-net-worth individuals. This trend also reflects that, despite price volatility, Bitcoin is shifting from a speculative asset to an efficient value exchange tool.

At the same time, the liquidity supply of Bitcoin on exchanges has fallen to a nearly seven-year low, indicating that holders generally prefer to hold long-term (HODL), and assets are flowing into cold wallets, custodians, or on-chain smart contracts. In addition, benefiting from the approval of ETFs and the continuous entry of institutions, the total holdings of global Bitcoin ETFs have surpassed $150 billion, with U.S. spot ETFs accounting for the vast majority of the share; publicly traded companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla combined hold over 900,000 Bitcoins, estimated to exceed $1 trillion in market value. Overall, Bitcoin is accelerating its transformation from a "high-volatility asset" to "digital gold" and "system-level settlement asset," with on-chain data, capital flows, and product forms synchronously moving towards a more mature stage of asset evolution.

Solana staking ETF surpasses 100 million, on-chain yields are entering the traditional asset allocation system.

Asset management company REX Shares launched the REX-Osprey SOL Staking ETF (ticker: OSOL) on July 2, which has surpassed $100 million in assets under management, becoming the first ETF in the U.S. market to combine spot Solana exposure with on-chain staking rewards. This product gains native yield through on-chain staking, allowing investors to benefit not only from the potential price appreciation of SOL but also to capture the current approximately 6% annualized native staking yield from the Solana mainnet (data from Staking Rewards). The actual returns will depend on the ETF's structure and execution efficiency.

This product quickly attracted capital attention, reflecting the market's medium to long-term confidence in high-performance public chain assets. The collaboration between REX and Osprey also signals that traditional asset management institutions are gradually embracing the trend of allocating "on-chain yield-generating assets." With the success of OSOL, it is expected to drive more mainstream Layer 1 project staking yield products into the ETF framework, further promoting staking yield's integration into the traditional financial system.

Gate Launchpool

The Launchpool project to watch this week is: ZKWASM

Delphinus Lab is the core development team of ZKWASM, which is the world's first open-source virtual machine that supports generating zero-knowledge proofs for WebAssembly (WASM). This technology enables verifiable off-chain computation and builds a modular rollup architecture. Its ecosystem includes a Launchpad that natively supports zero-knowledge proofs, which can be used to deploy verifiable dApps, as well as verifiable mini-games aimed at real-world application scenarios.

Preliminary preparation

• Gate account: Register and complete user verification;
• Deposit Assets: Ensure that there is sufficient USDT and ZKWASM in the account, this Launchpool supports staking of both currencies;

Participate in staking

• Time window: Until July 29, 2025, 20:00 (UTC+8)
• Steps to operate: First, log in to Gate and go to the 【Launchpool】 page; second, select the ZKWASM project and click 【Participate Now】; finally, enter the staking amount and confirm to participate.
• Total mining rewards: 500,000 ZKWASM
• Annualized Yield: 397.76%

Financing Weekly Report

According to RootData, from July 17 to July 23, 2025, a total of 21 cryptocurrency projects announced the completion of financing or mergers and acquisitions, covering multiple sectors such as infrastructure, Web3 gaming, AI computing, and cloud mining, demonstrating the market's continued focus on underlying capability building and user application expansion. Below is a brief introduction to the top three projects ranked by financing scale this week:

Polymarket

Announced on July 22 that it will acquire the derivatives exchange QCEX for $112 million, officially launching a compliant layout to return to the US market.

Distinct Possibility Studios was founded by John Smedley, co-founder of EverQuest, and is dedicated to creating an open-world shooting game that combines elements of MMORPG and FPS. Its first AAA title, Reaper Actual, is expected to launch on Steam and the Epic Games Store, with funds being used for game development and release, exploring new directions in Web3 gaming.

MEI Pharma

Announced on July 22 that it has completed a $100 million targeted private placement financing, with the funds to be used for launching a Litecoin reserve strategy.

MEI Pharma is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company based in the United States. This move marks it as the first public company listed on a national exchange to hold Litecoin as a strategic asset. The company plans to include Litecoin on its balance sheet as a long-term financial and anti-inflation tool, demonstrating its forward-looking approach to blockchain assets.

GameSquare

Announced on July 17 that it has completed a public fundraising of $70 million, which will be used to significantly increase its Ethereum holdings.

GameSquare is a U.S. gaming and entertainment technology company listed on NASDAQ, focusing on esports, media, and creator economy. The company stated that this round of financing is a key step in driving its strategic transformation, aiming to build one of the most ambitious Ethereum reserve strategies in the public market. The CEO emphasized that Ethereum will become an important component of the company's balance sheet, supporting its long-term growth vision.

Focus Next Week

Token Unlock

According to data from Tokenomist, the market will see significant token unlocks in the next 7 days (2025.7.25 - 2025.7.30). The top 3 unlock situations are as follows:

• JUP will unlock approximately $31.18 million worth of tokens in the next 7 days, accounting for 1.78% of the circulating supply.
• KMNO will unlock approximately $13.81 million in value over the next 7 days, accounting for 9.62% of the circulating supply.
• SIGN will unlock tokens worth approximately $12.4 million in the next 7 days, accounting for 12.50% of the circulating supply.
  Reference Source

• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/BTC_USDT
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/trade/ETH_USDT
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/
• Farside Investors, https://farside.co.uk/btc/
• Coinglass, https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData
• jin10, https://flash.jin10.com/detail/20250708230038826800
• Coinmarketcap, https://coinmarketcap.com/view/stablecoin/
• etherscan, https://etherscan.io/gastracker
• Coingecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
• Odaily, https://www.odaily.news/post/5205194
• X, https://x.com/btcNLNico/status/1947978046579106158
• CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/23/goldman-sachs-bny-money-market-fund-digital-tokens.html
• X, https://x.com/REXShares/status/1947636614215225479
• Staking Rewards, https://www.stakingrewards.com/
• X, https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1948155625021551099
• Sygnum, https://www.sygnum.com/news/sygnums-new-bitcoin-investor-handbook-as-bitcoin-reaches-new-ath-it-tops-visa-in-transaction-volumes-driven-by-etf-demand/
• BitcoinTreasuries, https://bitcointreasuries.net/
• Gate, https://www.gate.com/launchpool/MAT?pid=320
• Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
• Tokenomist, https://tokenomist.ai/

Disclaimer Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risks, and users are advised to conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products being purchased before making any investment decisions. Gate does not bear any responsibility for any losses or damages caused by such investment decisions.