Another week, another batch of news in crypto. The past seven days proved yet again that crypto is anything but boring. Here’s everything you need to know before the weekend.
Top Gainers and Losers of the Week
Top Gainers
Mantle (MNT) led the charge this week, soaring 40.51% to reach $1.04.
Pendle (PENDLE) followed with a solid 31.85% climb, bringing its price to $5.18.
Pump.fun (PUMP), the Solana-based meme and launchpad token, jumped 27.94% to $0.003314.
Top Losers
Monero (XMR) took the hardest hit, sliding 16.10% and landing at $258.00.
Pi (PI) extended its downtrend, dropping 9.58% to $0.367.
KuCoin Token (KCS) stumbled, falling 8.40% to $10.31.
Meme of the Week
Satoshi Statue Takes a Swim by Force
Lugano’s beloved Satoshi Nakamoto statue was ripped from its lakeside perch, smashed to bits, and unceremoniously dumped into Lake Lugano. Municipal workers fished out the pieces on Monday, after the weekend vandalism left Bitcoin fans fuming.
Italian artist Valentina Picozzi created the stainless-steel masterpiece, which was unveiled during the 2024 Plan B Forum. The optical illusion sculpture, which blends into “digital code,” is a monument to Bitcoin’s mystery and decentralization.
Picozzi and her crew aren’t taking this lying down. Artist collective Satoshigallery immediately announced the award of 0.1 BTC (over $11,000) on any info leading to recovery and promised to install Satoshi statues worldwide.
There are rumors that the culprits might have been overly enthusiastic Swiss National Day revelers. Meanwhile, a Change.org petition is gaining traction to restore the monument, costs fully covered by supporters.
As Budapest, Tokyo, Slovenia, and even New York’s statues still stand proudly, Lugano’s Satoshi will be back, we count on it.
AI Trading Bots Surge in Popularity, But Can They Be Trusted?
AI-powered trading bots are making a splash. The buzz intensified when 17-year-old Nathan Smith used a ChatGPT-based bot to pick micro-cap stocks, posting a 23.8% return in four weeks, outperforming the Russell 2000.
While retail traders are experimenting openly, the real action is happening behind the scenes in institutional finance. JPMorgan’s “LLM Suite” is now assisting 60,000 employees with market analysis, and Goldman Sachs’ proprietary GS AI Assistant runs on 10,000 desktops, improving productivity in research and model building. Hedge fund giant Bridgewater is using Anthropic’s Claude to crunch market data in minutes, a process that once took junior analysts days.
Despite this momentum, experts urge caution. Generative AI excels at processing language and conducting fundamental analysis, but still struggles with price predictions and nuanced judgment. Models can hallucinate, misread macroeconomic signals, or propose implausible scenarios that become harder to detect as the AI’s fluency improves. That’s why most firms keep human supervision in place.
As Balyasny partner Gappy Paleologo put it, AI makes a great research assistant, but not yet a portfolio manager. Turning someone into a millionaire depends more on disciplined strategy and risk management than AI.
UK Firm Raises $21M via Bitcoin Bonds
The Smarter Web Company pulled off a brave financial act in the UK capital markets, raising $21 million using Bitcoin-denominated convertible bonds, backed by French asset management firm Tobam.
The 12-month “Smarter Convert” bonds are priced in BTC and can be converted into company shares at a 5% premium over the current stock price. The company can force a conversion if the share price surges 50% above the conversion price for 10 straight trading days.
If holders refuse, they’ll get 98% of their principal back in Bitcoin at maturity. That means the repayment could swing wildly based on BTC’s price at the time.
For Smarter Web, this is a win-win.
They raise capital without dumping a ton of new shares on the market, and increase their Bitcoin treasury, which already sits at 2,050 BTC, worth about $234 million.
Coinbase Launching App With Embedded Wallets
Coinbase is leaning hard into self-custody, dropping a new “Embedded Wallets” tool for developers via the Coinbase Developer Platform.
Hello from @baseapp
— Base app (@baseapp) July 16, 2025
Coinbase Wallet is now much more than a wallet. Your new home to create, earn, trade, discover apps, and chat with friends all in one place. pic.twitter.com/LICIDJwvEE
The tool integrates directly into DeFi apps, gaming, payments, and Web3 social, offering seamless integration with Coinbase’s freshly rebranded Base app. Wallets come with USDC balances earning 4.1% APY with no staking required. Developers can keep the yield or pass it on to their users.
The timing isn’t random. The U.S. just passed two major pro-crypto bills: the CLARITY Act, which guarantees self-custody rights and lays out a regulatory framework for digital assets, and the GENIUS Act, which sets rules for dollar-backed stablecoins. Together, they could supercharge DeFi adoption and give real-world asset tokenization a massive tailwind.
That's all from our side today, dear hodlers. Stay tuned, stay curious, and let’s see what kind of innovation the next week brings.
Tanya Petrusenko
Disclaimer: All materials on this site are for informational purposes only. None of the material should be interpreted as investment advice. Please note that despite the nature of much of the material created and hosted on this website, HODL FM is not a financial reference resource, and the opinions of authors and other contributors are their own and should not be taken as financial advice. If you require advice. HODL FM strongly recommends contacting a qualified industry professional.
