Today in crypto, a $9.6 billion Bitcoin transfer from a Satoshi-era whale has sparked concerns about an incoming price correction driven by the GENIUS Act. The total crypto market cap is nearing $4 trillion. Meanwhile, US lawmakers advanced three major crypto bills.
Bitcoin whale’s $9.6B transfer, GENIUS Act spark correction concerns
A Satoshi-era whale awakened after 14 years of dormancy and moved $9.6 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC), which he received in April and May of 2011. The massive transfer and the stablecoin audit requirements imposed by the GENIUS Act are sparking correction concerns among some industry watchers.
The whale may have opted to sell due to concerns related to the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, as the “US government moves to enforce audit requirements on stablecoins,” according to Jacob King, financial analyst and the CEO of WhaleWire.
“That alone will burst the biggest bubble and fraud in financial history: Bitcoin. It’s entirely propped up by fake money printed out of thin air,” he wrote in a Friday X post.
Crypto market cap closes in on $4 trillion
The total value of the crypto market hit an all-time high on Thursday, as a price surge from major cryptocurrencies drove the market’s total worth near $4 trillion.
The exact figure is hard to pin down due to differences in how platforms track the crypto market, but crypto data providers CoinMarketCap and TradingView show the crypto market peaking between $3.8 trillion and $3.9 trillion, respectively, while CoinGecko reported that the market crossed the $4 trillion milestone.
JUST IN: The total crypto market cap has hit a new ATH of $4T. pic.twitter.com/gE8hRFegwz
— CoinGecko (@coingecko) July 18, 2025
Regardless of the exact figure, the crypto market’s value is now just behind computer chip maker Nvidia, the most valuable publicly-listed company in the world which was the first-ever to hit a market cap of $4 trillion on July 9, which has since grown to $4.2 trillion.
Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and XRP (XRP) — currently the top three cryptocurrencies by market cap — drove the market value surge. Bitcoin is again above $120,000 while ETH rose 8% to around $3,600 for the first time since early January.
XRP, meanwhile, jumped almost 20% to a 2025 high of $3.64 in early trading on Friday. XRP has close ties to Ripple Labs, which traders think could benefit from a sweeping stablecoin bill the US House passed on Thursday.
US House passes three key crypto bills ahead of August recess
After delays in Congress over Republican concerns with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the US House of Representatives has passed three pieces of crypto legislation.
In a Thursday House session, lawmakers voted 294-134 to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill aimed at establishing a market structure for cryptocurrencies, 308-122 in favor of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, and 219-210 for the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act.
Almost 80 Democrats voted yes for the CLARITY Act and more than 100 for the GENIUS Act, with the bills having been expected to move through the chamber before Congress breaks for its August recess.
Republicans had been calling for everyone in their party to support the bills as part of their “crypto week” plans — a nod to US President Donald Trump’s stated intention to enact his crypto agenda quickly.
However, on Wednesday, voting on consideration of a package, including the three bills, stalled for hours after some Republicans held out for a carve-out to ban the development of a CBDC in the US.
