July Wrap-Up: Bitcoin and Ethereum Outran Every Major Asset Class — With Fear at 28

July 2026 turned out to be one of the strongest months for major cryptocurrencies in recent memory: Bitcoin started the month near $60,000 and closed around $64,200, up roughly 9%. Ethereum did even better, opening near $1,600 and finishing near $1,920 — about a 20% gain, more than double Bitcoin's pace.

• The Nasdaq 100 lost about 9% over the same period
• The Russell 2000 slipped roughly 3%
• Semiconductor stocks plunged 22%
• The Crypto Fear and Greed Index stayed at 28 — firmly in "Fear" territory — for most of the month despite the price gains

“Ethereum is the cleaner expression of a crypto recovery.”

— Sean Farrell, Fundstrat

Analysts tie Ethereum's outperformance partly to institutional demand: treasury firm Bitmine added another $74 million in ETH in July as part of a strategy to reach 5% of the coin's total supply. A similar pattern played out in 2022, when Ethereum started outperforming Bitcoin several months before Bitcoin actually bottomed — traders appear to be betting on a repeat. In effect, July's rally reads less like a flight into risk and more like a rotation: capital moved out of overheated tech stocks (up 97% year-to-date) amid concerns about concentrated positioning and the sustainability of AI spending, and partly into crypto. A similar dynamic showed up again just days later: Ken Griffin's deal to rescue AI stocks from a rout underlined just how tightly crypto and AI/chip-linked equities are now connected. A detailed monthly breakdown is also available via CryptoTicker.

This piece is informational, not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset.