Announcements Gate Research: Bitcoins Annual Transaction Volume Surpasses Visa | Merlin 2.0 Builds "Interest-Bearing and Tradable" BTC

Gate Research: Bitcoins Annual Transaction Volume Surpasses Visa | Merlin 2.0 Builds "Interest-Bearing and Tradable" BTC

2025-07-24 07:08:16 UTC 75773 Read

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- Market Overview: This week, BTC rose by 0.72%, underperforming altcoins. Its price fluctuated between $117,300 and $119,995, showing an overall pattern of an initial decline followed by a rebound. From July 17 to 20, the price gradually dropped from $119,289 to a low of $117,300, then saw a notable rebound on July 22, breaking above the $119,000 mark. ETH surged by 9.48%, outperforming the average increase of altcoins this week. Over the past 7 days, ETH showed a steady upward trend, rising from $3,368 on July 17 to $3,765 on July 22, reflecting strong market confidence. Mainstream altcoins generally showed an upward trend, and the median 7-day price change among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap was 3.40%. CFX was the best-performing token this week, with a 7-day price increase of 75.22%.
- This Week's Highlights: Jeff, the founder of the Bitcoin Layer 2 project Merlin Chain, announced in an interview that the Merlin 2.0 upgrade plan has been officially released. Crypto mining firm MARA Holdings announced the issuance of $850 million in 0% convertible notes to purchase more Bitcoin. Goldman Sachs partnered with Bank of New York Mellon to launch a blockchain-based tokenization solution for money market funds.
- Key Data Points: According to Token Terminal, as of July 2025, the total active loan volume across lending protocols in the Ethereum ecosystem has surpassed $30 billion, representing a nearly tenfold increase from under $3 billion at the beginning of 2023. Data from regulated digital asset bank Sygnum shows that by mid-2025, the annual transaction volume processed by the Bitcoin network has reached $20 trillion, surpassing Visa's settlement volume of $13 trillion for the same period — a first in history. On July 2, asset management firm REX Shares launched the REX-Osprey SOL Staking ETF, which has since exceeded $100 million in assets under management, becoming the first U.S. ETF to combine spot Solana exposure with on-chain staking rewards.
- Market Opportunity: This week, the Gate Launchpool project ZKWASM is worth watching. The subscription deadline is July 29 at 12:00 UTC. This round supports staking of both USDT and ZKWASM tokens, with a total mining reward of 500,000 ZKWASM.
- Next Week's Watchlist: Several token unlock events are scheduled in the next 7 days. JUP will unlock approximately $31.18 million worth of tokens, accounting for 1.78% of its circulating supply. KMNO will unlock $12.4 million, representing 12.50% of its total supply.

Discover more details today → <a href="https://www.gate.com/learn/articles/gate-research-institute-bitcoin-s-annual-transaction-volume-surpasses-visa-merlin-2-0-builds-interest-bearing-and-tradable-btc-summary/10582" target="_blank">Gate Research: Bitcoin's Annual Transaction Volume Surpasses Visa | Merlin 2.0 Builds "Interest-Bearing and Tradable" BTC </a>

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July 24, 2025
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Gate Research: Bitcoins Annual Transaction Volume Surpasses Visa | Merlin 2.0 Builds "Interest-Bearing and Tradable" BTC

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