Bitcoin closes July above 65,000 dollars while the fear index stays stuck at 25

July closes in the green. On the final trading day of the month bitcoin sits at 65,023.82 dollars (roughly €56,896), a little over two per cent higher on the day and 7.76 per cent above the 59,844.67 dollars (roughly €52,364) at which the month opened. At the same time the Fear and Greed Index reads 25. A rising market in which nobody dares to buy is an unusual combination, and for that reason it is the most interesting figure of the day.

July ends in profit, but without conviction

The total crypto market is worth 2.3 trillion dollars (roughly €2.0 trillion), 1.4 per cent more than yesterday. Bitcoin accounts for 1.3 trillion dollars (roughly €1.14 trillion) of that, giving it a dominance of 56.3 per cent. Daily volume in bitcoin came to 26.6 billion dollars (roughly €23.3 billion), out of a total market volume of 57.99 billion dollars (roughly €50.7 billion).

Ethereum finished at 1,927.90 dollars (roughly €1,687), up 1.23 per cent, with a market capitalisation of 232.7 billion dollars (roughly €203.6 billion) and daily volume of 8.24 billion dollars (roughly €7.2 billion). A monthly gain of nearly eight per cent sounds handsome, but year on year bitcoin is still 45.25 per cent lower, and the price sits almost half below the record of 126,198.07 dollars (roughly €110,423) set on 6 October 2025.

Extreme fear alongside a rising price

The Fear and Greed Index stands at 25. Anything below 25 counts as extreme fear; from there up to 45 is plain fear. The index has been there for almost a fortnight, including on days when the price rose. That is the pattern defining this month: price up, sentiment flat.

Historically that is not a bad sign, but neither is it a buy signal. What it mostly means is that little new money is arriving and that moves therefore land harder than the volume warrants. In a market like this, thin order books are the rule rather than the exception, and that goes double for smaller altcoins.

ETF flows turn, but only at BlackRock

The American bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of 32.1 million dollars (roughly €28.1 million) on 29 July, ending four consecutive days of outflows, including 49.75 million dollars (roughly €43.5 million) on 28 July.

The composition of that inflow matters more than the amount. BlackRock's IBIT took in 89.8 million dollars (roughly €78.6 million), while Fidelity's FBTC lost 43.08 million dollars (roughly €37.7 million) and ARKB 14.62 million dollars (roughly €12.8 million). Money is not entering the category, then; it is shifting within it. Across 2026 the running total stands at roughly 4.8 billion dollars (roughly €4.2 billion) of outflows, while since launch in January 2024 the cumulative figure is still 51.36 billion dollars (roughly €44.9 billion) of inflows, of which more than 60.35 billion dollars (roughly €52.8 billion) at IBIT alone. The ethereum ETFs saw 18.65 million dollars (roughly €16.3 million) leave.

Where the money went inside the market

Among the larger names the spread was wide. GRVT rose 62.44 per cent, UNI gained 12.14 per cent to 4.45 dollars (roughly €3.89), INJ came in 10.13 per cent higher at 5.05 dollars (roughly €4.42) and CAKE posted a 6.21 per cent gain at 1.46 dollars (roughly €1.28).

At the other end, BANK lost 57.82 per cent in a single day, MemeCore fell 13.24 per cent and XDC and ARB gave up 2.74 and 1.57 per cent respectively. That DeFi names such as UNI, INJ and CAKE lead the list while memecoins slide fits a market growing more selective. There is not less trading; there is different trading.

Stablecoins and DeFi as a second thermometer

The DeFi sector is worth 62.74 billion dollars (roughly €54.9 billion), 2.6 per cent more than yesterday, on daily volume of 32 billion dollars (roughly €28 billion). That is 4.1 per cent of total market volume, a share that has been stable for weeks.

Stablecoins represent 301 billion dollars (roughly €263 billion) and handled 52.7 billion dollars (roughly €46.1 billion) in volume. Which means the overwhelming majority of all trading still runs through stablecoins. Anyone wanting to know whether capital is waiting on the sidelines looks at that figure, and for now it points to parking rather than leaving.

What this means for you

The Federal Reserve left rates unchanged this week at 3.50 to 3.75 per cent. That removed the last immediate trigger for a large move, and partly explains why the market is seeing out the month quietly. The next real catalyst lies in September.

For anyone in Europe buying on a regular schedule, little changes. Extreme fear alongside a rising price mostly means the market is thin, and thin markets punish impatience: use limit orders rather than market orders, certainly for altcoins outside the top twenty. And as always: this is not investment advice, and an eight per cent monthly gain says nothing about next month.

Sources: CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, Alternative.me Fear and Greed Index, Farside Investors, SoSoValue, Federal Reserve. Last checked: 31 July 2026.