Asia Morning Briefing: Bitcoin Stalls Near $109K as Market Waits for a Catalyst

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:

Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.

As Asia begins its Wednesday trading day, bitcoin

continues to trade rangebound without any dominant market-moving headlines.

The world's largest digital asset is trading above $108,900, according to CoinDesk market data, and the CoinDesk 20 index, a measure of the performance of the largest digital assets, is above 3,100, up 1.7%.

Right now, what separates bitcoin's drift to $110K from a rally is market conviction, say observers.

In a recent report, Glassnode highlighted that spot volumes for BTC continue to linger below their usual statistical bands, ETF flows contracted sharply from recent highs, and institutional investors appear hesitant despite the climbing unrealized gains shown in elevated ETF Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) ratios.

In a market update from earlier this week, Wintermute describes this cautious environment as a "barbell market," pointing out a stark divide between renewed enthusiasm in high-beta assets, like memecoins, and the stability of established large-cap tokens.

Last year's narrative darlings, notably AI and DePIN tokens, have lost investor attention, indicating that traders are rotating into memecoins, many of the majors like DOGE, SHIB, and PEPE are up over 8% in the last week, or staying in BTC and ETH, which are seen as battle-tested and secure.

With global equities largely shrugging off geopolitical uncertainties, BTC's hesitancy underscores lingering caution among traders, suggesting the market awaits clearer signals before breaking decisively higher. Things are likely to remain rangebound until that changes.

News Recap: $100M Fund Backs Builders, Not Bettors, on Bitcoin

Bitcoin-only VC firm Ego Death Capital has closed a $100 million second fund aimed at backing projects that treat Bitcoin as infrastructure, not a speculative trade, CoinDesk previously reported.

The fund will target Series A rounds between $3 million and $8 million for startups solving real-world problems using Bitcoin’s base layer or its scaling solutions.

“We’re investing in businesses that treat Bitcoin not as a trade, but as infrastructure—something to build on, not bet on,” said general partner Lyn Alden. Ego’s existing portfolio includes Relai, a self-custody app, and Roxom, a securities exchange built directly on Bitcoin rails.

At a time when multichain VCs are chasing yield on every new L2 and L3, Ego’s thesis is a bet on simplicity and durability: Bitcoin’s dominance remains above 60%, and the fund aims to capitalize on its staying power. The message to allocators: ignore the hype, back the rails that last.

News Recap: Judge Bars Sanctions Talk in Tornado Cash Trial, Limits Free Speech Defense

A federal judge has ruled that the U.S. government's sanctions against Tornado Cash, which were imposed in 2022 and later overturned, cannot be discussed in the upcoming criminal trial of developer Roman Storm, CoinDesk previously reported.

Judge Katherine Polk Failla said allowing the jury to hear about the now-invalid sanctions would require "mental gymnastics" and risk confusing the core legal issues at trial. The sanctions were originally imposed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) over alleged use of the mixer by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, but were struck down earlier this year in a separate case, Van Loon v. Treasury.

Storm faces multiple criminal charges related to his role in building Tornado Cash, a privacy tool that allows users to obscure the origin of crypto transactions. Prosecutors allege that he profited substantially from the project, citing evidence of multi-million-dollar TORN token sales and real estate purchases.

Judge Failla also ruled that evidence obtained from fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev’s phone can be admitted at trial, despite objections from Storm’s legal team who argued the material was cherry-picked and not independently verifiable.

Although Storm is free to speak about his belief in privacy and civil liberties, the judge said he will not be allowed to frame his actions as protected under the First Amendment.

The court drew a distinction between personal beliefs and legal defenses. A final pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Friday, with the trial slated to begin on June 14 and expected to last four weeks. The outcome of the case is likely to set an important precedent for how U.S. courts treat developers of open-source privacy tools.

Market Movements:

BTC: Bitcoin maintained institutional-grade resilience during the July 7–8 trading cycle, holding above the key $108,000 level while navigating heavy resistance at $109,200 and finding strategic support near $107,470, signaling continued confidence from corporate treasuries despite late-session profit-taking, according to CoinDesk's market insights bot.

ETH: Ethereum rose 3% to $2,610 during the July 7–8 session as institutional investors deployed $515 million in coordinated weekend buying, driving volumes to nearly triple the average and pushing the asset through key resistance levels

Gold: Gold fell 1.2% to below $3,300 on Tuesday as optimism over delayed reciprocal tariffs and hopes for new trade deals weakened safe-haven demand, while markets awaited FOMC minutes for further rate guidance.

Nikkei 225: Asian markets traded mixed Wednesday as Japan’s Nikkei 225 edged down 8.39 points (0.021%) after U.S. President Trump ruled out delaying August 1 tariffs, imposed a 50% duty on copper imports, and warned of potential 200% pharmaceutical tariffs with an 18-month grace period.

S&P 500: The S&P 500 closed nearly unchanged on Tuesday after President Donald Trump confirmed there would be no exemptions to the August 1 tariff rollout.

Elsewhere in Crypto

• Eigen Labs lays off 25% of employees, turns focus to EigenCloud (Blockworks)
• SharpLink Gaming Jumps 26% as Ether Treasury Tops 200K ETH (CoinDesk)
• Japan's Surging 30-Year Yield Is Flashing Warning Sign for Risk Assets: Macro Markets (CoinDesk)