Bitcoin Surges on Jobs Miss as US Crypto Bill and Lean Ethereum Advance

Bitcoin touched a two-week high of $63,900 early Monday before retreating to roughly $62,600, capping a sharp weekend rally fueled by a badly missed U.S. jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added just 57,000 jobs in June, nearly half the 113,000 forecast, sending Treasury yields lower and weakening the dollar. Investors read the softer data as a signal for potential monetary easing, and roughly $450M in short liquidations over 24 hours amplified the move as forced covering pushed prices higher. The total crypto market cap edged up to $2.23T on the day.

On the regulatory front, momentum is building in Washington for a comprehensive U.S. crypto framework. President Trump publicly stated that Bitcoin should not be subject to capital gains tax when used as a payment method, while the SEC signaled a new neutral approach to crypto ETFs, acknowledging past missteps and preparing a single framework to cover all complex products, from leveraged funds to prediction-market instruments. The agency noted the ETF market has seen roughly 1,800 filings this year, about 50% more than last year, reflecting surging issuer interest. Analysts say Trump's stance, if codified, could significantly boost BTC's appeal as an everyday payment rail and accelerate the path for new investment products.

Ethereum Unveils Sweeping Lean Rebuild Through 2029

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published the Lean Ethereum roadmap on July 4, describing the multi-year overhaul as the network's biggest redesign since the 2022 Merge. The plan, developed following researcher meetings in Berlin, targets quantum resistance, native privacy, and scalability across roughly three to four years and seven anticipated hard forks through 2030. Buterin said quantum safety has become an urgent priority, with work on quantum-safe blob designs already underway and slated for full post-quantum cryptographic signatures by 2029.

The Hegota hard fork, expected in late 2026, will likely be Ethereum's last pre-Lean upgrade before the rebuild era fully begins. Buterin called the planned redesign of data storage the most disruptive element, estimating it could cut fees for some token operations more than tenfold while preserving backward compatibility for existing apps. The announcement arrives as the Ethereum Foundation completes a restructuring that cut roughly 20% of its staff and reduced its budget by 40%. ETH rose more than 12% over the past seven days to around $1,760, among the strongest performers of the major digital assets this week.