Beneath the price action, stablecoin liquidity metrics painted a cautious picture. ERC-20 stablecoin reserves on exchanges have fallen to approximately $61.8 billion, well below the late-2025 peak above $75 billion and beneath the declining 100-day moving average. Net flows turned slightly positive near $62.8 million, but that figure remains tiny compared to earlier multibillion-dollar waves. Minting and redemption activity both hover near $1.5 billion, offering little evidence of expanding supply. Over the past 30 days, Binance and Bybit alone lost more than $2.3 billion in combined stablecoin reserves, while USDC redemptions outpaced issuance by $1.6 billion.
The derivatives market reflected the strain. On July 24, $87 million in Bitcoin long positions were liquidated, contributing to a total of $312 million in crypto leveraged position liquidations. Earlier in the week, a broader sell-off triggered $660 million in liquidations over a 24-hour period as Bitcoin briefly dipped below $77,000 on escalation fears.
Despite the ETF outflow, the prior seven-day streak marked the first such run in nine months, with cumulative inflows of roughly $981 million. That institutional appetite had helped Bitcoin recover from a June low near $58,000 and reclaim the $66,000 level. The abrupt reversal now raises questions about whether the inflow cycle was a durable shift or a short-lived relief rally.