TL;DR

• JAM upgrade aims to eliminate gas fees and support modular blockchains, boosting Polkadot’s scalability.
• Over $300M locked in Polkadot’s DeFi as vDOT/ETH pool and stablecoin usage expand.
• DOT long/short ratio at 1.06 shows cautious bullish sentiment as analysts target $11.60 breakout.

Polkadot Regains Critical Level

Polkadot (DOT) recently moved back above a key support zone that was lost during the tariff dispute. At the time of writing, DOT trades at $4.45, up 3% in the past 24 hours and 8% over the past week.

Analyst Friedrich cited revived price strength as a possibility of a broader rally. They mentioned that DOT could follow a path similar to past cycles, possibly targeting a tenfold increase. This sentiment shift is accompanied by the increasing adoption and institutional participation.

$DOT history is about to repeat.

10X rally has just started. Don’t fade @Polkadot! ✍️

Massive adoption, institutions interest and growth.

Here’s why I’m bullish on $DOT:

JAM Upgrade • A Scalability Revolution:
As of July 23, 2025, the JAM (Join-Accumulate Machine) upgrade,… pic.twitter.com/9kG9xETcqG

— Friedrich (@FriedrichBtc) July 23, 2025

Interestingly, the upcoming Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) upgrade is viewed as a key driver behind DOT’s renewed momentum. The JAM protocol replaces the existing Relay Chain with a scalable system that has multiple mini-blockchains running in parallel, with gas fees removed.

With 38 development teams involved and millions allocated in incentives, the JAM rollout is expected to strengthen Polkadot’s role in Web3 development. The upgrade is scheduled to start by the end of 2025.

Growth in DeFi and Stablecoin Use

Polkadot’s DeFi activity continues to expand, with more than $300 million now locked in its ecosystem. Annual percentage returns on top crypto assets remain strong, offering nearly 19% on both ETH and BTC. The vDOT/ETH pool, launching July 24, is expected to boost liquidity and usage of DOT further.

Meanwhile, a newly signed U.S. stablecoin law has favored Polkadot’s interoperable network. Companies like Bastion and Ripio are now building on the platform, and Tether (USDT) is already live.

Institutional Signals and Market Positioning

DOT’s multichain reach has grown through integration with Uniswap V4 and Arbitrum. A 10-coin ETF proposal remains on hold, but interest from large investors continues. Roman, another analyst, sees DOT completing a Wyckoff spring phase, projecting the next move toward $11.60, with possible future zones at $23.80, $32.90, and $55.00.

Current futures market data shows a long/short ratio of 1.06, with 51.24% of traders on the long side. The balance indicates a cautious but slightly bullish mood in the market.

During the recent 2025 Web3 Summit in Berlin, Polkadot founder Gavin Wood introduced a new Proof-of-Personhood (PoP) concept. This on-chain system will facilitate human identity verification without using any centralized authority, which introduces a new pathway into network participation and trust.

XRP charted a new all-time high last week but retraced in the following days. It tried to move above $3.6 again, but sellers returned.

Key Support levels: $3, $3.4

Key Resistance levels: $3.6, $4

1. Sellers Defend the Key Resistance

XRP had a fantastic rally in July after moving from $2 to $3.6 within two weeks. However, the resistance at $3.6 has put a stop to the rally as sellers returned here. This has pushed the price into a pullback, which could find support at $3.4 or $3 if selling becomes more aggressive.

2. Momentum Remains Bullish

Despite the current pullback, the overall momentum on higher timeframes remains bullish. This is best illustrated by the weekly MACD, which completed a bullish cross two weeks ago. Since then, the momentum has intensified as shown on the MACD histogram, which is making higher highs.

3. RSI Is Overbought

Another reason why XRP failed to break above $3.6 is that buyers became exhausted, and this weakness was visible on the daily RSI. At the time of this post, the RSI is in the overbought zone and is falling. The price may continue to fall until it finds support, with the best candidate for that at around $3.

Binance’s unrealized profit on its Bitcoin reserves has reached an all-time high of around 60,000 BTC.

The latest data revealed that Binance’s BTC reserves have been on a steady decline since September 2024, from approximately 631,000 BTC to 574,000 BTC, even as the crypto exchange’s unrealized gains on these holdings continue to climb.

Bitcoin Reserves Down, Profits Up

The reserves, which are primarily used to support Binance’s operational liquidity and BNB Chain operations, have benefited from Bitcoin’s latest price rally. It has pushed up the value of its remaining holdings despite the overall decline in reserve volume.

Binance also holds about 16,000 BTC in custodial wallets to back its BTCB token, which ensures sufficient liquidity for tokenized Bitcoin on the BNB Chain.

Tracking Binance’s BTC reserves provides insight into long-term market sentiment, as declining reserves often indicate that investors are withdrawing Bitcoin from exchanges. CryptoQuant explained that this suggests stronger conviction among holders.

The simultaneous decrease in reserves and increase in unrealized profits highlights the impact of Bitcoin’s price appreciation on Binance’s balance sheet.

Crypto Exchanges See Volume Spike

Exchange activity across the market accelerated sharply as BTC surged to a new all-time high last week. CryptoQuant noted that the spot trading volumes on centralized platforms rebounded, while futures turnover and aggregate open interest climbed. This was indicative of an influx of fresh capital into derivatives markets amid the rally.

Binance, for one, recorded the largest single-day increase in spot trading volume both on the day before and the day after Bitcoin hit its new high. The exchange captured a 52% market share on July 18. Other platforms, including Crypto.com, Coinbase, Bybit, and OKX, also registered high spot trading activity during the period.

At the same time, Binance saw the highest growth in futures open interest as traders and investors opened long positions anticipating further gains. Bybit and Gate.io similarly recorded significant increases in their open interest.

Going forward, experts believe that Bitcoin is entering a delicate phase as long-term holders begin selling for the first time since early 2024. This profit-taking increases the likelihood of near-term volatility. ETFs and institutional buyers are absorbing the distributed supply, but the sustainability of this demand will determine Bitcoin’s next move.

If buyer momentum fades, sharp price drops could trigger broader declines, which could make the market structure vulnerable despite the ongoing bull cycle.