“In With the New!”

Hi There! It just sunk in. I am the mama of a soon-to-be 22 year old. A whole young adult. Where did the time go? I can still picture myself glancing back through the rearview mirror, watching her in her pumpkin seat, giggling and grabbing her toys with those tiny toes, giving off the sweetest little cheers every time she figured something out.

Now here we are. Twenty two. My baby girl, no longer a baby, is out in the world, serving in the U.S. Air Force, standing tall, figuring out life, and making us proud. I smile when I think about the woman she is becoming. Steady. Smart. Independent. Gentle yet fierce. She has already accomplished so much, and still, she has a whole ocean of time ahead to explore, create, and conquer. I am grateful.

That got me thinking. What was I doing at 22?

The most…hahaha. I worked hard and played even harder. At 22, I had just wrapped up my first year of undergrad in Wichita Falls, Texas. Before that, I taught Math and worked as a Laboratory Technician at the very community college I graduated from. I was also gigging around Grenada with my guitar slung across my back, playing in cultural shows, weddings, and various community functions. I travelled with Spice Island Youthquake, one of Grenada’s top folk groups, performing across Europe, the U.S., and other Caribbean islands. I was doing the damn thing, unapologetically!

To my dearest daughter, thank you for reminding me that life keeps unfolding in beautiful ways. Your story is already incredible and it is just getting started. 

Alright, let’s dig in!

Last week, U.S. stocks capped off the short trading week with fireworks of their own. The S&P 500 notched three new all-time highs, fueled by optimism around a better-than-expected payrolls report and a new U.S.–Vietnam trade agreement. Tech cooled midweek, but the broader market rallied into July 4th weekend, buoyed by strength in energy, industrials, and retail.

Abroad, European markets were largely flat ahead of key policy updates, while Asian equities delivered mixed results, with Japan and Hong Kong pressured by trade headlines and China’s transshipment concerns. Commodities surged midweek and U.S. Treasury yields climbed, trimming bond prices but extending the Agg Index’s strong year-to-date gains.

U.S. Markets Recap (June 29 - July 5, 2025)

Equities:

The S&P 500 logged its best quarter since Q4 2023 and a strong start to Q3:

• Stocks rallied last Monday on institutional rebalancing and trade optimism.

• Last Tuesday saw a brief unwind in big tech.

• Last Wednesday’s upside surprise: despite a weak ADP print, stocks rallied on the U.S.–Vietnam deal, which drops tariffs on U.S. imports.

• Last Friday brought a final surge after June’s jobs report came in stronger than feared.

Fixed Income:

• Yields climbed: 2Y +12 bps, 10Y +6 bps last week.

• The Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index was up 4% YTD, its best first-half since 2020.

• Mortgage-backed securities led sector performance, while long bonds outperformed due to easing inflation expectations.

• U.S. 10-year Treasury yield sat at 4.19%, higher than all major peers except New Zealand and the U.K.

Commodities:

• The Bloomberg Commodities Index surged, led by energy and metals.

• WTI crude jumped on geopolitical tensions after Iran pulled back from U.N. nuclear talks.

• A weaker dollar and U.S. fiscal concerns pushed gold higher, though gains were capped by rising yields and inventory data.

Currencies:

• U.S. Dollar Index slipped -0.2% for the week.

• EUR/USD rose +0.50%

• GBP/USD fell -0.46%, weighed down by political uncertainty in the U.K.

• USD/JPY edged down -0.08%

U.S. Economic Recap (June 29 - July 5, 2025)

Jobs Market

• June payrolls rose by 147,000, led by health care (+39,000).

• Federal jobs shrank again (-7,000), while long-term unemployment rose by 190,000.

• Unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, within its narrow range since May 2024.

ADP Payrolls

• ADP reported a surprise drop, the weakest since March 2023.

• Losses were concentrated in small/mid-sized services firms; large firms still added jobs.

• The labor market remains tight but cooling gradually, aligning with a “wait and see” Fed.

Global Markets Recap (June 29 - July 5, 2025)

Europe:

• Eurozone inflation inched up to 2.0%, raising questions about further ECB rate cuts.

• U.K. markets briefly stumbled as Prime Minister Starmer’s welfare reforms unraveled, creating a £4.5B fiscal gap. Stability returned after Chancellor Reeves was reaffirmed.

• Siemens surged on positive chip-related policy news from the U.S. Commerce Department.

Asia:

• South Korea led regional gains on tech strength and regulatory reform hopes.

• Taiwan and Japan saw tech support, though Japan was pressured by Trump’s 35% tariff threats.

• China rose, while Hong Kong slipped on Vietnam transshipment tariffs.

• Australia hit a new high on rate-cut speculation.

Crypto Recap (June 29 - July 5, 2025)

Broad-based gains returned to the crypto space:

• Bitcoin rose +0.9%, breaking to a new all-time high of $112,000 on July 9.

• BTC traded in a tight range ($105K–$110K), supported by ETF inflows ($770M).

• Whale wallets moved $8B+ in decade-old BTC last Friday, triggering a brief dip before a quick rebound.

• BlackRock’s IBIT hit $70B in AUM faster than any U.S. ETF ever, now outperforming even its parent IVV in daily inflows.

• Political sentiment (Trump’s trade moves, “American Party” teaser, fiscal policy) drove risk-on appetite.

Top Crypto Gainers Last Week: BONK, PENGU, TIA

Here are other key highlights from last week:

• SCOTUS confirmed IRS right to access customer data from crypto exchanges.

• Senator sought to waive U.S. taxes on small-scale crypto activity in Big Budget Bill.

• Viking-themed project puts engaging gameplay at the heart of the metaverse.

• Polygon got faster with new Bhilai Hardfork.

Not a whole lot of high-impact news this week!

Key U.S. Economic Releases developments so far:

• NFIB Small Business Index dipped slightly to 98.6 in June, still above trend.

• Consumer credit rose by just $5.1B in May, down sharply from April’s $16.9B.

• Wholesale inventories fell 0.3%, but year-over-year sales rose 4.8%, improving inventory-to-sales ratio.

• FOMC Minutes revealed:

  • No rate cuts in June, but a few members open to July cuts.

  • Rising concern over tariffs impacting inflation.

  • Gradual labor softening acknowledged.

Key U.S. Economic Releases remaining this week:

• Jobless Claims (Thursday)

• Federal Budget Balance (Friday)

Fed speeches and Policy this week:

• Musalem, Waller, Daly are speaking throughout the day on Thursday.

Earnings: 

Delta Air Lines, ConAgra Brands, and Levi Strauss headline this week’s earnings season kickoff.

Other notable earnings releases are outlined in red in the chart below.

Medium-to-High Impact Global Economic Events This Week:

Week 6/29/25 - 7/05/25 Recap

Special Tools and Strategies - Messari

If you’ve spent any amount of time trying to make sense of the crypto markets, you know how quickly things move. One minute Bitcoin is rallying, the next minute a token you’ve never heard of is trending. Blink, and you’ve missed a market-moving announcement buried in some DAO governance forum. For new and even intermediate crypto traders, keeping up can feel like drinking from a firehose.

There’s a constant stream of token launches, protocol upgrades, on-chain governance proposals, SEC enforcement actions, and layer-2 wars. Most people just want to know what matters, why it matters, and what to do about it.

That’s where Messari steps in.

What is Messari?

Messari is a powerful platform designed to help you understand the who, what, when, and why behind the crypto markets. If you’re just dipping your toes into Bitcoin or you’re deep in the weeds with DeFi and DAOs, Messari helps you make sense of the noise.

At its core, Messari is a crypto data, research, and analytics platform that provides clean, reliable information on thousands of digital assets.

What Messari Offers and How It Helps You at Every Level

Messari is a full ecosystem of tools designed to empower different types of users.

For Beginners:

• You get real-time price charts, curated news headlines, and a free daily reports, which breaks down market trends and narratives in simple, readable language.

• Asset profiles are like “cheat sheets” for each coin. Let’s say you're curious about Solana. Instead of digging through Reddit or whitepapers, you’ll find everything from market cap to roadmap updates and validator activity in one clean interface.

For Intermediate Traders:

• You can start building custom watchlists, set alerts, and follow sector-wide trends. For example, if you’re tracking the growth of liquid staking tokens like Lido or Rocket Pool, Messari helps you compare them side-by-side using clear visuals and updated metrics.

• Sector classifications also help you understand how projects are grouped. You can explore categories like DeFi, gaming, infrastructure, or privacy coins to see which tokens are gaining traction.

For Advanced Users and Institutions:

• You get access to research reports, governance proposal summaries, protocol financials, and even on-chain metrics like token emissions and treasury holdings.

• Advanced screeners let you sort tokens by dozens of filters like fully diluted valuation, active addresses, and on-chain revenue.

Messari has layers of data to match your goals.

Key Features and Tools That Make Messari Stand Out

Here are a few of the platform’s strongest features and how they help users make better decisions:

1. Asset Profiles

Every listed token has a detailed profile. They’re like digital asset Wikipedia pages backed by data. You'll find:

• Token supply breakdowns (circulating, max supply, vesting schedules)

• Project backgrounds and founding teams

• Governance activity and voting outcomes

• Roadmaps and recent updates

This feature is especially helpful when you're researching a new project you’re hearing about on X (Twitter) or in a Discord chat. Instead of guessing or chasing rumors, you get a well-researched snapshot of the asset’s fundamentals.

2. Screeners and Filters

Messari’s advanced filters let you isolate tokens by metrics like:

• Market cap range

• Activity levels (volume, address count)

• Sector (DeFi, gaming, etc.)

• On-chain financial performance

• Mindshare

Say you’re looking for low-cap gaming tokens with high on-chain revenue. A few clicks, and you’ve got a shortlist that fits your thesis without scrolling for hours on CoinGecko or X.

3. DAO Governance Tracking

For serious DeFi traders and DAO participants, this is gold. Messari curates real-time summaries of governance proposals across leading protocols like Aave, Uniswap, Compound, and Lido.

Let’s say you hold UNI tokens. Messari will show you the latest proposals, voting results, and the rationale behind them. No need to check multiple forums or scan chain data.

4. Protocol Financial Statements

Messari is one of the few platforms that gives you access to quasi “income statements” and “balance sheets” for crypto protocols. You’ll find data on:

• Protocol revenue (fees, emissions)

• Expenses (token incentives, grants)

• Treasury balances and wallet activity

This is especially useful for evaluating token sustainability or comparing real usage across projects.

How Messari Processes Its Data

Messari combines machine-readable on-chain data with human-curated research.

• Blockchain data is pulled directly from nodes and indexed into usable formats.

• Market data comes from exchanges and DeFi protocols.

• Research is written by in-house analysts and contributors, with transparent sourcing.

• DAO proposals are monitored using automated feeds and then summarized by research analysts.

This blend of automation and human expertise is why Messari’s data is often cited by media outlets, research firms, and even regulators.

Pricing Structure

You can get started with Messari for free, and for many casual users, the free plan might be enough.

Free Plan Includes:

• Real-time crypto prices

• Basic charts and asset profiles

• Access to the daily newsletter

• A limited custom watchlist

Paid Plans:

• Lite Plan: Adds extra research insights and more data visualizations.

• Pro Plan: Unlocks screeners, advanced metrics, full access to sector filters, and professional research.

• Enterprise Plan: Tailored to institutions with API access, team dashboards, and custom analytics packages.

Pros and Cons

Like any tool, Messari has its strengths and areas for improvement.

Pros:

• Clean user interface that makes it easier to compare tokens and trends

• Trustworthy data that avoids misinformation common on social media

• Comprehensive asset coverage, from Bitcoin to lesser-known DeFi tokens

• Institutional-grade governance tracking, which is rare among retail platforms

• Daily newsletter helps even passive users stay informed

Cons:

• Can be overwhelming at first for total beginners unfamiliar with crypto terms

• Some of the best features require a paid subscription

• Mobile experience is not as robust as desktop

In crypto, information is currency. Knowing what’s happening, and why, can be the difference between catching a breakout or chasing a bag that’s already dumping.

Messari is one of the few platforms that treats crypto intelligence seriously, while still being accessible to non-technical users. This is a tool that deserves a spot in your trading arsenal.

Disclaimer: This newsletter is strictly educational. The information this report provides does not constitute investment, financial, trading, or any other advice. You should not treat any of the report’s content as such. Please be careful and do your research.