CoinDesk Monthly Review, July 2020

In the opening weeks of July, it looked like gold would surpass bitcoin for monthly returns, as it reached an all-time high, a frustrating state of affairs for those who believe the current macro situation should be a “perfect storm” for bitcoin’s “gold 2.0” narrative. That was before bitcoin shot up nearly 20% in a week. Meanwhile, Ethereum fees and network activity are soaring, elevated by stablecoins, especially tether – but it isn't having an impact on Ethereum's low- or no-fee competitors for tether transactions, like Tron. We also look at returns, volatility and correlations for privacy coins in the CoinDesk 20: dash, monero and zcash.