Another day in the stock market has come to a close, and it sure was a busy one! The $Ethereum(ETH.CC)$ London hard fork went into effect today, and ETH prices are up roughly 4% over the last 24 hours. The S&P 500 closed at record levels, largely thanks to declining jobless claims. In between all that, what else did the stock market do today?

• The $S&P 500 index(.SPX.US)$ closed higher by 0.6%

• The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ closed higher by 0.78%

• The $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ closed higher by 0.78%

So what else did the stock market do today? Here are some of the top stories.

What Did the Stock Market Do Today? Sell FVRR Stock.

Are we in a reopening economy or are we prepping for a second round of lockdowns? Depending on where you look, the answers you find will vary.

On one hand, the situation is not getting better. Face mask sales are climbing on a week-over-week basis. Companies like $Alpha Pro Tech Ltd(APT.US)$ and $Blue Apron Holdings Inc(APRN.US)$ are attracting trader support, and $Pfizer Inc(PFE.US)$ once again seems hot.

But on the other hand, a series of earnings reports out this week suggest that pandemic winners are seriously cooling down. $Clorox Co(CLX.US)$ dropped because consumers are not buying disinfecting products. $Amazon.Com Inc(AMZN.US)$ projects e-commerce sales to be down for the rest of the year while shoppers head out to stores. And today, $Fiverr International Ltd(FVRR.US)$ fell victim to its guidance for the rest of a recovery year.

The freelancer marketplace soared during the pandemic, with out-of-work individuals turning to the platform for side hustles. Revenue for the second quarter was up 60% year over year. In a work-from-home and stay-at-home world, Fiverr was a clear winner.

Now though, the company is worried it cannot deliver at the same pace. It shared today that it projects third-quarter revenue between $68 million and $72 million, below Street estimates for $80 million. Full-year guidance for revenue between $280 million to $320 million is also off its previous guidance of $302 million to $308 million.

As CEO Micha Kaufman put it, people just are not spending as much time online. For Fiverr, that is a bad thing, and investors sent FVRR stock down nearly 25% on Thursday.

No Time to Be a Copycat

This year thrust $Bitcoin(BTC.CC)$, $Ethereum(ETH.CC)$ and $Dogecoin(DOGE.CC)$ to record highs, fueled by widened use cases and celebrity backings. However, it also introduced investors to hundreds of cryptocurrencies that wield nothing more than crafty logos and charismatic social media accounts.

To InvestorPlace Assistant News Writer Brenden Rearick, that is part of the problem with the crypto market right now. Experts declare that crypto is dead, based on the performance of meme coins and high-profile scams. However, beneath all the hype are cryptos that have real, groundbreaking potential.

Based on his exclusive interview with Sasha Ivanov, Rearick thinks Waves (CCC:WAVES-USD) is one of those cryptocurrencies. That is because its developers are not trying to rival any one digital currency — they are not trying to make the next Bitcoin or Ethereum. Instead, they promise to simply make Waves the best it can be.

In doing so, they have started to build out a complete, decentralized ecosystem. Waves has its own DEX, as well as a non-fungible token (NFT) exchange. It also is hoping to lead the way in decentralized governance, such as through its Waves Enterprise platform.

Rearick concludes:

“The asset class is currently awash with cryptos that exist just to grow in value. But as blockchains like Waves and Ethereum continue to push practical decentralized utilities, investors are going to look more at the cryptos with better ‘fundamentals.’ It’s just a matter of time, and that’s why you should be keeping the Waves crypto on your radar.”

So is crypto dead? Meme coins maybe, but Waves and its utility-focused peers show that a new era for the digital asset class is just around the corner.

What Else We're Watching

• Uruguayan Sen. Juan Sartori is looking to add laser eyes to his profile picture it seems. The lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow businesses to accept cryptocurrencies as payment and Uruguay. If passed, the legislation would also create a regulatory framework for crypto. Investors should note this is distinct from legislation in El Salvador that made Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) legal tender.

• $Veoneer Inc(VNE.US)$, an under-the-radar auto parts company, saw its shares rocket higher on Thursday. The big move in VNE stock comes after $Qualcomm Inc(QCOM.US)$ made a $4.6 billion offer to acquire Veoneer. Importantly, this outnumbers a similar takeover bid from $Magna International Inc(MGA.US)$ last month.

• A top mover today was $Microvision Inc(MVIS.US)$, long a favorite on r/WallStreetBets. The company missed consensus estimates, but Redditors do not care. Instead, they are rallying behind confirmation that MicroVision has a deal with $Microsoft Corp(MSFT.US)$ for its Hololens glasses.