THE LATEST CRYPTO NEWS

Bitcoin (BTC) failed again to push back above the $80,000 level this week, a price point that has remained stubbornly resistant since early February. After struggling through the latest attempt to break higher, BTC retraced to around $75,400 on Wednesday. Bloomberg attributes part of this stagnation to a less visible but powerful force: positioning in the options market. According to the report, a concentrated set of call options has built up around the $80,000 strike on Deribit. Why Bitcoin Keeps Stalling Near $80,000 As Andy Baehr, managing director of asset management at GSR, explained in the report, many speculators are choosing to sell calls at $80,000 because it is viewed as a “safe” area to monetize premiums. The other side of those trades is where the pressure begins.  Dealers who buy the calls often hedge by selling Bitcoin, creating what Baehr described as an “electric fence” effect—an arrangement that makes it harder for BTC to surge through the strike level without an unusual catalyst. That helps explain why Bitcoin has still struggled to clear $80,000.  Related Reading: Galaxy Digital Posts $200M Quarterly Loss—Did Hyperliquid Help Avoid New Crisis? The options picture is reinforced by activity levels in broader markets. The report also points to on-chain data and platform metrics suggesting that the group (retail) that drove the earlier rally has largely stepped back. Instead, many are said to be nursing losses or waiting for clearer signals.  At the same time, a persistently bearish Bitcoin futures market and slowing spot demand have encouraged some traders to underwrite more call options, aiming to capture premium income on the expectation that Bitcoin will not meaningfully trade above the $80,000 strike over the coming months. May Expiries, Rolling Calls, And Stock-Driven Volatility Deribit’s $80,000 Bitcoin calls appear especially concentrated in the late May and June expiries. According to market data provider Kaiko, out of roughly $1.5 billion in notional call open interest, contracts totaling $160 million are set to expire on May 1, with an additional $566 million expiring on May 29.  Those clustering dates can matter because they concentrate both hedging activity and speculative behavior into specific time windows. Thomas Erdösi, head of product at CF Benchmarks, said the pattern suggests persistent call selling and evidence of “systematic rolling.” In other words, rather than allowing positions to roll off naturally, market participants may keep moving risk forward in a way that maintains pressure near the strike.  Erdösi also cautioned that options positioning alone does not tell the whole story, noting there are signs of profit-taking into the $80,000 area for Bitcoin as well. Related Reading: XRP Price Target At $18,000: Expert Says—Only One Condition Must Be Met Finally, the report flags that volatility outside crypto may spill into Bitcoin’s price action. With equities showing sharper movement in recent sessions, BTC has tended to follow along.  Bohan Jiang, senior derivatives trader at FalconX, suggested that this could contribute to a more stabilizing pattern around $80,000. In his view, with stocks “chopping around” recently, Bitcoin’s behavior has mirrored that uncertainty—helping explain why attempts to break through the level keep stalling. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Crypto prices have been under pressure recently, and XRP has been hit particularly hard. On Tuesday, the token slid below the key $1.4 level, adding to the broader cautious mood across the market.  Even so, some analysts are pointing to a very different kind of narrative—one grounded in on-chain liquidity data and scenario modeling rather than short-term price forecasts. What The $18,000 XRP Scenario Depends On A researcher highlighted by crypto analyst Bull Winkle has been working with a live valuation tool that pulls real-time metrics directly from the XRP Ledger (XRPL).  The idea behind the tool is straightforward: it collects liquidity-related data on-chain, then runs that information through a set of scenario-based price calculations. Instead of presenting one expected outcome, the model lays out multiple paths, each tied to a specific use case and a defined peak transaction size.  According to Winkle’s post, the tool produces five separate scenarios, each with different assumptions about how XRP could be used and at what scale. Related Reading: Bitmine’s Ethereum Holdings Reach Record 5 Million Tokens–CEO’s Bullish Outlook One of the most eye-catching scenarios places XRP as the dominant global bridge asset. In that case, the model links the valuation to a “peak ticket” of $50 billion. Importantly, this level is not framed as a prediction of what will happen; it is described as a condition that would need to be met.  The model’s central claim is that if XRP reaches the required volume threshold associated with that bridge-asset role, then a price around $18,000 becomes mathematically justified.  Put another way, the scenario isn’t sold as a timeline estimate—it’s presented as a logical outcome that could follow only if that specific scale of usage occurs. Institutional Adoption Is The Key The tool also includes a near-term scenario that, Winkle says, is the most relevant for current conditions. This case centers on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and remittance corridors, with a peak ticket of $100 million.  For that scenario, the model calculates a required XRP price of $16. Winkle’s interpretation is that this part of the model is already being “validated” by current price reality—meaning the market dynamics implied by the scenario are not purely hypothetical.  As a result, the near-term row stands out not because it guarantees a particular number, but because it appears to align more closely with what is already happening on the ground. Related Reading: Solana Prepares For The Quantum Era: Foundation Details Step-By-Step Transition Beyond the near-term outlook, the model also includes a mid-scenario focused on corporate treasury and regional bank flows. Here, the tool suggests that the required XRP price could land anywhere between $138 and $690, depending on how the underlying assumptions about institutional-style usage play out.  In Winkle’s framing, this is where institutional adoption starts to carry real price implications. The range is wide, but the direction of the thesis is clear: as liquidity and usage scale up through larger financial channels, the XRP valuation outcomes become dramatically higher. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The Solana Foundation has addressed growing concerns about the potential impact of quantum computing on blockchain security. In a blog post published on Monday, the organization set out its next steps and described a clear roadmap that the network could follow should the threat become more than theoretical. The Solana Post-Quantum Signature Plan  Even though the risk is still considered distant, the Solana Foundation argued that networks should study the issue and prepare early, rather than waiting until a crisis forces rushed decisions.  A key part of Solana’s preparation, the Foundation said, involves Anza and Firedancer, two validator client developers that together represent a substantial share of stake in the network.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Could Hit New All-Time High Fast On Quantum Fix, Capriole Founder Says Both teams have been allegedly investigating post-quantum migration paths closely, and they reached the same conclusion independently: Solana would need a post-quantum digital signature scheme that uses compact signatures and is suitable for high-throughput blockchain environments. That shared direction led both teams to a post-quantum signature approach known as Falcon. Solana said that research from both groups resulted in initial implementations. Importantly, the organization emphasized that no immediate network change is required today, and it is unlikely to be needed in the near term.  However, the Foundation said the Solana ecosystem now has a plan that has been thoroughly researched, could be activated when the time is right, and is designed so that the transition would be manageable.  The blog post also claimed the migration could occur quickly and that network performance is not expected to take a meaningful hit during the switch. From Winternitz Vault To New Wallets Beyond the validator client work, the Foundation said the wider Solana ecosystem has already been proactive in the post-quantum space. It pointed to Blueshift’s “Solana Winternitz Vault,” which it described as offering a direct route to quantum resilience and said has been in place for more than two years.  The post then laid out a roadmap for how Solana says it will handle quantum readiness as the conversation evolves. The first step is to keep researching quantum threats and continuing to evaluate Falcon along with potential alternatives.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Is Headed For $40,000: Analyst Reveals The Best Time To Buy BTC Solana’s next move, if quantum becomes a credible concern, would be to adopt a post-quantum scheme for new wallets. From there, the Foundation says the ecosystem would migrate existing wallets to the selected post-quantum approach.  Finally, the Solana Foundation’s blog post said that it will continue sharing updates as the work progresses, describing post-quantum readiness as an ongoing effort rather than a one-time project. At the time of writing, the blockchain’s native token, SOL, was trading at $84.42. This represented losses of 2% and 1.5% in the 24-hour and seven-day time frames, respectively.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the second-largest public crypto holding company, provided a detailed update on its Ethereum (ETH) strategy on Monday, along with broader figures covering its crypto portfolio, including total holdings and so-called “moonshots.”  The company said its combined crypto-related positions now reach $13.3 billion, while the key focus for investors remains its Ethereum accumulation, which it says has hit a new high. Bitmine Targets 5% Of Ethereum Supply According to Bitmine’s disclosure, its ETH holdings have reached a record 5,078,386 tokens at $2,369 per ETH. Thomas Lee, the company’s Chairman, emphasized that the milestone was reached during the past week, noting that Bitmine “crossed 5 million this past week.”  He framed it as an important step toward a longer-term objective: acquiring 5% of the Ethereum supply. In his remarks, Lee said the speed of accumulation has been “astonishing,” with Bitmine reaching the 5 million mark in roughly 10 months. Related Reading: ‘The Beat Goes On’ – Saylor Hints At Another Bitcoin Buying Spree Lee also pointed to research that supports the idea of Ethereum as a “store of value.” He cited recent reports, including a study by Etherealize, arguing that ETH could increasingly be held as collateral as digital assets become more involved in financial transactions.  In his view, Ethereum’s recent performance since the Iran War began has helped demonstrate that role. Lee claimed ETH has outperformed the S&P 500 by 1,696 basis points since the war started, and he added that Ethereum remains the single best-performing asset in the world, aside from crude oil prices.  He argued this dynamic reinforces the idea of ETH as a particularly resilient asset in “war-time,” portraying it as both meaningful and distinctive relative to other holdings. Beyond valuation and performance, Lee connected Ethereum’s momentum to two larger trends. He said Ethereum benefits from Wall Street tokenizing activity on the blockchain, and also from the rise of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems that, in his framing, increasingly require public and neutral blockchains.  Highest Purchase Pace Since December  On the trading pace itself, Lee said Bitmine has maintained an increased rate of ETH purchases over each of the past four weeks, describing this as evidence of an ongoing accumulation strategy even amid changing market conditions.  He said that in the most recent week, the company bought 101,901 Ethereum, calling it the highest pace of buys since the week of December 15, 2025. Lee also linked the buying strategy to what he referred to as Bitmine’s base case, stating that ETH is in the final stages of a “mini-crypto winter.” Related Reading: Dogecoin Trap Shows A Major Crash, But How Low Will The Price Go? The company also detailed its staking position. As of April 26, 2026, Bitmine reported that its total staked ETH stands at 3,701,589 tokens, which it valued at $8.8 billion using the $2,369 per ETH price. In addition to that figure, Bitmine said its annualized staking revenues are now $264 million. At the time of writing, Ethereum was trading at $2,292. Despite improving market conditions, it retraced 3% on Monday after failing to surpass the $2,400 resistance level.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

In the race to determine whether XRP can mount a real rally toward the $10 level next year, one market expert, Sam Daodu, argues that the answer depends less on hype and more on whether two major forces finally line up.  Daodu says nearly every serious XRP price forecast for 2027 relies on the same prerequisites: US regulation has to be clarified, and institutional capital has to begin flowing in at a meaningful scale. Without both, the upside case becomes harder to justify, even if parts of the story are already moving in the right direction. Mixed Progress For XRP Price  Daodu’s latest report stresses that, at the moment, neither prerequisite is fully in place. He points to continuing regulatory uncertainty as the key blocker for institutions.  In his view, the currently stalled CLARITY Act is the legislation that could change the price dynamics by permanently establishing XRP’s position as a digital commodity—an outcome that, if it materializes, would likely remove a major share of the risk institutions are still pricing in. Related Reading: Bitcoin Is Headed For $40,000: Analyst Reveals The Best Time To Buy BTC That said, the report frames the situation as a “mixed progress” scenario rather than a clear-cut bull market versus bear market. On the positive side, several catalysts connected to a potential rally are already showing up.  Exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows, for instance, have reportedly remained positive without a single outflow day since April 9. Daodu treats that steady demand as an important signal that market participation is still present. Beyond ETF flow data, Daodu highlights on-chain activity as another supportive element. According to the report, whales have been withdrawing roughly 7 billion XRP from exchanges since February, and large holders appear to be driving a significant portion of those movements.  Even with these bullish indicators, Daodu argues they aren’t arriving with the speed or scale that the $5–$10 outlook depends on. He emphasizes that institutional money—described as essential to those higher targets—still hasn’t shown up at the level required to match an “instant” re-rating of XRP.  Why The Next 60 Days Are Key To reach above $10, the report argues XRP would need a rare alignment of several events. Daodu says the CLARITY Act would have to pass, ETF inflows would need to scale toward the $4–$8 billion range, and Bitcoin (BTC) would have to lead a wider rally that accelerates demand across the altcoin complex.  In short, pushing XRP toward $10 is not framed as the most likely path; it’s presented as a scenario that requires multiple catalysts to land correctly at the right time. Related Reading: Dogecoin Trap Shows A Major Crash, But How Low Will The Price Go? Daodu concludes with what he believes XRP holders should monitor over the next 60 days: the Senate Banking Committee markup before May 21. In his view, this is a key near-term checkpoint. If the markup clears, the bull case remains intact, and $7 becomes a more realistic anchor price for the market’s expectations.  If, however, the process stalls in May, the report suggests the outcome could be pushed out and possibly delayed until 2027. In that event, regulatory delay could cap XRP’s price at around $3 for much of that year—unless Bitcoin triggers another explosive run.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto analyst Trader Tardigrade is pointing to a setup that could define Dogecoin’s next major move. The Dogecoin monthly candlestick chart, which stretches back to 2014, shows a pattern that has played out with remarkable consistency, almost mechanical in nature.  According to that structure, Dogecoin is now sitting right at the level where previous price explosions have been triggered. Related Reading: Stablecoins Go Institutional As Morgan Stanley Rolls Out New Portfolio A Pattern That Has Played Out Twice Before Dogecoin is still trading below $0.10 into the last week of April, languishing well below its cycle peak of $0.48 and largely ignored by many crypto investors. But for Trader Tardigrade, that lack of action may be precisely the point.  The structure at the center of Trader Tardigrade’s analysis is a descending triangle that appears to form on Dogecoin’s monthly chart at the end of every major market cycle. Looking at the monthly chart below, Dogecoin initially broke above this triangle formation in 2024. However, the meme coin has been on a price correction path since late 2024, and is now at the point of retesting the apex of the triangle. Interestingly, similar retests of the apex of the triangle, which is its tightest, most compressed point, have always indicated the precise moment before an explosive move to the upside. Back in 2017, Dogecoin compressed into the tip of such a formation and then surged in what became its first significant bull run. The pattern repeated in 2020, when the DOGE price once again coiled into the triangle’s apex before exploding into the historic 2021 rally that took the meme coin to a peak of $0.73. Now, in 2026, Trader Tardigrade is pointing to a third convergence. The monthly chart shows price action once again compressing and retesting the triangle’s tip. Dogecoin’s Price Chart. Source: @TATrader_Alan On X Dogecoin Price Projection According to Trader Tardigrade, when Dogecoin comes back to the tip of the triangle, it doesn’t ask permission. The prediction is a bounce from the triangle’s apex that pushes the Dogecoin price into new price territories. Notably, the analyst’s projection sees Dogecoin going as high as $2.4 if the bounce plays out in full. Although the pattern itself is clear, the broader market environment will likely play a key role in determining how this setup unfolds. This is because Dogecoin’s previous rallies coincided with strong bullish phases across the crypto market. The crypto market is more complex right now, and the fundamental landscape around Dogecoin in 2026 is materially different from what existed in prior cycles.  Related Reading: XRP Signals Imminent Breakout — Is A 10% Rally Coming? Bitcoin, for one, needs to stabilize into a full bullish momentum first. The leading cryptocurrency has been attempting to stabilize above $78,000, while capital flows into the industry have picked up in recent days. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin has spent April staging a recovery from its March lows, briefly climbing back above $79,000. However, not everyone is convinced of the rebound, and some analysts believe the move is only a mid-bear-market rally before a deeper correction.  One such analyst is one that previously predicted a coming peak in July 2025. Now, the same analyst is predicting how far the Bitcoin price still has to fall before it puts in a true bottom. Related Reading: Stablecoins Go Institutional As Morgan Stanley Rolls Out New Portfolio Analyst Uses Previous Top Model To Predict Bitcoin Bottom Crypto analyst Killa made a cycle-top prediction of $121,362 back in June 2025. This call was made months before Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $126,100 in October 2025 and it was off by only about 3.9%. Now, using the same analytical framework that generated that call, Killa has turned the model toward the downside. The principle behind the projection is that each successive Bitcoin market cycle produces a smaller multiple relative to the prior cycle’s bottom, reflecting the maturation of the asset. His data across five cycles shows the high-to-bottom multiple declining from 15.50x in the first cycle to 7.64x, then 6.26x, and then 4.47x in Cycle 4, where Bitcoin peaked at $69,800 before bottoming at $15,600. Applying the same rate of reduction, Killa projects the current cycle’s multiple at 3.25x, dividing the $126,100 cycle top to arrive at a base bottom target of $38,800. To account for the 5% variance that offset his top prediction, he added in two upside scenarios of $40,740 and $42,680. Even at the top of that range, Bitcoin would still be well below the $60,000 level that some market participants have cited as the correction bottom.  Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: @KillaXBT On X At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $78,015, meaning a move to $42,680 would still require a drop of about 45%, while a further drop to $38,800 would be close to a 50% correction from current prices. Three Years Up, One Year Down Killa’s bottom projection finds support from a separate analysis by analyst CryptoBullet, who approached the question of a bottom from a symmetry standpoint.  CryptoBullet’s weekly Bitcoin chart characterized the current cycle as a five-wave Elliott Wave advance beginning in late 2022, with Wave 5 completing around the $126,000 high in October 2025. The subsequent correction, labeled as a W-X-Y corrective structure in blue, projects a final Wave Y leg down below $50,000 to $45,000.  Bitcoin Weekly Chart. Source: @CryptoBullet1 On X Related Reading: XRP Signals Imminent Breakout — Is A 10% Rally Coming? According to the analyst, three years of upward price action from the November 2022 bottom through the 2025 peak cannot reasonably be corrected in less than a year of decline. The current bear phase is shown extending into the second half of 2026 before the bottom structure can be completed.  Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Tuttle Capital has filed for an XRP Income Blast ETF, the latest sign that Wall Street’s appetite for XRP exposure is growing faster than the market seems to notice. Related Reading: Stablecoins Go Institutional As Morgan Stanley Rolls Out New Portfolio The filing came as US spot XRP ETFs quietly pulled in more than $75 million in April — drawing almost no attention while traders focused on Bitcoin and Ethereum. Institutions Accumulate With Little Noise Data from SoSoValue shows US spot XRP ETFs now collectively hold $1.08 billion — equal to 1.20% of the token’s total supply. Inflows have been steady and one-sided. Since April 9, meaningful outflows have not materialized, with only a minor $661,000 dip recorded across the entire period. In a single day, ETFs brought in $3.89 million, with the Franklin Templeton XRP ETF — trading under the ticker XRPZ — leading that charge. The consistency of these flows points to long-term positioning by institutional buyers rather than the short-burst trading typical of retail-driven markets. ???? XRP Ledger saw 34.94M $XRP in total exchange outflows, the 6th largest 24-hour period of the year. Historically, these large outflow days have corresponded with upcoming bullish price action. ???? Check out XRP outflows here on Santiment any time: https://t.co/WLCy1405T2 pic.twitter.com/nTDT8nDnV3 — Santiment (@santimentfeed) April 24, 2026 One market observer noted on social media that the $75 million pulled in during April flew under the radar while attention stayed locked on bigger tokens. The implication: that kind of gap rarely holds. Whale Moves Dominate On-Chain Activity On the blockchain side, the XRP Ledger recorded 34.94 million XRP leaving exchanges in a single 24-hour window — the sixth-largest daily outflow of 2026, according to data from Santiment. Large outflow events like this have historically preceded price increases, since tokens exiting exchanges tend to reduce the amount immediately available for selling. This isn’t retail traffic. Large holders accounted for 94% of recent outflows on Binance. That means nearly all of the movement was driven by wallets holding significant amounts of XRP. At the same time, whale transfers back into Binance climbed to around 3,000 transactions on April 23 and 24, after dropping close to zero in the days prior. Reports indicate this kind of bounce-back suggests active repositioning — not distribution. Big players appear to be moving XRP around with purpose. What that purpose is remains open to interpretation, but the scale and speed of the activity stands out. Related Reading: XRP Signals Imminent Breakout — Is A 10% Rally Coming? ETF demand and on-chain signals are picking up, but XRP isn’t following through. The price keeps failing at resistance and easing back toward $1.43, staying slightly above the $1.40 support zone. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView

A crypto analyst has identified a Golden Triangle, a rare structure that has been forming on the Ethereum (ETH) chart for almost nine years. According to the analyst, the Ethereum price has remained within this triangle during both bullish and bearish periods. However, he says the cryptocurrency is now approaching the apex of the triangle pattern, signaling an upcoming breakout either to the upside or downside. Depending on the direction of that breakout, the analyst has forecast ETH’s next move and possible price target. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Big Players Are Accumulating — Is $80K Just The Start? Ethereum Golden Triangle Could Trigger A Surge To $10,000 A market analyst identified as ‘Merlijn The Trader’ on X has shared a new Ethereum price analysis, presenting both bullish and bearish scenarios. In a post shared on April 24, Merlijn said the Ethereum price is currently trading within a Golden Triangle pattern that has maintained its structure since 2017, two years after the cryptocurrency launched in 2015.  According to the analyst, the pattern has withstood several major events that caused sharp price swings during all those. He pointed to the 2020 COVID crisis, when most cryptocurrencies suffered steep declines, including ETH, which also crashed significantly. Even so, he noted that Ethereum continued to hold within the Golden Triangle.  The same pattern remained intact during the 2022 bear market, which followed ETH’s explosive surge to an all-time high above $4,800 in 2021. He added that even after reaching a peak in 2026 and undergoing another major correction, Ethereum remained within the triangle without breaking its structure. Because the structure has held firm through all these bullish and bearish events, Merlijn believes ETH could now be approaching a decisive breakout from the nine-year formation. Looking at his accompanying chart, he noted that ETH is moving closer to the apex, the highest point, of its Golden Triangle, where a breakout often occurs.  Once the price reaches this apex, two outcomes are possible: Ethereum could either break upward or move lower through the bottom of the structure.  In his bullish case, Merlijn believes an upside breakout could send ETH above $4,350 and push its price toward a measured target of around $10,000. Given how long the triangle has held, he expects Ethereum to continue trending higher, with occasional pullbacks, until eventually reaching an ambitious peak above $56,000. He placed this longer-term price target in 2028, suggesting the rally could extend over the next two years.   ETH Bear Case If Price Breaks Below Triangle For his bear case scenario, Merlijn The Trader noted that if Ethereum decides to go the opposite direction to break below the triangle, that move could trigger a decline toward $1,950. Currently, Ethereum is trading above $2,300, following its latest rally that saw it surge over 36%.  Related Reading: Stablecoins Go Institutional As Morgan Stanley Rolls Out New Portfolio If the cryptocurrency declines to $1,950, it would mark a more than 15% drop from current prices. Even so, despite outlining this downside risk, Merlijn remains confident that a breakout to the upside may be the likely scenario.  Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

According to a crypto analyst, the Bitcoin price remains firmly in a bear trend and could be preparing for another major crash to new lows. Using a wave structure, the expert mapped out BTC’s price action during this bearish phase, outlining how he sees the current market developing and where he believes the next downside move could lead. Contrary to other analysts’ predictions, the analyst believes that BTC has not yet reached its cycle bottom and may first see a final surge before plunging below $40,000.   Related Reading: Stablecoins Go Institutional As Morgan Stanley Rolls Out New Portfolio Bitcoin Price Could Rebound To $80,000 Before A Final Crash Market analyst Crypto Bullet has presented a bearish BTC forecast on X, suggesting that the flagship cryptocurrency may still have more declines ahead before the current bear market ends. In his analysis, he described BTC’s market structure as a “Double ZigZag (WXY)” formation, using it to track the cryptocurrency’s price action from its October 2025 peak and project where the next major decline could unfold. One reason Crypto Bullet views BTC’s bear market through this WXY structure is because of how the cryptocurrency has traded in recent months. He noted that Bitcoin has spent far more time consolidating between $62,000 and $78,000 than it did in the $84,000 to $97,000 range, where it traded from November 2025 to January 2026. To him, that prolonged sideways movement reflects a broader bearish structure still playing out.  Based on that setup, Crypto Bullet believes that BTC’s recent rebound above $78,000 does not mean its bear market has ended but could instead be part of a larger corrective move. He expects the cryptocurrency to make one final push higher toward $85,000, with this level as the next major resistance above his ABC target of $82,500, as highlighted on his chart.  Crypto Bullet has tied this outlook to his WXY wave structure. According to him, Bitcoin completed wave W after peaking above $126,000 in October 2025 and plunging to $60,000 in February 2026. He noted that wave X also began after BTC reached $60,000 and projected it could end once the cryptocurrency rallies above $80,000.  If that scenario plays out, Crypto Bullet expects wave Y as the final leg low, which is where he believes BTC could eventually find a bottom. In terms of timing, the analyst believes that BTC still has five months left before its bear market ends, which closely aligns with timelines from past bear cycles. Analyst Marks BTC Bottom Target At $40,000 Crypto Bullet’s bearish outlook for Bitcoin centers on wave Y, which he believes could bring the most severe downturn of this cycle. According to him, once Bitcoin completes its rebound above $80,000 in wave X, the market could reverse sharply, triggering a rapid price crash toward a final bottom.  Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Big Players Are Accumulating — Is $80K Just The Start? He marked BTC’s potential bottom target at $40,000, expecting the move to play out between September and October 2026. From the $80,000 level, this would represent a whopping 50% decline, potentially wiping out bullish traders who had interpreted the surge to $80,000 as the start of a new bullish trend. Supporting this outlook, crypto analyst Tony Severino said he believes this could be the most likely scenario for BTC.  Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Crypto pundit Star has highlighted that crypto decentralization is a myth, noting that crypto networks and firms can freeze funds. The pundit specifically alluded to the Tether freeze and Arbitrum’s move to freeze the crypto assets stolen by the Kelp DAO exploiter.  Pundit Highlights Crypto Decentralization Myth In an X post, Star stated that centralization has been exposed inside TRON USDT. The pundit noted that Tether just executed the largest freeze in its history, freezing $344 million USDT, which it carried out in coordination with OFAC and the U.S. law enforcement. This was executed directly through the USDT smart contract, with the funds visible but completely unusable.  Related Reading: What The Kelp DAO’s $292 Million Hack Means For XRP Holders Earning Yield Further commenting on how it works, Star explained that Tether has admin control over USDT contracts, which proves that crypto decentralization is a myth. The pundit added that this admin control enables the USDT issuer to blacklist any address, freeze balances instantly, and permanently destroy funds.  It is worth noting that Tether had confirmed the freeze, stating that it supported the U.S. government in freezing $344 million USDT across two addresses, which were on the TRON network. The firm added that the freeze was executed after the addresses were identified, preventing further movement of funds. A CNN report confirmed that the U.S. government directed the freeze of these USDT funds because they are linked to Iran. Iran had notably opted against stablecoins in favor of Bitcoin for toll payments at the Strait of Hormuz over fears of seizure, further highlighting the myth around crypto decentralization.  Meanwhile, Star pointed out that the Tether freeze on TRON came just days after the network’s founder, Justin Sun, said that TRON is the most decentralized blockchain in the world after the Arbitrum incident. Sun has yet to comment on the Tether freeze on the TRON network, which occurred earlier this week.  The Arbitrum Incident Also Raises Concerns Star also cited the Arbitrum incident to highlight that crypto decentralization is a myth. Earlier this week, Arbitrum announced that the network’s Security Council had taken emergency action to freeze the 30,766 ETH being held in the Arbitrum address that is connected to the Kelp DAO exploiter.  Related Reading: Remember Arbitrum? This Analyst Just Predicted That A 7,400% Rally Is Coming The network stated that the Security Council acted with input from law enforcement regarding the exploiter’s identity. It is worth noting that the Kelp DAO exploiter had stolen up to $292 million in staked ETH from the Kelp DAO bridge last weekend. Meanwhile, Arbitrum’s decision to freeze this ETH drew mixed reactions.  Crypto pundit Pledditor noted that Arbitrum, which has regularly received praise from Vitalik Buterin as the most decentralized Layer-2, has just frozen funds. On the other hand, Helius CEO Mert praised the move, noting that Arbitrum having the means of control and refusing to use it to appease the exploiters would be a “much worse and dishonorable outcome.” Featured image from Pxfuel, chart from Tradingview.com

XRP is trading near the top of its month-long consolidation band, with the price stuck between roughly $1.35 and $1.45. With April nearing its end—just six days left until the month closes—will the XRP price break upward before the deadline, or will it slip lower and trigger a faster downside move? Monthly Breakout Or Breakdown? In a fresh technical update shared on social media, analyst Bull Winkle says the next major confirmation for the XRP price will come from how it behaves on the monthly time frame. According to Winkle, bulls need a monthly close above $1.90.  He frames that level as more than just a random resistance area, describing it as a demand-zone “hold” signal and also a reclaim of the 2021 resistance level, now acting as support.  Related Reading: XRP ETFs Post Longest Back-To-Back Gains Of 2026—Key Numbers Inside If the XRP price can clear $1.90 on a monthly close, Winkle argues it would set the stage for retests higher up the chart—specifically opening the door to $2.90 revisits. That bullish scenario includes a significant recovery math. If the XRP price climbs toward $1.90 ahead of April’s close from current trading levels of $1.43, it would represent about a 32% recovery. Additionally, a potential rally of 102% up to the $2.90 area. On the other side, Winkle lays out what would count as a clear breakdown for bears. He says the most decisive bearish signal would be a monthly close below $1.27.  In his view, that would open the path for a faster move toward $1, with the potential for an Elliott Wave C-style correction that could land the XRP price in the broader $0.60 to $0.75 range. That bearish estimate would be severe: it could equate to around a 58% decline from the current trading zone. What The XRP Price Needs Next While those price levels are the headline, Winkle also emphasized momentum context using the relative strength index (RSI) indicator.  He notes that at 47, the monthly RSI is not showing divergence in either direction yet. For him, that means the market has not reached a point where the next move is fully “high conviction” on the monthly setup.  Instead, the RSI needs to do something more decisive—either bouncing strongly above 55 to confirm a bullish phase, or pressing below 40 with a trajectory toward the 30 area, which he describes as a capitulation-type bottom. That brings the focus to the immediate battleground. Winkle’s summary of where the XRP price stands is straightforward: the $1.27 to $1.43 range is where the outcome is likely being decided. Related Reading: Bitcoin Nears $80,000: Two Scenarios That May Decide Q2—Bulls Or Bears? Beyond the chart levels and RSI, Winkle pointed to a separate signal he believes is already strengthening the case for a potential upside leg—something supply-side, rather than purely technical.  In another post, he highlighted that “seven billion XRP just vanished from exchanges,” claiming this exchange outflow matters because when the altcoin sits on exchanges, it represents liquid, sell-side supply that can be sold at any moment.  Once that supply leaves—whether to cold wallets, institutional custody, or longer-term holding structures—he argues the immediate downward pressure for the XRP price can ease. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) is consolidating around $77,600 as the price fails to break above the nearest resistance area near $79,500. With the market stuck in this range, attention is shifting to the possibility that Bitcoin could finally shift direction, potentially ending the current compression.  A major part of this discussion is the CME gap around $82,000. In this context, CME gaps are treated as imbalances that can appear in futures pricing over periods when traditional trading is closed, such as weekends, while crypto trades continuously.  Drop To $60,000 Still On The Table Market analyst Rekt Fencer recently claimed on social media that Bitcoin will “100%” fill the $82,000 CME gap on its 12-hour chart. The expectation being highlighted is that over $10 billion worth of short positions could be liquidated when BTC closes the $82,000 level.  Even with that strong technical catalyst, Fencer also warned that the outcome may not remain purely bullish. He cautioned that the move could set up a new bull trap first, followed by a sharp correction. Related Reading: Bitcoin Nears $80,000: Two Scenarios That May Decide Q2—Bulls Or Bears? The broader consequence could be a decline toward February lows around $60,000. If that scenario plays out, it would imply roughly a 26% retrace from that level, potentially reigniting bearish sentiment across the market. However, another perspective is coming from institutional analysis. A new study by Coinbase Institutional argues for a different outlook, contesting the idea that Bitcoin’s recovery over the past week is driven only by leverage. The report frames the rally as potentially stronger than it looks, pointing to real demand rather than simply borrowing and forced positioning.  What’s Behind The Bitcoin Rally? The study lists several indicators supporting its view. Rising exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows are said to be near their highest levels this year, signaling stronger institutional demand. It also notes accumulation by long-term holders, which is described as concentrating supply into “strong hands.”  While short liquidations can help trigger upward momentum, the report argues that similar squeezes have historically happened before—yet sustained rallies tend to last when spot demand supports the move, not just leverage. Related Reading: XRP ETFs Post Longest Back-To-Back Gains Of 2026—Key Numbers Inside A key area highlighted by the institutional framing is approximately $80,000, described as the short-term holder cost basis. According to this interpretation, reclaiming around $80,000 could confirm that the market structure is strengthening.  If Bitcoin fails and rejects that level, the implication would be that weakness could persist rather than a durable uptrend forming. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

KelpDAO’s liquid restaking token, rsETH, has become the center of a major DeFi recovery effort after a hack estimated at roughly $290 million. The latest development came on Thursday, when Lido Finance unveiled a proposal aimed at supporting Aave’s (AAVE) coordinated response to the rsETH shortfall.  Lido Joins rsETH Recovery Effort The Lido plan was submitted to Aave’s Research Forum following this week’s Kelp incident involving the rsETH LayerZero bridge exploit.  While the exploit’s details were still unfolding, Aave moved quickly to organize a larger, ecosystem-wide effort—“DeFi United”—with the goal of making affected users whole after the April 18 bridge incident left rsETH underbacked and, in turn, put funds at risk across multiple lending markets. Aave posted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that “multiple strong indicative commitments” had already been lined up, and that Lido Finance was the first public participant.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Nears $80,000: Two Scenarios That May Decide Q2—Bulls Or Bears? The proposal itself authorizes a one-time, capped contribution of up to 2,500 stETH—roughly $6 million at the time of reporting. Importantly, Aave framed this as part of a fully funded recovery package rather than a piecemeal attempt to patch only part of the damage.  The structure is meant to limit broader spillover and allow an orderly resolution for users impacted by the rsETH deficit. The conditions attached to Lido’s contribution are strict.  Lido Finance’s funds would only be deployed if the relief vehicle is large enough to cover the entire deficit—specifically, not a partial fix that still leaves users exposed.  The total shortfall is described as exceeding 100,000 ETH. If any funds remain unused, they would be returned to Lido’s treasury. And the money can only be used to address the rsETH shortfall itself. Market-Wide TVL Losses Lido’s interest in this outcome is closely tied to its own product exposure. Lido offers an EarnETH vault that has direct exposure to rsETH. Without coordinated support, losses for users in that vault could reach approximately 9,000 ETH. Aave also moved to limit further risk while recovery planning progressed. Earlier Thursday, it updated that rsETH reserves were paused across multiple Ethereum and rollup environments, including Ethereum Core, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea.  Related Reading: 4-Figure XRP: How High Will The Price Be If Ripple Captures 50% Of SWIFT? The broader market reaction has been severe. Since the heist news first emerged on Saturday, Aave has reportedly recorded around $9 billion in net outflows as of April 21. Total value locked on the platform fell by more than a third, dropping to about 17.5 billion.  That figure has since declined further, reaching approximately 14.3 billion at the time of this writing. The damage extended beyond Aave as well: according to DefiLlama data, across all decentralized lending protocols, TVL fell by roughly $13 billion within 48 hours after the exploit. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

While market observers often watch the price of tokens, the real story right now is happening in the background of the XRP Ledger. Institutional interest in XRP Spot ETFs is climbing, with more than $65 million in new funds entering the space. Related Reading: Rave Token Crashes 95% As Manipulation Allegations Trigger Panic This surge in professional investment coincides with a massive spike in network use. Daily transactions on the ledger have jumped to nearly 3 million. That is three times the volume seen just a year ago. Institutional Growth Drives Record Network Volume Data shows that the XRP Ledger is handling more than just simple transfers. Tokenized commodities have crossed a $1 billion milestone on the network. At the same time, Ripple’s own stablecoin, RLUSD, has reached a $1 billion market cap. This increase in utility is changing how people view the blockchain. Some market figures, like Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, still raise concerns about how Ripple funds its work by selling tokens from its own supply. However, the network itself is busier than ever. Demand for XRP keeps growing. More access, more ecosystems, more utility. https://t.co/zEqt5C3mmJ — Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) April 17, 2026 Reports indicate that Ripple recently moved 75 million XRP between April 20 and April 21. This amount is worth about $107 million. The movement was not a single transaction. Instead, it was a multi-step process. First, Ripple moved 50 million tokens to an internal wallet. From there, the funds moved through a series of addresses. One specific address split the 75 million XRP into five separate piles. Each pile held 15 million tokens. Ripple just moved 75,000,000 XRP worth $107,000,000 on-chain ???? something’s always cooking when Ripple moves this quietly… $XRP pic.twitter.com/W0WYXZQuRW — Xaif Crypto (@Xaif_Crypto) April 20, 2026 Tracking The Flow Of Millions To Major Exchanges The path of these tokens ended at different destinations. Based on reports, 50 million of the XRP reached Coinbase wallets. The other 25 million stayed in private addresses. This type of movement often makes traders nervous about a price drop. Usually, sending tokens to an exchange means someone is getting ready to sell. Despite the large amount of money moving, the price of XRP did not crash. XRP has actually held its ground quite well. The token is trading between $1.43 and $1.44. In the last seven days, it rose by about 8%. This performance was better than Bitcoin or Ether during the same period. Related Reading: Bitcoin’s Record Miner Sell-Off Casts Shadow Over Ceasefire-Fueled Rebound Analysts suggest that the 75 million XRP transfer might be for liquidity management. Since big investment firms are buying into ETFs, they need a steady supply of tokens to trade. Ripple may be moving these funds to make sure the market has enough depth to handle that demand. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

A key US crypto policy bill, the CLARITY Act, is now moving through its final stages in the Senate, with potential action tied to the Senate Banking Committee’s last markup expected in May.  But Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko says the legislation—despite broad praise from much of the crypto industry—could actually prolong the current downturn in digital assets. Bear Market Could Extend Beyond October In a YouTube interview with Paul Barron published Tuesday, Yusko described the CLARITY Act as “a horrible bill,” warning that if it passes, it would not trigger the bullish shift many investors are hoping for. Instead, he argued that bearish conditions could continue well beyond September and October.  Yusko also questioned the motivations behind the bill, saying it appears to have been written by “big incumbents,” which he further clarified as large banks.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Bottom At $63,000? Grayscale Research Flags Feb. 5 As This Cycle’s Low During the interview, the executive pointed to remarks attributed to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, claiming the bank would “lose trillions of dollars of deposits” if customers were able to earn stablecoin yields.  Yusko said this is exactly the kind of incentive that would push large financial institutions to resist competition, arguing that if people can earn yield in alternative places, they will move their capital. “There’s no mystery about it,” Yusko suggested, implying that big banks are signaling their priorities more openly than many expect. He also said he was confused by what he called a political reversal he noticed around Senator Cynthia Lummis.  Yusko referenced her earlier support for President Trump’s strategic Bitcoin reserve plan, then contrasted it with her backing of the CLARITY Act. In his view, the shift doesn’t make sense in light of what many see as the bill’s likely direction. Lummis Rejects Further CLARITY Act Delays On Tuesday, Senator Thom Tillis told reporters that he doesn’t expect a CLARITY Act markup in April and said the committee should instead focus on May. If that is the case, the week of May 11 would become the first possible window, especially since the Senate is scheduled to be in recess before then. Crypto In America reported that for a next-week markup to occur, the committee would need to notify members by this Friday. That notification reportedly has not happened, which the report ties to signals from the stablecoin-yield negotiation process.  Related Reading: XRP Indicator Turns Bullish Again After 3 Months: What’s The Next Price Target? Lummis, however, has publicly pushed back on the idea of further delay in the CLARITY Act passage. In a statement to Crypto In America, she said, “Further delay is unacceptable.”  She added that she is “really proud of the bipartisan progress we’ve made” and that she won’t allow colleagues to sacrifice substantive and good progress for what she described as the pursuit of a “perfect bill” that will never come.  The pro-crypto Senator also warned that the “offshore risk is real” and that the window for action is closing. “It’s time to finally get this done,” she concluded. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin miners dumped a record 40,000 BTC in the first quarter of this year — more than the entirety of 2025 combined and well above the 20,000 BTC sold in the panic following the Terra collapse in mid-2022. That number sits quietly beneath the surface of what otherwise looks like a recovering market. Related Reading: Strategy Raises $1.76B War Chest As Saylor Signals Bigger Bitcoin Buy Miners Signal Trouble Even As Prices Climb The sell-off came as mining difficulty dropped 2.4% to 135 trillion, while network hashrate climbed back from roughly 978 exahashes per second to 992 EH/s this month, according to data from Glassnode. When producers sell at record pace during a difficulty drop, it points to one thing: tight margins. The economics of mining haven’t recovered the way the price chart might suggest, and any sustained move above $80,000 would have to absorb continued selling from that same group. Bitcoin was trading at $76,827 on Tuesday noon, up 1.4% over 24 hours, as Iran confirmed it would send a delegation to Pakistan for a second round of ceasefire talks. Ether gained 1.18% to reach $2,311. XRP rose 1.2% to $1.42. Solana trailed the pack, up just 0.9% on the day and down 1% for the week. The broader market moved in the same direction. The MSCI All Country World Index added 0.1% after pausing on Monday, with Asian equities leading the charge and the regional tech index gaining 2.38%. Brent crude slipped 0.7% to $94.80 a barrel. Gold fell 0.6% to around $4,800. Silver dropped 1% to $78.89. Treasuries and the dollar were largely flat. A Deadline That Markets Can’t Ignore The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran expires Wednesday evening, Washington time. US President Donald Trump said Monday he does not plan to extend it. Markets are now priced around that deadline. Three vessels attempted passage through the Strait of Hormuz early Tuesday, with American and Iranian blockades still active — the first real test of whether the waterway is clearing before any agreement is signed. Bitcoin has lagged equities throughout this stretch. The MSCI ACWI has been on an 11-day rally that stumbled only once since de-escalation began. Bitcoin, by contrast, spent that same period crawling back from below $75,000 to just above $76,000. ETF Demand Holds The Floor Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $996 million last week, according to SoSoValue. Ethereum spot ETFs brought in $276 million over the same period. That institutional buying has kept a floor under prices even as miners push supply into the market. Related Reading: Rave Token Crashes 95% As Manipulation Allegations Trigger Panic Research firm Kaiko said a clean break above $76,000 would open a path toward $85,000. Analysts at K33 flagged that same level as a potential short squeeze trigger. On the downside, a slide back below $75,000 — if Wednesday’s deadline passes without a deal — remains the key risk traders are watching. Bitcoin’s ceasefire rally gave the alpha crypto a lift. The miners are using it to sell. Until that changes, the rebound has a floor but no clear roof. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

A new bipartisan bill introduced on Tuesday would give many fintech and crypto payment providers a clearer path to the US payment infrastructure.  The new measure, called the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency (PACE) Act, is designed to create a national payments license that would streamline how qualified companies can access federal payment services, to make digital transfers faster and less expensive for consumers and small businesses. How The PACE Act Could Work The PACE Act, introduced by Representatives Young Kim and Sam Liccardo, is said to include a streamlined federal registration process. Payment companies in the crypto sector could apply for federal registration under clear standards. The legislation also calls for direct access to federal payment networks for approved fintech and crypto companies, alongside what the Representatives describe as robust oversight and enforcement.  Related Reading: A Stark XRP Price Call: Why One Analyst Says It Could Be Under $1 By 2031 A key detail raised in the broader discussion of the bill is how it relates to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) approach to account structures for nonbank participants.  As reported by Crypto in America’s Eleanor Terrett, the PACE Act would permit these institutions to access Federal Reserve payment services in a manner aligned with Fed Governor Christopher Waller’s “skinny master accounts” concept—an approach crypto exchange Kraken gained access to earlier this year.  The reporting further says the bill would shift final decision-making authority for skinny master account applications to the Federal Reserve Board rather than the individual Reserve Banks. Crypto Groups Back New Proposal Several crypto groups have thrown their support behind the legislation. According to the bill’s official materials, endorsements include the Financial Technology Association, the Blockchain Association, the Digital Chamber, and the Crypto Council for Innovation (CCI).  Their collective message is that the bill would modernize access to core payment rails while keeping regulatory guardrails in place, especially for consumer protection and oversight. In remarks accompanying the announcement, Rep. Young Kim said Americans should not have to wait days to access money they are sending to themselves or pay extra just to move funds.  The bill, in her view, “modernizes our system to deliver faster payments, lower costs, and helps families and small businesses keep more of their hard-earned money.” Rep. Sam Liccardo also emphasized access and competition for nonbank payment firms, arguing that crypto payment companies have been shut out of the same infrastructure available to competitors.  Related Reading: AAVE Price Plummets By 26%: $9 Billion Net Outflows Traced To Kelp DAO Hack The Crypto Council for Innovation also praised the bill, pointing to its aim to allow businesses with 40 or more money transmitter licenses to comply with a uniform federal regulatory framework overseen by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).  The CCI position is that expanding access to Federal Reserve payment services for well-regulated institutions would improve competition, while ensuring strong consumer protection standards are met.  The Crypto Council for Innovation said it looks forward to working with Congress to move the legislation forward so Americans benefit from “secure and efficient payment options.” Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Ethereum is flashing a combination of technical and on-chain signals that analysts say could be the beginning of a meaningful recovery. For the first time in months, the structure of Ethereum’s price action appears to be shifting in the favor of bulls. The latest price action has brought the ETH price back above $2,300, setting up a structure that says the next leg is about to start. Related Reading: Asteroid Shiba’s 68,000% Rally Leaves Traders Stunned After Elon Musk Reply Technical Levels Reset, Analyst Flags Breakout Conditions Crypto analyst Ash Crypto drew attention to Ethereum’s price action this week, pointing to three developments that, taken together, suggest the groundwork for a new upward leg may be forming.  The first major development in Ethereum’s recent price action is its move back above the 100-day simple moving average. This level had acted as dynamic resistance, consistently capping upside attempts since November 2025. The break above it changes the tone of the chart, as it suggests that buyers are starting to regain control on higher timeframes. Second, a resistance zone that repeatedly rejected price throughout Q1 2026 has now been flipped into a support area. The chart shared by Ash Crypto shows a rising trendline from the February lows supporting price from below and creating a tightening range alongside a support zone to create an ascending triangle pattern.  ETH has since broken above the upper boundary of that triangle and is now testing the horizontal resistance band in the $2,300 to $2,370 range. According to the analyst, all Ethereum needs to do now is just hold above the $2,300 level, and the next leg up will start. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $2,316. Ethereum Price Chart. Source: @AshCrypto On X Institutional Demand Returns Through ETF Channel The third major development is the return of institutional inflows through US Spot Ethereum ETFs. Particularly, US Spot Ether ETFs recorded $275.83 million in inflows in the most recent week, which is their strongest weekly inflow since the week ending January 16.  Perhaps the most compelling evidence of a changing market dynamic comes from derivatives order flow data. Throughout this cycle, Ethereum has faced persistently negative net taker volume. This is a metric that measures the difference between buy and sell market orders on derivatives exchanges, and the negative reading means sellers were consistently overpowering buyers. That pattern has now reversed. As noted by CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, buy-side volumes have taken control on derivatives markets for the first time in the cycle, with a net taker volume reading of +$102 million recorded recently. ETH: NetTakerVolume. Source: @Darkfost_Coc On X Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz The last time Ethereum recorded buying pressure of this magnitude on derivatives markets was during the bear market of 2022, when ETH was trading around $1,000. If this trend manages to persist and buyers continue to absorb selling pressure, then it could indicate the early stages of a stronger structural recovery for Ethereum. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

One trader flipped a single ETH into more than $470,000 in just a few hours. Another held a position for 580 days watching it sit near zero, then walked away with close to $392,000. Both made their money on the same token — a memecoin called Asteroid Shiba — after a two-word reply from Elon Musk lit up crypto markets on Friday. Related Reading: Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading Expands As Charles Schwab Enters Crypto Market Asteroid Shiba: A Wish That Sparked A Frenzy The story behind the token is unlike most in the memecoin world. Asteroid Shiba was inspired by a plush Shiba Inu dog designed by Liv Perrotto, a 15-year-old girl who died after battling cancer. The toy wasn’t just a craft project — it actually flew aboard a space mission as a zero-gravity indicator. Before she passed, Liv had one request for Musk: make Asteroid the official mascot of SpaceX. ASTEROID went from $50K market cap to a peak of $23 Million today. What is it? Asteroid is a shiba inu designed by Liv Perrotto, a 15 year old girl with cancer who tragically passed away earlier this year. She wanted to ask Elon if he would make Asteroid into SpaceX’s mascot. pic.twitter.com/WiKocpDX9P — Arkham (@arkham) April 17, 2026 Musk replied to the post with three words — “Will answer shortly.” That was enough. Within hours, the token’s market cap shot from roughly $50,000 to more than $20 million. Radio host Glenn Beck had shared Liv’s story publicly, drawing wide attention to her connection to space exploration and her wish to reach Musk. Once Musk’s reply circulated, traders moved fast. At 15 years old, Liv Perrotto’s biggest dream was to meet @elonmusk. She had even written out a list of questions to ask him. Her mother @rebeccaperrotto told me that just days before she passed away from cancer, she had a chance to speak with Elon, but she was too tired and… pic.twitter.com/zTRMreMFhM — Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) April 16, 2026 Whales And Degens Rush In According to data shared by Arkham, the token’s rise was steep and quick. Reports indicate that traders — including large-wallet buyers known in crypto circles as whales — piled in almost immediately after Musk’s comment appeared. Figures from Coingecko show ASTEROID exploded to over 68,000% rally in the last seven days. State of the trenches: Degens are betting 5-6 figure positions that Elon Musk will make $Asteroid the mascot of SpaceX https://t.co/NU3LS3kucD pic.twitter.com/RXb4gOpNh8 — Wals (@walsxbt) April 17, 2026 One trader was described in reports as betting a six-figure sum on the possibility that Musk might formally adopt Asteroid as a SpaceX symbol. Reports note that the token gained extra momentum on Ethereum, where deeper market liquidity helped fuel the climb. The early holder who turned $21,000 into nearly $392,000 had kept that position through a year and a half of near-zero returns. Timing, in this case, made all the difference. Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz What Comes Next Depends On One Man The token has no product, no roadmap, and no corporate backing. Its entire value is tied to whether Musk says anything more. Reports say the rally was driven entirely by the story around it — the emotion, the space connection, and the open question of what Musk will do. If he follows up, the token could climb further. If he goes quiet, the price could drop just as fast as it rose. As of Friday, Musk had not made any additional statement about Asteroid or SpaceX. At the time of writing, ASTEROID price was down 40% in the last 24 hours, following a massive 68,428% increase last week, data from Coingecko shows. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The Dogecoin price is still compressed into a narrowing range just below $0.1, but analyst Lars has issued an update to a technical framework he has been tracking for weeks, one that now points to a significant move coming for the meme cryptocurrency. The outcome, however, hinges on one crucial confirmation that has yet to arrive. Related Reading: Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading Expands As Charles Schwab Enters Crypto Market Dogecoin TCT Model Begins To Play Out Bitcoin inflows are still steering the broader market, but Dogecoin has yet to fully follow that inflow momentum. It briefly pushed above $0.10 in the last 24 hours but has since slipped back below, leaving this level as the key pivot that will determine whether the price remains range-bound or transitions into a more decisive move. That is the basis of a new chart update from crypto analyst Lars on X, where he said he has adjusted the starting point of the current range and is now waiting for what he calls a TCT model 1 distribution confirmation.  Lars’ update is centered on a revised read of where the current trading range should begin, which changes how the compression structure is interpreted. In the charts he shared, Dogecoin is shown moving upward into a pink resistance band that stretches from $0.098 into the low-$0.10 region.  That band sits above a series of rising local lows on the one-hour candlestick chart, and the projected path suggests one more push higher into a third tap before rejection. The 4-hour chart carries the same idea on a broader timeframe, where Lars labels the region as a decisional range to monitor for distribution schematics, adding that no confirmation means no trade. Dogecoin Price Chart. Source: @Larskooistra_ On X The $0.10 Resistance And What Lies Beneath It The $0.098 to $0.100 band has functioned as stubborn resistance for Dogecoin since late March. Dogecoin has been forming lower highs while holding a stable base, indicating that while sellers remain active near resistance, they are no longer able to push the price significantly lower. The price action in the past three days, however, led to a higher high compared to April 6, which saw the Dogecoin price tap $0.1 as predicted. In another analysis, the analyst said he attempted to short Dogecoin during an extended TCT distribution, following a bearish break of structure at the New York open. The move initially looked like confirmation of further downside, but he noted there were two possible explanations behind the price action. One scenario was that the breakdown was genuine, with market makers stepping in to push the price lower right at the session open. The other pointed to a manipulation sell-off, possibly linked to Bitcoin accumulation. Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz The overall outlook for Dogecoin is still mixed when it comes to technical indicators, with 16 indicators currently signaling bearish conditions against 14 bullish signals at the time of writing, while the RSI sits at a neutral 61.45. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

A bold XRP price forecast is gaining traction among community members, as an analyst predicts the cryptocurrency’s next moves in the coming weeks. The expert has mapped out an aggressive roadmap tied to a sequence of upcoming events, including the launch of X Money, which he expects could potentially drive XRP’s price toward $10. The projections also point to a much larger breakout phase, fueled by highly anticipated developments that could redefine the digital asset’s market position.  Related Reading: Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading Expands As Charles Schwab Enters Crypto Market X Money Projected To Drive XRP Price To $10  Crypto market expert The Real Remi Relief has released an incredibly bullish outlook for XRP, sharing his personal playbook for the cryptocurrency in the next few weeks. His forecast, delivered on X, links several upcoming developments to major price increases, suggesting that each milestone could push XRP into dramatically higher trading ranges. In his post, the first catalyst The Real Remi Relief highlighted is the launch of X Money, a developing financial ecosystem associated with Elon Musk’s X social media platform. According to the analyst’s outlook, if the platform rolls out within the next one to two weeks and generates demand for crypto payment assets, the XRP price could skyrocket to a range between $5 and $10.  Notably, X Money has already become a major topic of discussion in broader fintech and crypto circles due to Musk’s long-term ambition to turn the platform into a full financial hub. While official launch details remain limited, recent updates on its features suggest that the system could allow users to facilitate crypto payments and enable transfers between creators, merchants, and users within the X app. These reports have naturally fueled speculation in the crypto space, especially around whether digital assets like XRP or Dogecoin could eventually be integrated into X Money. Although no confirmed link has been established between XRP and the payment platform, the cryptocurrency continues to appear in discussions due to its ability to deliver fast and low-cost cross-border settlements. Some analysts also suggest that the hype and infrastructure overlap from X Money could drive the XRP price higher.  Other Catalysts That Could Boost XRP’s Value  In his post, The Real Remi Relief highlighted a second catalyst, pointing to a macroeconomic event known as the Reserve Carry Trade (RCT). This event involves rising oil prices and ongoing tensions in the Middle East, which could pressure Japan to raise interest rates to support the yen.  If this happens, investors who had been borrowing cheap yen may be forced to redirect capital into liquid, high-potential assets like XRP. The analyst’s projection suggests that this shift in global capital could flow heavily into XRP, potentially triggering a price surge to $50-$150.  Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz Concluding his forecast, the market expert believes that the upcoming CLARITY Act could ignite a massive price surge for XRP. He has projected a parabolic move toward $1,200 and $1,700, effectively launching XRP’s market value into the quadruple-digit territory.  Featured image from X/@MarioNawfal, chart from TradingView

Worldcoin’s growing list of corporate partners got longer on Friday — and so did the questions surrounding it. Related Reading: BREAKING – Bitcoin Breaks $78K As Iran Reopens Strait Of Hormuz Big Names, Bigger Ambitions Zoom and DocuSign are the latest companies to adopt World’s identity verification system, joining a growing roster of mainstream platforms built around the iris-scanning technology backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Dating app Tinder is also rolling out World ID to users in the US. The announcements came Friday, the same day World’s native token, WLD, took a steep hit in the market. Worldcoin slipped 10% to around $0.28, even as Sam Altman pushed ahead with new integrations tied to its identity-focused “proof of human” technology. The drop stood out, with the token moving against broader crypto strength during the session. No more deepfakes on video calls. @worldnetwork identify verification on @Zoom. pic.twitter.com/0ap0IOKR6H — World (@worldnetwork) April 17, 2026 Worldcoin: What The Technology Actually Does At the center of World’s system is a device called the Orb. It scans a user’s iris to produce a unique digital identity, which is then used to confirm the person is human — without storing or exposing personal data, according to the company. That identity can then be tied to third-party platforms through World ID. Zoom is using a feature called Deep Face authentication to flag and block deepfakes during video calls. DocuSign is applying World’s ID verification to electronic agreements. Both integrations target the same underlying problem: AI-generated content has made it harder to tell humans from machines, and fraud using synthetic identities is on the rise. “As AI agents increasingly act on behalf of real people, the infrastructure to prove a human stands behind each agent becomes critical,” World said in a statement. World has also updated its account system, adding key recovery and multi-device support to make verification easier to carry across platforms. Privacy Questions Aren’t Going Away Biometric data collection at this scale draws scrutiny. Critics have raised concerns that centralizing iris data under a single private company creates risks — both in terms of data security and the potential for misuse. Surveillance, in particular, has been flagged as a serious concern if the system is ever applied beyond its stated purpose. WLD is the token that powers the World Network. Users earn it by verifying their identity through the Orb, and it can be used for transactions within the ecosystem. Related Reading: Bitcoin, Ethereum Trading Expands As Charles Schwab Enters Crypto Market Coinbase announced in March it would use World’s AgentKit — a developer toolkit that links AI agents to verified human identities — for its x402 micropayments protocol. That deal added another layer to Worldcoin’s push into the AI space, where proving human oversight of automated systems has become a growing priority for developers and companies alike. Featured image from Rest of World, chart from TradingView

XRP has followed the broader rebound in crypto markets as geopolitical conditions appear to be easing. With the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the possibility—however uncertain—of progress toward an end to the Iran–US conflict, risk appetite has improved.  In that environment, XRP has surged and briefly pushed toward the $1.51 level on Friday for the first time in almost a month, alongside a set of catalysts that could determine whether the rally gains real momentum—or quickly unwinds. The Timeline That Could Make Or Break XRP In his latest report, market expert Sam Daodu points out that while the near-term outlook for XRP looks promising, it hinges on three dates coming up in the next two weeks. The first factor is tied to the macro story itself: a possible extension of the Iran–US ceasefire. The closest deadline is April 22, when the Iran ceasefire is set to expire.  Daodu links the timing of this expiry directly to market risk, arguing that if tensions return and the conflict resumes, the broader crypto market would probably fall again—dragging XRP down with it. Related Reading: Could Bitcoin Hit $90,000 And Trigger A New Altcoin Rally? Expert Cites 6 Major Catalysts The second major date is tied to US regulation, and it is arguably the bigger one for XRP’s longer-term recovery: the CLARITY Act markup that the Senate Banking Committee is targeting for late April.  If the CLARITY Act is delayed beyond May, he suggests the bill would likely be shelved until 2027. In that scenario, the expert asserts XRP would lose its biggest remaining catalyst for 2026.  The third key date is the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on April 28–29. The Federal Reserve (Fed) is widely expected to hold interest rates at 3.50%–3.75%.  Daodu argues that, on its own, the meeting may not move XRP much. The bigger issue is what happens if geopolitical risk and regulatory momentum both disappoint at the same time.  If the Iran ceasefire collapses and the CLARITY Act stalls, a hawkish surprise from the Fed would likely worsen conditions. In other words, it is not just each event standing alone; it is the interaction between them that could shape the next phase of the market. Potential Outcomes For The Next Two Weeks Against that backdrop, Daodu offers three price scenarios for XRP, framing them around what happens with the ceasefire, the CLARITY Act, and the broader market over roughly the next two weeks.  In his bullish case, XRP could move into a range of $1.50 to $1.90. That would depend on the Senate Banking Committee scheduling the CLARITY Act markup before the end of April and on the Iran ceasefire being extended beyond April 22.  Daodu believes XRP could aim for the 200-day moving average near $1.90 by May. Still, he cautions that reaching that point would require sustained ETF inflows and continued strength in Bitcoin (BTC). Related Reading: Circle (CRCL) Sued Over $280M Drift Protocol Hack—What Plaintiffs Claim In a base-case outlook, Daodu forecasts XRP trading between $1.35 and $1.50. This scenario assumes the ceasefire extends past April 22, but the CLARITY Act markup is pushed to May.  In the bearish scenario, Daodu sees the altcoin potentially falling into a range of $1.15 to $1.30. This would be triggered if the war resumes after April 22 and oil prices spike above $100 again, which would likely pressure the entire crypto market.  In that case, Daodu says a move back below $1.30 becomes more likely. If Bitcoin also breaks down below $70,000 at the same time, XRP could retest the $1.15 support area.  At the time of writing, the altcoin is trading at around $1.49, still recording major gains of 10% and 13% over the seven- and fourteen-day periods, respectively.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

A fresh crypto controversy has flared up in Poland, with Prime Minister Donald Tusk accusing a crypto firm he says was formed with “Russian money” of backing political rivals and conservative events.  Tusk made the remarks in the Polish parliament on Friday, as lawmakers prepared to vote on whether to overturn a veto by Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate whose leadership has become central to the dispute over new crypto regulations. The issue traces back to Nawrocki’s rejection of two separate attempts by the liberal government to regulate the Polish crypto market over the last six months.  Zondacrypto’s Ties To Bratva And Russian Secret Services According to AP, Tusk spoke ahead of the parliamentary vote to override Nawrocki’s decision. In his speech, Tusk argued that the repeated blocking of regulations pointed to the interests of a particular company, Zondacrypto, which he said has provided financial support and maintains links to Russia. Tusk’s allegations went beyond general claims of foreign influence. He told lawmakers that the funding behind Zondacrypto’s success comes from Russian money tied to the “Bratva,” described by Tusk as one of Russia’s most important mafia groups, as well as from Russian secret services.  Related Reading: Circle (CRCL) Sued Over $280M Drift Protocol Hack—What Plaintiffs Claim He further said Zondacrypto not only supports events in Poland but also “promotes very specific political forces.” In his account, the company has helped finance politicians from the Law and Justice party, Poland’s former national-conservative governing group, along with figures from the far-right Confederation. The prime minister also claimed that the crypto firm served as a strategic sponsor of a major Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) event held in Poland.  That meeting took place in Rzeszów in March 2025, AP reported, just five days before the presidential election that delivered a tight race between a candidate associated with Tusk’s political camp and Nawrocki. Government Defends Crypto Rules Tusk also asserted that Nawrocki was fully aware of Zondacrypto’s details when he chose to veto the proposed crypto regulations. He argued that the veto decisions were not made without context, pointing to the alleged relationship between Zondacrypto and key political actors. In response to the accusations, Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the president’s office, said Nawrocki was not opposing the need to regulate the crypto markets.  Instead, Bogucki said Nawrocki’s objections were aimed at what he described as a flawed “regulatory model” proposed by the government. Meanwhile, Sławomir Mentzen, leader of the Confederation party, said the incoming legislation would have “destroyed the Polish cryptocurrency market.” Related Reading: Could Bitcoin Hit $90,000 And Trigger A New Altcoin Rally? Expert Cites 6 Major Catalysts The Polish government maintains that the new crypto regulations are designed to bring Poland in line with European Union (EU) rules governing digital assets.  As for Zondacrypto, the company did not respond directly to AP’s questions about Tusk’s claims. However, the firm had told Polish media earlier this week that it is cooperating with Polish authorities investigating the allegations. For now, the parliamentary vote scheduled to follow Tusk’s remarks will determine whether the government can move forward despite Nawrocki’s vetoes—while the wider political dispute over alleged foreign-linked support for specific factions continues to grow around Poland’s crypto debate. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Circle (CRCL), the issuer behind the USDC stablecoin, is facing a fresh lawsuit in Massachusetts tied to the $280 million Drift Protocol hack that occurred on April 1.  The complaint, filed by plaintiffs represented by the law firm Gibbs Mura, alleges that Circle did not take action to freeze stolen funds even though it had both the technical ability and contractual authority to do so. Drift Hack Fallout According to the lawsuit, attackers drained an estimated $280–$285 million from the Solana-based exchange in less than 12 minutes. The stolen assets were then moved from Solana to Ethereum over the course of roughly eight hours using Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP).  Related Reading: Could Bitcoin Hit $90,000 And Trigger A New Altcoin Rally? Expert Cites 6 Major Catalysts The transfer allegedly took place during US business hours, a detail plaintiffs highlight to emphasize that the alleged movement and conversion of funds occurred while the matter was ongoing, without intervention from Circle to freeze the assets. The filing further claims that user funds were pulled from multiple parts of Drift’s platform, including trading, lending, and vault deposits. As the breach unfolded, Drift’s total value locked reportedly fell sharply from about $550 million to under $250 million.  In response to the incident, deposits and withdrawals were suspended indefinitely. The impact, plaintiffs say, extended beyond Drift itself: at least 20 other DeFi protocols reported indirect losses related to exposure to Drift. Circle Accused Of Not Freezing Assets  The plaintiffs also point to a separate earlier civil matter involving Circle. Nine days before the Drift-related lawsuit, Circle reportedly froze 16 unrelated business wallets.  That, according to the plaintiffs, demonstrates that Circle has the capability—and, in that instance, the willingness—to freeze funds when it deems it appropriate.  However, the lawsuit alleges that Circle failed to freeze the stolen USDC and other assets that were allegedly converted into USDC after the hack. Related Reading: Bitcoin Policy Institute Maps Out Strategy For US Stablecoin Supremacy Across 5 Policy Areas Circle is accused of using its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol in a way that plaintiffs say allowed attackers to offload up to $230 million onto the Ethereum blockchain.  In the lawsuit’s framing, this is central to why the plaintiffs believe Circle should have acted to prevent the transfers of stolen stablecoins and connected assets during the time the funds were being moved. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) has struggled to advance above major hurdles during the recent recovery, with price action failing to break through the $76,000 resistance level.  The market signals also show that several major cryptocurrencies—Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), and XRP—managed to track Bitcoin’s rebound. Even with that follow-through, they have likewise not fully cleared their own higher resistance levels.  Still, some analysts believe a cluster of supportive factors is starting to line up in a way that could lift both BTC and the broader crypto market to levels not seen since the beginning of the year. ‘Perfect Time’ For Bitcoin In a social media post on X (previously Twitter), market analyst Ash Crypto claimed that Bitcoin’s bullish setup could hardly be better at this point, and attributed that view to six catalysts he believes could push prices higher.  Among them, Ash pointed to the S&P 500 reaching a new all-time high, alongside expectations that the Russell 2000 and the Nasdaq could also set new highs soon.  Related Reading: Bitcoin Policy Institute Maps Out Strategy For US Stablecoin Supremacy Across 5 Policy Areas He also cited US economic data, highlighting that the ISM PMI has been above 52 for three straight months. In addition, Ash also referenced geopolitical headlines, arguing that peace talks involving the US, Iran, Israel, and Lebanon could reduce uncertainty and support risk appetite. On the crypto-specific side, Ash emphasized institutional and ecosystem demand. He noted that Michael Saylor’s Strategy (previously MicroStrategy) and spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are buying billions of BTC each week, framing it as an ongoing source of accumulation.  Finally, he suggested that the pace of development is accelerating in response to the “quantum threat,” which he sees as an additional long-term tailwind.  Why Altcoin Upside Is Possible Putting those pieces together, Ash concluded that conditions are “the perfect time” for Bitcoin to push toward the $85,000–$90,000 range, and that the move would likely be supportive for altcoins as well. Related Reading: What Presidio Bitcoin Found About Quantum Computing: Threat Timeline And Next Steps If the catalysts he highlighted continue to gain traction—starting from equity strength and macro stability, alongside institutional BTC demand—then both Bitcoin’s ascent and an altcoin resurgence could become increasingly plausible. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) has released a new policy proposal for the United States aimed at establishing what it calls “stablecoin supremacy.” The proposal, published on Wednesday, is structured around five policy areas and comes on the heels of the already-enacted GENIUS Act. Bitcoin Policy Institute Warning At the center of BPI’s argument is the claim that regulated stablecoins can help extend US oversight over offshore dollar markets. In the institute’s view, doing so would not only reduce systemic risks but also blunt what it frames as China’s push into digital currency.  The BPI describes how offshore banks can create dollar-denominated credit on their own, capture the profits from intermediation, and rely on the Federal Reserve (Fed) as a kind of implicit backstop when the system strains.  BPI characterizes this setup as a serious vulnerability for the US economy. Because of that, the institute argues that regulated stablecoins offer the United States a tool for restructuring the underlying dynamic. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Breaks Higher: What The Market Data Says Could Happen Next Under the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July 2025, BPI says stablecoin issuers must maintain 100% reserves in instruments such as Treasury bills, Treasury repo, or insured deposits. The law also prohibits issuers from lending against those reserves.  BPI says the result is that when a foreign individual or corporation holds a GENIUS-compliant stablecoin instead of placing funds in a Eurodollar deposit, the relevant Treasury security sits on the balance sheet of a US-regulated entity rather than feeding the offshore system’s ability to multiply credit.  In BPI’s framing, the dollar value can move around the world, but the reserve stays “home,” reducing what it calls the external vulnerability dimension of the Triffin Dilemma.  Stablecoin Supremacy Blueprint BPI further links the stablecoin case to broader competitive pressures in digital assets. It notes that China’s digital yuan now pays interest to holders and that China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System processes transactions across 190 countries.  The institute also points to Europe’s MiCA regime, arguing it provides a framework for euro-denominated stablecoins that is, in some respects, more advanced than current US implementation.  Taken together, BPI says these developments weaken American influence over the “rails” where money actually moves—an area BPI calls both the most contested and most fragile part of dollar dominance. To respond, the institute proposes a framework to advance stablecoin supremacy across five policy areas. First, it calls for hardening GENIUS Act implementation by building a backstop architecture.  BPI describes this as creating committed repo lines with primary dealers and establishing a path to Federal Reserve Standing Repo Facility access, with the goal of making compliant stablecoins more attractive than offshore alternatives. Second, BPI proposes that the United States export stablecoins rather than Eurodollar deposits in international trade settlement. The aim, according to the institute, would be to pull Treasury demand back onshore and eliminate what it describes as the offshore credit multiplier on marginal dollar flows. Related Reading: What Presidio Bitcoin Found About Quantum Computing: Threat Timeline And Next Steps Third, BPI argues for a fee and rewards approach that allows regulated stablecoins to compete with interest-bearing Eurodollar deposits and even China’s digital yuan—while still staying within the GENIUS Act’s statutory interest prohibition. Fourth, the proposal addresses decentralized finance (DeFi) risks. BPI warns about DeFi credit multiplication and calls for smart-contract-level restrictions and enforcement “chokepoints” to ensure unregulated protocols cannot replicate the Eurodollar multiplier on blockchain networks. Finally, BPI says the US should preserve foreign currency sovereignty by supporting local monetary systems alongside stablecoin adoption. The institute frames this as a way to ensure stablecoin integration acts as shared economic development rather than financial coercion. In the institute’s view, these goals can be achieved without issuing additional sovereign debt to foreign governments or expanding the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet. Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin (BTC) is pressing up against a major decision point after failing to break above the $76,000 resistance level. Following consecutive rejections in that area, the cryptocurrency has shifted into consolidation once again.  Bitcoin Set For A ‘Final Push’ One of the latest bullish takes came on Wednesday from market analyst Ted Pillows, who recently suggested that Bitcoin has broken out of a broader 7-month downtrend.  In his view, this shift is supported by a technical signal on the weekly chart: a weekly MACD bullish cross. Pillows argues that, together, these developments could trigger what he describes as a final push higher, with BTC potentially targeting the $77,000–$78,000 zone. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Breaks Higher: What The Market Data Says Could Happen Next Yet Pillows also included a warning that tempers the upside outlook. He said that after Bitcoin reaches that area, the cryptocurrency could fall to new yearly lows in the second quarter, without offering a specific price level for how low BTC might drop.  In explaining why a bottom might form later, Pillows pointed to the macroeconomic backdrop. He believes the new Federal Reserve (Fed) chair will accelerate rate cuts and drive liquidity injections in the third quarter as mid-term elections approach.  According to his scenario, that policy shift would help establish a market bottom for Bitcoin and could set the stage for a “V-shape” recovery, similar to what the market experienced during March 2020 and again in April 2025. Extreme Capitulation Scenario A separate technical post from analyst Ali Martinez focused more directly on timing and “capitulation” levels that could define the floor. Martinez highlighted the Long-Term Holder (LTH) Realized Price of approximately $49,387 as what he called the final line of defense for the cycle.  Related Reading: What Presidio Bitcoin Found About Quantum Computing: Threat Timeline And Next Steps In his framework, if Bitcoin reaches that level and holds, it may prevent the market from sliding into a more severe outcome. However, Martinez also described an extreme scenario—what he referred to as a “black swan” event—where a further wick down could occur to the -0.2 Standard Deviation Band at $36,657. Martinez suggested that these two levels can be viewed as “Generational Entries,” meaning they could represent points where longer-term participants step in and where conditions begin to shift from capitulation toward recovery.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Non-profit group Presidio Bitcoin has released a technical report examining the growing quantum computing risk to the Bitcoin network.  The document looks at where quantum capabilities stand today, how much of BTC’s value could be exposed, what mitigations are already feasible, and how the wider ecosystem might coordinate a software update and migration.  Why Upgrades Are Harder In A Decentralized System Presidio Bitcoin begins from a simple point: Bitcoin is software, and that is both its power and its weakness. Because it is built as a system of code, Bitcoin is relatively easy to move, verify, and hold.  At the same time, it inherits digital risks that come with relying on cryptography. One of the most important of those risks has been discussed since Bitcoin’s early days—cryptographically relevant quantum computers, often shortened to CRQCs.  Related Reading: XRP Could Face Big Moves Based On CLARITY Act Outcomes – 3 Key Price Scenarios In theory, a CRQC could break the elliptic curve cryptography that underpins Bitcoin by enabling the derivation of private keys from public keys. The report emphasizes that this would primarily enable quantum-enabled theft of coins tied to exposed public keys.  The report argues that Bitcoin’s mitigation toolkit is broad and technically achievable today, but the path is less straightforward than it is for more centralized systems.  In centralized environments, coordination can be directed more easily. With Bitcoin, coordinating upgrades across developers, users, wallets, custodians, and infrastructure is inherently more complex.  There is also the risk of making changes too early, too quickly, or in a way that creates new vulnerabilities. Presidio also notes that post-quantum schemes come with meaningful trade-offs, not just technical but practical ones for the ecosystem. 6.5 Million Bitcoin Could Be At Risk At the center of the vulnerability is Shor’s algorithm. Presidio explains that if a sufficiently powerful quantum computer exists, it could execute Shor’s algorithm to derive private keys from exposed public keys.  The report provides a stark quantitative estimate of what that could mean. If a cryptographically relevant quantum computer existed today, approximately 6.5 million BTC— one-third of the total supply—would be immediately vulnerable to theft. More than two-thirds of that exposure—about 4.5 million Bitcoin—comes from address reuse. Much of the reuse, the report says, is concentrated among a small group of large custodians that use the practice for simplicity.  While that concentration increases the risk profile, Presidio also points out that this portion is reducible without any protocol change. The mitigation is straightforward in concept: rotate to fresh addresses.  The remaining structural exposure is different in nature. Presidio estimates 1.72 million BTC sits in legacy pay-to-pubkey (P2PK) outputs, and the report notes that most of those are presumed lost.  It also distinguishes another category: addresses that have never been spent and where only a hash of the public key is visible on-chain are not vulnerable at rest under current understanding. The Uncertain Clock For CRQCs A major part of the report is the uncertainty around timing. Presidio stresses that the timeline for CRQCs remains uncertain, with expert surveys placing the probability of cryptographically relevant machines emerging between 2030 and 2035 at about 50%.  Even so, Presidio outlines a concrete strategy for Bitcoin network’s path forward. It involves deploying post-quantum signature schemes via a soft fork, rather than a disruptive hard change.  Related Reading: Three-Way Bitcoin Outlook Tied To US–Iran War—Which Case Is Most Realistic? Activation is where timing matters most. Presidio says the Bitcoin ecosystem will likely complete the post-quantum signature activation well before a CRQC threat materializes.  However, Chaincode’s playbook—referenced in the report—places activation around month 6–7 if it does not happen earlier. After activation, migration would follow.  Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com