The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency handed Coinbase a national bank trust charter last week — a major regulatory win that came as the crypto exchange’s CEO was ramping up pressure on Congress to finalize long-stalled digital asset legislation. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $17 After Massive Breakout—Is A 1,100% Surge Next? Armstrong Reverses Course On Clarity Act Brian Armstrong, who pulled Coinbase’s backing from the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act back in January, is now calling on lawmakers to pass it. In a post on X, Armstrong said the bill, as it stands after months of negotiation, is strong enough to move forward. “It’s time to pass the Clarity Act,” he wrote. His change of heart follows an op-ed by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in the Wall Street Journal, in which Bessent urged Congress to act without further delay. Armstrong said Coinbase agreed with the Treasury chief’s position. We agree. Thank you @SecScottBessent for saying it. It’s time to pass the Clarity Act. Grateful for all the bipartisan work among Senators and staff over the past several months to make this a strong bill. https://t.co/jHoZ1bfLVZ pic.twitter.com/YBKebDkq8B — Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 10, 2026 Three months ago, the story looked very different. Armstrong had objected to the bill’s language, and his withdrawal of support was enough to push Senate Banking Committee members to delay a scheduled markup vote. Issues around stablecoin yield, tokenized equities, and ethics provisions were among the sticking points holding things up. Negotiations Inch Toward A Deal Progress has been slow but appears to be moving. Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said last week that lawmakers were very close to reaching an agreement. The Senate Agriculture Committee already approved the bill in January, clearing one of two key hurdles. The Senate Banking Committee has yet to schedule its own markup, which must happen before the full chamber can vote. Both panels are responsible for different parts of the bill — one covering securities rules, the other commodities regulations. Getting the bill through will require alignment from both sides of a complicated regulatory divide. Crypto executives and banking industry representatives have all had a hand in shaping the current draft through direct talks with administration officials. Crypto’s Reach In Washington Continues To Grow Coinbase is not the only company that has benefited from a friendlier political climate. Paxos, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, and Fidelity Digital Assets all received similar charter approvals in December. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Hype Hits Ceiling, Sharp Drop Risk Emerges: Analyst Reports indicate Armstrong met personally with US President Donald Trump before Trump publicly called for quick action on crypto market structure rules. Ripple executives have also been part of White House discussions on the bill. Whether the Senate Banking Committee moves quickly remains to be seen. But with the Treasury Secretary, the White House, and now Coinbase’s CEO aligned behind the legislation, the pressure on Congress to act is real. Featured image from Thana Prasongsin/Getty Images, chart from TradingView
Cardano’s short sellers are taking a beating. Over the past 24 hours, over $500,000 worth of short positions were liquidated as ADA hovered near $0.25 — a price point that one unnamed trader is calling a powder keg ready to blow. Related Reading: XRP Faces No Immediate Quantum Threat As Only 0.03% Supply Seen At Risk: Analyst Whale Activity Signals Quiet Accumulation Exchange data tells a quiet story of confidence beneath the surface. More ADA has been flowing out of exchanges than flowing in, a pattern that often shows up when large holders are pulling coins into private wallets rather than preparing to sell. Whale accumulation has picked up as well. Reports indicate the number of wallets holding 10 million or more ADA recently climbed to a four-month high, even as the price continued sliding. The liquidation data reflects the same tension. Of the $637,500 in total ADA positions wiped out in the past day, shorts accounted for nearly 80% of the damage. Long positions absorbed the rest — about $135,200 — as buyers got caught on the wrong side of brief downward swings. BREAKING: CARDANO ( $ADA ) IS A TICKING TIME BOMB SAYS EXPERT TRADER ???????????? The target is 1.20$ end of this week. In his words “there’s nowhere left for it to go this week it will either go up or go down.” pic.twitter.com/Sg8yef818a — ????Mintern (@MinswapIntern) April 9, 2026 A Chart Four Years In The Making The technical case for a breakout rests on a structure that has been building since early 2022. Based on a chart shared by Minswap DEX’s self-described chief meme officer Mintern on X, ADA has been trading inside a horizontal price channel for roughly four years, bouncing between a ceiling and a floor without breaking decisively in either direction. ADA’s all-time high of $3.10 came in 2021. After that peak, the coin dropped sharply. By the week of January 17, 2022, it had fallen from $1.60 to below $0.91, before eventually settling near the top of the channel around $1.18. That range — from roughly $0.23 on the low end to $1.18 on the high end — has contained price action ever since. A descending trendline developed inside the channel starting around August 2025, when ADA peaked near $1.02 and then began forming a series of lower highs. Today, the price sits where that trendline meets the channel’s lower boundary — a compression point that typically forces a decisive move. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETF Hype Hits Ceiling, Sharp Drop Risk Emerges: Analyst The unnamed trader’s analysis calls for a breakout to the upside with a price target near $1.20 before the week ends. That would represent a roughly 380% gain from current levels in less than two days. A Bold Call From An Unknown Voice Still, the prediction carries real weight only if its source does — and that source remains unknown. The trader behind the “ticking time bomb” call was never identified in the analysis Mintern shared, which raises obvious questions about credibility, track record, and motive. A 380% rally in under 48 hours is an extraordinary claim. Extraordinary claims demand more than an anonymous chart. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
Gold has quietly outrun Bitcoin by a wide margin — and one Wall Street analyst says that gap tells the real story of where markets are headed. Related Reading: XRP Faces No Immediate Quantum Threat As Only 0.03% Supply Seen At Risk: Analyst Bitcoin’s ETF Gains Pale Against Gold’s Run Since the launch of US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in early 2024, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust helped push Bitcoin’s price up roughly 50%. Gold, over the same stretch, climbed about 135%. That performance gap is central to the argument being made by Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, who says capital may already be moving away from high-risk assets toward safer ground. McGlone has been laying out his case through a series of posts on X, warning that the explosive run Bitcoin made past $100,000 following the arrival of spot ETFs may now be over. Bitcoin is currently trading around $72,000. McGlone’s downside target is $10,000. Getting there would require a drop of more than 86%. Bitcoin May be Guiding Risk Asset Reversion The launch of US Bitcoin ETFs in 2024 helped push the price above $100,000 and may guide reversion back toward $10,000. What’s notable from my graphic is the first-born crypto reaching an apex in 2025 alongside US stock market… pic.twitter.com/LCKF213Ss4 — Mike McGlone (@mikemcglone11) April 9, 2026 Peak Cycle, Not A New Era McGlone traces Bitcoin’s 2025 high of $126,200 to a specific moment in broader market history. At roughly the same time Bitcoin hit that peak, the US stock market’s total value relative to the country’s gross domestic product reached its highest point since 1928 — a ratio widely used to judge whether equities are overpriced. According to McGlone, that overlap is not a coincidence. He describes the conditions that drove Bitcoin’s rise as a mix of ETF-driven inflows, political tailwinds from US President Donald Trump’s embrace of crypto, and what he calls “peak beta” — a phase where speculative assets briefly surge before falling hard. Reports from his analysis suggest this combination created the conditions for a sharp reversal rather than a sustained bull run. Bitcoin is also about four times more volatile than the S&P 500, according to McGlone’s data, which he says makes it a difficult sell for institutional investors who weigh returns against risk. Capital Rotation Raises Questions About Bitcoin’s Role The S&P 500, on a risk-adjusted basis, has outperformed Bitcoin ETFs since their debut. McGlone points to that as a sign the ETF launch may have served more as a late-cycle catalyst than a structural turning point for the asset class. Based on his analysis, the phase he calls “pump then dump” — where prices spike and then reverse — may already be underway. If that reading is correct, Bitcoin could fall alongside other speculative assets while gold continues to attract investors looking for stability. Related Reading: XRP Eyes $17 After Massive Breakout—Is A 1,100% Surge Next? McGlone stops short of saying exactly when a drop to $10,000 would occur. His argument is framed around broader market conditions tightening and investors pulling back from risk, not a specific timeline. What he does say clearly is that the ETF boom, once seen as a long-term driver for Bitcoin, may have already done most of its work. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bithumb has pushed its stock market listing past 2028, citing the need to overhaul its accounting systems and internal controls after a high-profile crypto payout error drew scrutiny from South Korean regulators. Related Reading: XRP Headed For A Price Shock, Japan’s Financial Heavyweight Says Regulator Steps In After Industry Audit The Financial Services Commission announced Monday that all crypto exchanges operating in the country must now reconcile their internal records with actual asset holdings on a five-minute cycle. The directive followed an emergency inspection triggered by Bithumb’s February blunder, in which the exchange accidentally sent 620,000 Bitcoin to 249 users during a rewards promotion. Bithumb recovered nearly all of it the same day — 99.7% — and used company funds to cover the remaining 1,788 BTC that had already been sold. What the inspection turned up across the broader industry alarmed regulators. Three of South Korea’s five largest exchanges were checking their books just once every 24 hours. Systems meant to pause trading when major discrepancies were detected were found to be inadequate. Sweeping Operational Changes Now Required Under the new rules, exchanges must build automated systems that match ledger records to actual wallet balances every five minutes. They are also required to set clear thresholds that trigger automatic trading halts when something looks off. High-risk activities — promotional payouts, for example — will need third-party reviews and sign-off from multiple internal levels before going through. High-risk accounts must be separated, and automated payment verification tools will become mandatory. External audits are changing too. Quarterly reviews are out. Monthly audits are in. Exchanges will also need to publish detailed breakdowns of asset balances by both wallet and ledger. The FSC said it and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance plan to finish drafting the updated rules before the end of April. Related Reading: XRP Wallet Count Tops 8 Million As Trading Volume Nears $4 Billion Bithumb Delays IPO, Naver Slows Share Deal Bithumb’s listing plans have now been pushed back at least three years from its original 2025 target. The exchange has brought in advisory firm Samjong KPMG and said it will spend 2027 focused on tightening its financial policies and controls before making another run at going public. Separately, Naver Financial has delayed its planned share swap with crypto firm Dunamu by about three months. A shareholder vote is now set for Aug. 18, with the deal expected to close by Sept. 30. South Korea has long been one of the most active countries in regulating crypto markets. These latest moves signal that pressure is intensifying — and that exchanges can expect less room for error going forward. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
West Texas Intermediate crude has hit $115 a barrel, gasoline prices in the US are up nearly 40% since late February, and Bitcoin is still trying to break through a wall it has failed to climb six times now. That is the world Bitcoin finds itself in on Monday as it briefly touched $69,550 — a modest 3.30% gain that nevertheless sent shockwaves through the derivatives market. Related Reading: Bitcoin Stumbles Hard: The Worst Q1 In Years Raises Big Questions Short Sellers Take The Hardest Hit Over $276 million in leveraged positions were wiped out in 24 hours, hitting 80,200 traders across crypto derivatives platforms. The damage was not spread evenly. Bears took the brunt of it. According to CoinGlass data, short positions accounted for $188 million of the $210 million liquidated in just the 12-hour window around the price surge. Long liquidations, by comparison, came in at $24 million. Traders who had been betting on a continued decline were caught flat-footed as Bitcoin pushed back toward the $70,000 mark it has repeatedly failed to hold since early February. The asset remains well off its best levels. Bitcoin set an all-time high of $126,000 on October 6, 2025. At current prices, it is trading roughly 45% below that record — context that puts Monday’s rally in sharper perspective. A Squeeze Could Still Be Coming The positioning data tells an uneven story. Based on CoinGlass figures, more than $6 billion in short positions are stacked near $72,500. If Bitcoin pushes up to that level, those positions could be forced to close in rapid succession. On the downside, about $2 billion in long positions sit near $65,000 — a smaller but real risk if momentum fades. That gap between short and long exposure is what has some traders watching closely for a possible extended squeeze. Bitcoin has made six runs at $70,000 since slipping below it in early February. Each attempt has fallen short. Monday’s move is the latest test of that resistance, and it arrives against a backdrop that is anything but calm. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Gaining Ground, Could Soon Surpass Gold—Analyst Energy Shock Adds Pressure On All Fronts A standoff over the Strait of Hormuz has been tightening its grip on global energy markets since late February. Iran has rejected ceasefire terms, insisting compensation for war-related damage must be addressed before the strait reopens. Oil prices have surged as a result. US gasoline costs are up sharply, and broader inflation fears have followed. US President Donald Trump has called for Iran to reopen the waterway, citing global trade concerns. Reports indicate he has also suggested a deal with Iran may be within reach, while warning of severe consequences if talks collapse — including potential US control over Iranian oil resources. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Circle’s USDC added roughly $2 billion in supply during the first quarter of 2026, pulling ahead of rival Tether at a moment when the broader crypto market was contracting. It marked the sharpest divergence between the two largest stablecoin issuers since the bear market of mid-2022. Related Reading: Bitcoin Stumbles Hard: The Worst Q1 In Years Raises Big Questions USDC Gains As Tether Loses Ground While USDC grew, Tether’s USDT shed approximately $3 billion over the same period. Reports indicate USDC has been gaining traction in trading and on-chain transactions, with transfer activity hitting a record high in February. The shift aligns with growing institutional preference for a US-regulated issuer as Congress moves closer to passing stablecoin legislation. Total stablecoin supply reached $315 billion by the end of March, up about $8 billion from the prior quarter, according to CEX.io data. Growth was slower than at any point since late 2023, but it was still growth — at a time when most other corners of the crypto market were shrinking. Stablecoins also captured 75% of all crypto trading volume in Q1, the highest share ever recorded. Data shows investors rotated into dollar-pegged assets as a defensive move, choosing to stay inside the crypto ecosystem rather than exit it entirely. Total stablecoin transaction volume for the quarter topped $28 trillion, extending a run that has seen stablecoins process more value annually than Visa and Mastercard combined. Yield-Bearing Products Fuel New Supply A significant portion of fresh issuance came not from USDC or USDT, but from yield-bearing stablecoins — products that pay returns similar to interest-bearing accounts. That segment is now valued at around $3.7 billion, with daily trading volumes exceeding $100 million, based on CoinGecko data. The growth has drawn pushback from traditional banks, which have been lobbying Congress against stablecoins that offer returns, arguing they function more like financial instruments than payment tools. The debate is unresolved, and its outcome could determine how much room yield-bearing products have to grow inside the US market. Related Reading: XRP Could Soon Enter Arizona’s Treasury — Here’s What’s Happening Retail Activity Drops As Automated Trading Rises Not all of the quarter’s numbers pointed upward. Retail-sized transfers — those associated with individual users — fell 16%, the steepest single-quarter decline on record. Automated trading and algorithmic activity filled much of that gap, accounting for approximately 75% of all stablecoin transaction volume during the period. CEX.io’s report frames the overall picture as one of structural growth under pressure — a market where institutional and automated flows are increasingly driving the numbers, even as everyday participation fades. Featured image from Meta, chart from TradingView
There are now over 47 million cryptocurrencies in existence. That number alone may explain a lot of what is happening to prices of altcoins right now. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Pull In $56B As CEO Pitches Crypto Over Gold Altcoins: A Market Spread Too Thin Blockchain networks have become token factories. Solana hosts more than 22 million tokens. Base accounts for over 18 million more. BNB Smart Chain adds another 4 million on top of that. With that much supply chasing a limited pool of investor money, most of these assets simply cannot attract enough buyers to hold their value. Analysts call it liquidity dilution — capital spread too thin to support the crowd. That structural problem is now showing up in the numbers in a dramatic way. Data from CryptoQuant shows that over 40% of all altcoins are currently trading at or near their all-time lows. More than 40% of Altcoins near All-Time Lows “This is even higher than during the previous bear market, which peaked at ~38%… However, when such extreme underperformance appears, it can also create very attractive opportunities.” – By @Darkfost_Coc pic.twitter.com/XvAmKiKyyQ — CryptoQuant.com (@cryptoquant_com) March 30, 2026 That figure surpasses the previous bear market peak of around 38%, making this cycle the worst on record for altcoin performance. CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost put it bluntly. Altcoins, he said, have never faced this kind of pressure in the current cycle. Staggering Losses The losses across individual coins are staggering. Bitcoin has fallen roughly 45% from its all-time high — painful, but modest compared to what has happened further down the market cap rankings. XRP has shed 60% from its peak. Solana sits 70% below its high. Cardano has collapsed 90% from where it once traded. Some smaller assets are in even worse shape. VeChain is down approximately 98% from its record price and is hovering just above an all-time low. Ethena hit a new all-time low recently, last trading around $0.09. Arbitrum and SUI are both sitting at levels where a further drop would push them into all-time low territory. Macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions have added weight to an already fragile market. Risk assets across the board have taken hits, and crypto — altcoins above all — has absorbed some of the heaviest blows. Related Reading: 8.25M XRP Exit Long-Term Holders As Whales Buy $1.20–$3 Bitcoin Holds Up. Most Altcoins Don’t. Bitcoin’s relative steadiness compared to the rest of the market has drawn attention. While it is not immune to the selling pressure, its decline has been far less severe than what altcoins have experienced. That gap between Bitcoin and the broader crypto market is a defining feature of this particular downturn. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis puts the number at close to $20 billion — the estimated volume of dirty money that flowed through Xinbi, a Chinese-language crypto marketplace, between 2021 and 2025. Now the UK government wants to shut it down. Related Reading: Ethereum Supply Tightens As Staking And Outflows Hit Record Highs Scam Hubs At The Center Of It All Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced Thursday that it has imposed sweeping sanctions on Xinbi, a platform accused of providing crypto-based services, scam tools, and other criminal resources to bad actors across Southeast Asia. The move freezes any UK-linked assets tied to the platform and bans British banks, crypto firms, and citizens from doing any business with it — financial or otherwise. Xinbi is not just a payment processor for criminals. Reports indicate the platform sits at the center of a web of interconnected illicit operations, many of them tied to scam compounds scattered across Southeast Asia — operations that have drawn global attention for their use of trafficked workers to run large-scale fraud schemes targeting victims worldwide. Those who exploit vulnerable people, abuse human rights and defraud innocent victims will face serious consequences. Today we have: ❌ Targeted largest known scam compound in Cambodia. ❌ Sanctioned an illicit crypto marketplace. ❌ Frozen more London properties. pic.twitter.com/0PFp0h8Uyt — Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (@FCDOGovUK) March 26, 2026 Two individuals were also sanctioned in the action. Thet Li is accused of running the international financial network of the Prince Group, a Cambodia-based company tied to large-scale crypto fraud. Hu Xiaowei is alleged to have worked within that same financial network and to have links to #8 Park, a scam compound connected to the Prince Group. Cutting Off The Money Pipeline Chainalysis, which provided blockchain data supporting the sanctions, described the move as targeting the scam ecosystem’s on- and off-ramps — the critical pathways that allow criminal operators to move money in and out of the legitimate financial system. According to the firm, Xinbi acted as a commercial hub, offering payment processing and marketing services to fraud operators who needed reliable infrastructure to run their schemes. The FCDO said the sanctions are designed to isolate Xinbi from the broader crypto system, disrupting its ability to send and receive transactions. In practice, that means cutting the platform off from the exchanges, wallets, and financial services it depends on to function. Related Reading: Bitrue Says XRP Should Already Be At $10, Traders Are Betting It Gets There A Line Between Legal And Illegal Crypto What stood out in the UK government’s statement was its language. Officials drew a clear line between legitimate crypto activity and criminal misuse of the technology — a distinction regulators have not always been quick to make publicly. That framing matters to the industry. For years, critics have pointed to crypto’s role in fraud and money laundering as evidence the entire sector needs to be reined in. The Financial Action Task Force estimates that between two and 5% of global GDP passes through traditional financial networks as laundered funds each year. Data from Chainalysis puts illicit crypto transactions at below 1% of total activity on-chain — a figure the industry frequently cites in its defense. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
Strategy, the Michael Saylor-led company that has made Bitcoin accumulation its core business, bought $76.6 million worth of crypto last week, lifting its total holdings to 762,099 BTC — roughly 3.5% of the entire Bitcoin supply. Related Reading: Iran Rejects Peace Talk Claims, Leaving BTC Stuck At $70K Wall Street brokerage Bernstein used that move as a springboard to reaffirm one of the boldest price calls on the market: Bitcoin hitting $150,000 before the year is out. Institutional Money Is Moving Bernstein senior analyst Gautam Chhugani delivered the outlook in a note to clients Monday, saying BTC has found its price floor after months of decline. The call, if correct, would mean the drop to around $60,000 in early February was the lowest point in the current downturn — and that everything from here points upward. Bitcoin was trading past $71,000 at the time of the report, meaning the $150,000 target represents a more than 110% gain from current levels. Chhugani pointed to two forces he believes will push the price there: growing inflows into BTC spot exchange-traded funds and rising corporate demand. The numbers backing that claim are hard to ignore. Bitcoin spot ETFs pulled in $167 million in a single day this week — their first positive day in four sessions — and have attracted $1.6 billion in net inflows since March began. The market got a brief lift earlier in the week after reports that US President Donald Trump had ordered a five-day halt in strikes on Iran. Bitcoin climbed to $71,750 on Monday before easing back. Corporate Buyers Keep Piling In Beyond Strategy, institutional interest is broadening. Australia’s pension fund Hostplus announced plans to offer clients Bitcoin exposure through self-directed portfolios. Morgan Stanley, one of the biggest names in global banking, has updated its SEC filing for a US Bitcoin spot ETF, a sign the product could be closer to launching than previously expected. Bernstein described Strategy as a high-beta play on Bitcoin — meaning its stock tends to move sharply in the same direction as Bitcoin, only more so. Despite MSTR shares falling 50% from their all-time high, Chhugani set a price target of $450 for the stock, betting the company’s large Bitcoin balance sheet will pay off as prices recover. Not Everyone Agrees The Bottom Is In Bernstein’s optimism is not shared across the board. Veteran chart analyst Ali Martinez laid out a scenario where Bitcoin drops as far as $41,500 by mid-October 2026 before any meaningful recovery begins. Related Reading: XRP Ledger Signals Growth With $1M Unlock And Activity Surge Standard Chartered Bank has repeatedly warned that Bitcoin could revisit $50,000 first, citing weak economic conditions and limited demand. The bank also cut its own 2026 Bitcoin forecast from $150,000 to $100,000. The split between analysts reflects how uncertain this market remains. Bitcoin has never matched the scale of correction seen in past bear markets if the February low holds — that would make this one of the shallower pullbacks from an all-time high in the asset’s history. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
For six straight weeks, Bitcoin was losing the battle against gold. That streak has now reversed — and it has held for two weeks running, with Bitcoin up more than 4% against the precious metal this week alone. Related Reading: Bitcoin Stalls Near $75K As Traders Move Coins To Exchanges A Parallel Decline Reshapes The Debate The timing of that rebound is striking, given that both assets are deep in correction territory right now. Bitcoin dropped from a weekly high of $76,000 to below $70,000, a slide of roughly 8.7%. Gold fared no better, shedding 8.5% in the same period, pushing the price down to around $4,616 per ounce — well below the psychologically watched $5,000 mark. Gold has now posted two straight weeks of losses and is on pace for a third, its worst such run since last November. The back-to-back selloffs have reignited a long-running argument in crypto circles: when gold falls, does the money eventually find its way into Bitcoin? Benjamin Cowen, CEO of Into The Cryptoverse, says no. He has held that view since at least late January, when gold was still riding high and crypto bulls were counting on a rotation trade. He didn’t buy it then. He still doesn’t. Cowen’s Case, And What It’s Based On Cowen’s reasoning draws on something that already played out inside the crypto market. When Bitcoin ran up in prior cycles, many traders expected capital to eventually shift from BTC into smaller altcoins, sparking what the market calls “altcoin season.” According to Cowen, that rotation never really materialized in any meaningful way. He sees the gold-to-Bitcoin narrative following the same pattern. Back on January 28, as gold was trading near its all-time high of $5,597 — a level it hit on January 29 — Cowen posted publicly that no rotation from metals to crypto should be expected. One day after that post, gold dropped 4% and Bitcoin fell by the same amount, almost to the dollar. That co-movement drew attention at the time. The events of this week have brought the argument back to the surface. Not everyone agrees with him. A section of the market has long argued that precious metals and crypto serve different investor profiles, and that a pullback in one naturally redirects money toward the other. So far this cycle, that has not played out in the data. Related Reading: XRP Still In Danger Zone Without This Key Breakout: Analyst The BTC/Gold Ratio Tells A Different Story What complicates the “no rotation” argument is the BTC/gold ratio itself. Even as both assets fall in dollar terms, Bitcoin has been recovering ground relative to gold after bottoming near 12 ounces of gold per BTC earlier this month. It has since climbed back to around 15 ounces. That figure still sits well below the middle Bollinger Band at 18 and far below the upper band at 26, but the direction has shifted. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A price zone that held as a floor throughout all of 2025 is now blocking XRP from recovering. The $1.80 level — once a reliable support — flipped to resistance in January 2026, and the token has not come close to reclaiming it since. Until it does, one analyst says XRP remains “in deep trouble.” Related Reading: Bitcoin Stalls Near $75K As Traders Move Coins To Exchanges A Channel Break That Changed Everything For most of last year, XRP traded inside a large parallel channel with a ceiling near $3.45 and a floor around $1.80. The token stayed within those boundaries even as its price started slipping after hitting an all-time high of $3.60 in July 2025. Lower highs and lower lows piled up through the fourth quarter, but $1.80 held. Then January came. XRP closed the month below that level for the first time, and it has not looked back. The $1.80 floor became a ceiling, and every attempt to push higher has run into that wall. If I zoom out, I still see $XRP in deep trouble. It is clearly downtrending with a series of lower lows and lower highs, and above all, it is still below that key level at $1.80. As long as we don’t break this downtrend, we could expect that “no support zone” to be filled. pic.twitter.com/mNuF8O8LWo — Sjuul | AltCryptoGems (@AltCryptoGems) March 18, 2026 Analyst Sjuul of the AltCryptoGems channel laid out the situation in a recent market breakdown. Zooming out to the daily chart, he pointed to the pattern of lower lows and lower highs that has defined XRP’s price action since the July peak — a structure that leaves the broader downtrend fully intact regardless of short-term bounces. A 15% Rally That Still Went Nowhere XRP did manage a stretch of gains between March 9 and 16 — seven up days out of eight, its best run since September 2025. The token climbed 15% during that window, reclaiming $1.50 and closing at $1.54 on March 16. But the rally stalled almost immediately. A push toward $1.60 ran into resistance at $1.6074 earlier this week, and XRP has since pulled back on three consecutive days, now trading around $1.46. The recovery, impressive as it briefly looked, never came anywhere near $1.80. For context, XRP had dropped to $1.27 on February 28 during the initial market reaction to the Israel-Iran conflict before clawing back above $1.50. The March rally was largely a rebound from that low — not a trend reversal. Related Reading: Ripple’s $500M Raise And Institutional Ties Keep XRP Firmly In Place Two Scenarios, One Number Sjuul sees the path forward as straightforward. XRP either reclaims $1.80 and pushes back inside the parallel channel — invalidating the bearish setup — or it doesn’t, and the downside risk grows sharply. The level he flags on the downside is the $1.20 to $1.30 zone. That area offered no resistance during XRP’s explosive November 2024 rally, which is what analysts call a “no support zone” — a price range the market blew through so fast that few buyers established positions there. Since that rally, the zone has acted as a cushion during dips. If $1.80 continues to hold as resistance, Sjuul suggests XRP could fall back toward that range. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
A key price level is giving Bitcoin trouble — and on-chain data may explain why. Related Reading: XRP Moves Into ‘Scarce Zone’ As Exchange Supply Dries Up Realized Price Puts A Ceiling On The Rally The $75,000 mark is not just a round number for Bitcoin traders. It sits at the lower band of what analysts call the “traders’ on-chain Realized Price” — a metric that tracks the average price at which active market participants last moved their coins. According to CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno, that band has historically acted as a ceiling during bear markets, and it appears to be doing the same thing now. Bitcoin tested the $75,000 level three times on Coinbase in a single 24-hour stretch and was turned back each time. The rally itself has been real. Bitcoin climbed roughly 12% in March, touching a six-week high of around $76,000 on March 17. But momentum has stalled right where analysts warned it might. Large Deposits Flood Into Exchanges What makes the stall more significant is what’s happening behind the scenes. On March 16, hourly Bitcoin inflows to centralized exchanges surged to 6,100 BTC — the highest single-hour reading since February 20. Data shows that large deposits made up over 60% of that total, the biggest share since mid-October 2025. When traders move Bitcoin onto exchanges, it usually means one thing: they’re getting ready to sell. Moreno said that historically, spikes in large exchange deposits have been tied to rising selling pressure. The timing — right as Bitcoin ran into resistance — is hard to ignore. The question now is whether that selling pressure will be enough to push prices back down, or whether buyers will absorb it and push through the $75,000 wall. Fed Decision Adds To Market Uncertainty Broader financial conditions are adding another layer of complexity. The Federal Reserve is set to announce its rate decision Wednesday, and based on CME futures, traders are pricing in a 98.9% chance that rates stay where they are — with just a 1.1% chance of a hike. But holding rates steady may not be the most market-moving part of the announcement. Reports indicate the Federal Reserve could signal that no rate cuts are coming at all in 2026, citing ongoing inflation concerns and the fallout from the US-Iran war. That kind of guidance tends to weigh on risk assets. Related Reading: Another Bitcoin Buy Coming? Saylor Sparks Speculation With ‘Orange Dots’ Post The Harder Wall Still Lies Ahead Even if Bitcoin manages to clear $75,000 with enough conviction to hold, there is another obstacle waiting higher up. The full Realized Price — which reflects the average break-even level for active traders — currently sits near $84,700. That figure acted as resistance in both October and January. Clearing $75,000 would be a start. Getting to $84,700 would be a different challenge entirely. Featured image from West Coast Trial Lawyers, chart from TradingView
Mobile money is everywhere in Ghana. And now, crypto wants in on that infrastructure too. Related Reading: Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains Foreign Players Circle As Local Framework Takes Shape Blockchain.com, one of the older names in the industry, announced this week it had moved into the Ghanaian market with a sharp focus on tying crypto payments to the country’s mobile money ecosystem. The move came just days after Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission published a list of 11 virtual asset companies cleared to operate inside a new regulatory sandbox — the country’s first structured attempt to bring order to a fast-growing crypto market. The 11 companies admitted to the program are Africoin, Blu Penguin, Goldbod, Hanypay, Hyro Exchange, HSB Global, KoinKoin, Whitebits, Vaulta, XChain, and Bsystem. They will operate under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, a law Ghana passed in December that gave the SEC authority over digital asset activity in the country. Ghana’s SEC just gave crypto builders the green light ???????? The regulatory sandbox under Act 1154 is MASSIVE. 12 months to build, test and get licensed. No more operating in the shadows. For the youth this isn’t just policy. It’s the financial system that finally sees you.… https://t.co/gOftGciEo1 — Kwabena Kesse, CPA, CRISC (@LKKesse) March 11, 2026 A Controlled Environment With A Clock Running The sandbox runs for 12 months. But companies that get their products ready for the market and meet every regulatory requirement could walk away with a full license in as little as six months, according to the SEC. That is a tight window. Participants must also comply with anti-money laundering rules and counter-terrorism financing standards — requirements the SEC made clear are not optional. Consumer protection is built into the program’s design, and officials said the lessons gathered during the pilot will directly shape how Ghana regulates crypto going forward. The VASP law requires anyone operating in the digital asset space to obtain a license or register with either the Bank of Ghana or the SEC. No registration, no operation. Ghana Joins A Region Already Deep Into Crypto Ghana is not coming late to this. The country already ranks among the top five crypto markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, alongside Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia, and Kenya. The entire region saw crypto inflows climb over 50% year-on-year, reaching more than $200 billion between July 2024 and June 2025, data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis shows. Nigeria led that surge with over $90 billion received in that period. Related Reading: Cardano’s DeFi Boom: TVL Spikes 23% In Less Than 2 Weeks Most transactions across the region fall under $1,000 — a pattern that reflects everyday use rather than large institutional moves. Stablecoins have become a primary tool for cross-border payments and a hedge against local currency swings. Ghana’s sandbox launch signals that the government is no longer watching from the sidelines. With foreign companies arriving and local platforms now operating under official oversight, the country is building a framework it clearly intends to keep. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
A top White House official is pushing back against warnings that stablecoins will drain money from American banks — arguing the opposite is true. Related Reading: Crypto Thieves Pivot To Phishing As Protocol Hacks Decline In February Foreign Money, Domestic Gains Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, posted on X this week that when foreigners convert local currencies into dollar-backed stablecoins issued by US companies, that capital flows into the American banking system, not away from it. Most US stablecoin issuers hold US dollars or Treasury securities as reserves, meaning the money lands in domestic institutions either way. “Global demand for USD is massive,” Witt wrote, calling it net new capital entering American banks. His comments came amid a heated congressional debate over the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act, both designed to give the crypto industry clearer regulatory ground to stand on. Lost in the rewards/yield debate is how GENIUS-compliant stablecoins will actually lead to deposit inflows. Global demand for USD is massive. Foreigners exchange local currency for stablecoins from a US-based issuer. That is net new capital entering the American banking system. — Patrick Witt (@patrickjwitt) March 12, 2026 The Fear Behind The Legislation Not everyone shares that view. Standard Chartered, in a recent research note, estimated that rising stablecoin adoption could shrink US bank deposits by roughly one-third of the total stablecoin market cap. For community banks that fund local mortgages and small business loans with those deposits, the figure is hard to ignore. Christopher Williston, president of the Independent Bankers Association of Texas, made that case bluntly last Friday. Giving ground in the CLARITY Act negotiations, he warned, would put local lending and community economic output at risk. The crypto industry hit back fast. Austin Campbell, founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting, argued that if small banks and the crypto sector fail to find common ground, the real winners will be large financial institutions — the ones with enough resources to outlast a regulatory standoff. Witt echoed that sentiment, writing on X that watching the two sides fight felt like watching “an arsonist threaten to burn down their own home.” Related Reading: Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains Dollar Weakness Adds Urgency The debate is playing out against a shaky backdrop for the US dollar. The US dollar index fell to 95.818 on January 28 — its lowest point in four years — before recovering to 99.468, a rebound of about 3.80%, according to TradingView data. It was up 0.46% over the five days before publication. Witt’s argument hinges on international demand holding strong. If foreign appetite for dollar-backed stablecoins keeps growing, he says, the inflows into US banks could outpace any domestic deposit shifts. Whether Congress finds that case convincing enough to act on it remains to be seen. Featured image from World, chart from TradingView
Central banks aren’t buying it. Billionaire investor Ray Dalio doesn’t trust it as a safe haven. And Bitcoin is trading 44% below its October peak while gold sits near all-time highs. Related Reading: Bitcoin Crosses 20 Million Coins Mined — And Only 1 In 20 Remains That’s the backdrop against which Bitwise Asset Management’s chief investment officer is making the case that Bitcoin could still reach $1 million a coin within a decade. A Different Way To Run The Numbers Most people who shoot down the $1 million forecast do so by pointing out what it would take for Bitcoin to swallow up half of gold’s current market value. Matt Hougan says that’s the wrong calculation. According to Hougan, the error is treating gold’s market cap as a fixed number rather than a moving one. Gold has grown at roughly 13% annually since 2004, climbing from $2.5 trillion to around $38 trillion — driven by rising government debt concerns, geopolitical tension, and loose monetary policy. Hougan projects that if gold’s trajectory holds, the broader store-of-value market will reach around $121 trillion within 10 years. At that scale, Bitcoin would only need to capture 17% of the total — about one-sixth — to be worth $1 million per coin. That’s a notably different ask than the 50% figure critics typically cite. Hougan also pointed to institutional investment as a driver. Exchange-traded funds, sovereign wealth funds, and growing portfolio allocations are all being cited as forces that could push Bitcoin’s market share higher over the next decade. “There are still miles to go,” he wrote in a blog post, “but capturing a sixth of the store-of-value market in 10 years doesn’t seem extreme.” The Gap Between Thesis And Charts The argument rests on Bitcoin behaving more like gold over time. Right now, it isn’t. Gold struck a record high above $5,327 per ounce in late January and remains within 2.2% of that level. Bitcoin, by contrast, has been sliding. It’s down sharply from its highs, even as the macroeconomic conditions — debt concerns, inflation uncertainty, geopolitical friction — that typically lift gold have remained very much in play. Research out of NYDIG addressed this gap directly in early March. Bitcoin does not appear to be getting priced as a macro hedge, a sovereign risk hedge, or an inflation trade, according to the firm’s global head of research. That disconnect explains the frustration around Bitcoin’s failure to track gold despite the “digital gold” label that has followed it for years, NYDIG said. Dalio’s Pushback Dalio added his voice to the skeptics’ side earlier this month, arguing that gold remains a far stronger long-term store of value. His reasoning: central banks are buying gold, not Bitcoin. And Bitcoin, he said, trades less like a commodity hedge and more like a tech stock — something that follows risk appetite rather than countering it. Related Reading: Bitcoin ETFs Break 5-Month Streak With 2nd Consecutive Week Of Inflows Bitcoin & Iran-US War Bitcoin’s recent price action tells the story plainly. A US-Israeli military strike on Iran in late February triggered over $300 million in crypto liquidations, pushing Bitcoin lower before a partial recovery followed signals that the conflict could be winding down. It moved with risk appetite, not against it — which is exactly the behavior Dalio and others point to when they argue Bitcoin still has a long way to go before it earns the gold comparison. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin is trading near $67,300, well off its recent high of $74,000. One well-known analyst says that dip barely matters — he’s looking at a cycle average closer to half a million dollars. Related Reading: WAR Token Explodes 100%, Then Crashes 20% In Sudden Sell-Off A Model Built On Scarcity PlanB, the pseudonymous analyst behind the Stock-to-Flow model, says Bitcoin’s price during the current 2024–2028 halving cycle could average around $500,000, with a range stretching from $250,000 to $1 million. The model is built on a simple premise: as Bitcoin’s supply grows more slowly — thanks to halving events that cut mining rewards roughly every four years — and demand holds steady or rises, the price should follow. Reports indicate that PlanB is careful to frame the figure as a cycle average, not a ceiling or a guaranteed peak. Bitcoin halvings reduce the number of new coins entering circulation. The most recent one took place in April 2024. Historically, each halving has been followed by a significant price run. That pattern is the backbone of PlanB’s argument. ???? Bitcoin at $67k… but S2F model screams $500k avg this cycle (2024-2028)! ???? Is BTC massively undervalued & the ultimate buy opportunity? Or is S2F broken forever? ???? What’s your take, bull or bust? pic.twitter.com/QlBhOgSgGj — PlanB (@100trillionUSD) March 8, 2026 Not Everyone Is Buying It Crypto analyst Bobby A puts his estimate at $200,000 to $250,000 by 2026 or 2027 — still a major jump from current levels, but nowhere near PlanB’s midpoint. According to Bobby A, Stock-to-Flow works as a rough long-term guide but falls short when used to pin down specific price targets in complex markets. He argues the model captures Bitcoin’s broad growth story without accounting for the many variables that move prices in real time. My take is somewhere in the middle. In my opinion, Bitcoin is currently undervalued and will likely trade toward the $200,000 to $250,000 range as this cycle matures through 2026 and into 2027. That said, I do not subscribe to the idea that Bitcoin will reach $500,000 by 2028.… https://t.co/d8wu0skKuN — Bobby A (@Bobby_1111888) March 8, 2026 That skepticism is not without basis. Stock-to-Flow drew sharp criticism after Bitcoin failed to sustain the price levels the model projected during the 2020–2024 cycle. Some analysts wrote off the model entirely. Others say it was never meant to work as a precise forecasting tool to begin with — a nuance that often gets lost in headline-driven coverage. Related Reading: Stablecoin Market Breaks Records — USDC Controls 70% Of $1.8 Trillion Volume What’s Weighing On Bitcoin Now Several outside pressures have contributed to Bitcoin’s recent pullback. Geopolitical tensions and shifting inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds — which won US regulatory approval in early 2024 — have added to short-term volatility. Data shows that ETF inflows, which helped push Bitcoin to record highs earlier this year, have been inconsistent in recent months. Reports note that many analysts view the current period as a consolidation phase following the strong rally that carried Bitcoin above $72,000. Whether that consolidation leads to a renewed push higher — or signals a longer plateau — remains an open question. PlanB’s $500,000 average would require Bitcoin to climb more than seven times its current price before the cycle ends. That’s a large number. But in a market that went from under $20,000 to over $73,000 in roughly 18 months, some investors say stranger things have happened. Featured image from Free3D.com, chart from TradingView
Real estate mogul Grant Cardone thinks he has an answer to what ails the crypto treasury industry — pair Bitcoin with rental income. Related Reading: US Should Act On Bitcoin, Not Just Praise It, Ex-Advisor To Trump Says His fund buys multifamily housing, collects rent, and channels the proceeds into additional Bitcoin purchases, giving investors exposure to property appreciation alongside the asset’s price swings. It is a model built for a market that no longer rewards passive accumulation. Companies Search For Ways To Put Bitcoin To Work That shift in thinking comes as the broader crypto treasury sector posts its weakest numbers in well over a year. Monthly inflows into digital asset treasury companies have fallen to roughly $555 million, according to data from DefiLlama — the lowest reading since October 2024. DAT inflows in February slowed to $555M, the lowest level since October 2024 pic.twitter.com/tJJqju0kXd — DefiLlama.com (@DefiLlama) March 2, 2026 At that point, just weeks before the US presidential election, inflows had cratered to around $32 million as investors waited out the uncertainty. What followed was a historic surge. After US President Donald Trump’s election victory and a sharp turn toward crypto-friendly regulation, monthly inflows rocketed past $12 billion. The sector looked unstoppable. It wasn’t. Inflows pulled back through most of 2025, stayed well below $10 billion per month, then dropped sharply again heading into 2026. A prolonged bear market has erased much of those post-election gains. Reports indicate crypto prices have retraced to levels last seen before the 2024 election pump, dragging treasury company valuations down with them and drying up fresh capital. The Crypto Warehouse Model Loses Its Appeal Patrick Ngan, chief investment officer at Zeta Network Group, said the old playbook is no longer enough. Companies that simply buy and hold Bitcoin — warehousing the asset with no active strategy — are at risk of being left behind. Those with real operating businesses generating cash flow will have an edge, he said. “Corporate Bitcoin treasuries now need to show they can actually use the asset, not just warehouse it,” Ngan said. The options for doing so are expanding. Treasury companies can stake crypto assets to earn rewards on proof-of-stake networks, run mining operations on proof-of-work chains, or put capital to work through decentralized lending platforms. Each approach turns a static balance sheet into something that generates returns independent of price movement. Related Reading: Iran’s Crypto Market Shaken As Outflows Skyrocket 700% A New Blueprint Takes Shape Cardone’s hybrid model pushes that idea further. By anchoring a fund in physical real estate — an asset with built-in rental demand — he sidesteps the problem of relying entirely on Bitcoin appreciation. Tax advantages tied to real estate ownership sweeten the returns further. Featured image from Pexels, chart from TradingView
The US government is sitting on roughly 378,372 Bitcoin worth more than $24 billion, according to data from Arkham Research. Yet more than a year after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, no new Bitcoin has been purchased. Related Reading: Iran’s Crypto Market Shaken As Outflows Skyrocket 700% The government has not gone beyond the digital assets it already held from criminal seizures. David Bailey, a former crypto advisor to the Trump administration, says that gap tells the whole story. Liking Is Not Enough: Bailey “Liking Bitcoin is not enough,” Bailey said last week at the Bitcoin Investor Week Conference in New York City. He was direct about what he sees as the difference between political goodwill and real action. His view: Trump’s support for Bitcoin has been real, but support alone does not move markets or policy. Spending Political Capital Is The Hard Part Bailey said the administration made an important first step. But first steps, he argued, do not automatically lead to second ones. Without a willingness to push through resistance — from budget hawks, from skeptical lawmakers, from a political system that does not easily bend to new financial ideas — the reserve order remains mostly symbolic. Reports say the White House’s own AI and crypto coordinator, David Sacks, acknowledged the challenge early. Just two months after the executive order was signed, Sacks said adding to the government’s Bitcoin holdings would require a “budget-neutral” approach — meaning no new taxes and no new debt. That constraint has proven difficult to work around. No framework for how to meet it has been made public. Bailey did not spare the hard language. “Unless you’re willing to bear the political capital necessary to mobilize the different gears necessary to move the ball forward,” he said, the outcome is the same whether a politician likes Bitcoin or not. He called out the difference between voicing an opinion and doing the work to back it up. Bailey Says Bitcoin Wins Either Way Despite the criticism, Bailey stopped well short of pessimism. He told the conference audience that Bitcoin does not need government action to survive or grow. The question, as he framed it, is only one of timing. Related Reading: Long-Term Bitcoin Holders Buy $14 Billion In BTC As Retail Headed For The Exit “Whether it’s four years from now, or 10 years from now, or 20 years from now,” he said, “we will get to the point where we actually have a government that is conducive to the rules we need for Bitcoin to be successful.” Bailey now runs KindlyMD, a Bitcoin treasury company, and he made clear his focus is on expanding ownership rather than waiting on Washington. More Bitcoin owners means more voters who have a personal stake in pro-Bitcoin policy — and that, he argued, is what makes adoption inevitable over time. Featured image from Pixabay, chart from TradingView
The crypto industry has spent years asking Washington for clear rules. It may be getting closer to an answer. JPMorgan analysts are now predicting that the Clarity Act — a sweeping bill designed to set formal ground rules for how digital assets are regulated in the US — will be signed into law by the middle of this year. If this timeline holds, it could prove to be one of the biggest changes in crypto policy within the US. Related Reading: Bitcoin In The Line Of Fire: Price Dips To $63k As US, Israel Launch Strikes On Iran What The Clarity Act Actually Does At its heart, this is a bill about structure. The reality is that currently, there is a lack of a unified structure or framework regarding how crypto is classified or traded within the US. Different bodies have taken different stances on the issue, leaving businesses to wonder what is or isn’t allowed. The Clarity Act aims to fix that by establishing a clear set of rules that applies across the board — covering everything from how tokens are categorized to which regulatory bodies have authority over them. A JPMorgan Chase report says the U.S. CLARITY Act could pass by mid-year and serve as a second-half catalyst, bringing regulatory clarity, ending “regulation by enforcement,” boosting tokenization, and supporting institutional adoption. Key debates involve stablecoin yield… — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 2, 2026 According to JPMorgan’s team of analysts, led by managing director Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, the bill’s approval could act as a meaningful turning point for the broader crypto market. Reports say the bank believes the legislation may help push prices upward in the second half of 2026, even as sentiment across crypto markets remains negative right now. The bank’s view is that regulatory certainty, once delivered, tends to attract institutional money that has been sitting on the sidelines. But the bill is not there yet. Two unresolved disputes have kept it from moving forward. The first involves stablecoins — digital currencies pegged to traditional assets like the US dollar. Crypto firms want stablecoin holders to be able to earn rewards on their holdings, similar to interest. Banks are pushing back hard, arguing that offering those returns would pull customer deposits away from conventional financial institutions and undermine the broader banking system. A Political Fight Is Slowing Things Down The second obstacle is a bit more political in nature, as democratic lawmakers have been advocating for a clause to be included in the bill, which would prohibit senior government officials, including US President, Donald Trump, and his family, from owning any financial interest in crypto projects. The provision is widely seen as a direct reference to Trump, whose family has been linked to various crypto ventures. The White House has reportedly hosted several meetings to work through these disagreements, but no resolution has been reached. Related Reading: Crypto’s Quietest Month In Nearly A Year — But Hackers Haven’t Gone Away A March 1 deadline that had been floated as a possible target for progress came and went without any meaningful announcement. Reports note that industry observers had already signaled weeks in advance that the deadline was unlikely to produce results, and that turned out to be accurate. Negotiations are ongoing, though the pace has frustrated those who were hoping for a faster resolution. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
XRP has had a rough few months. After touching a high of roughly $3.66 in mid-2025, the token has since pulled back sharply, recently hovering around $1.30. That is a steep drop by any measure. Related Reading: Crypto Mixing Is Back — And Criminals Adapted Faster Than The Rules Did But one widely followed crypto commentator is not backing down from a bold long-term call — and his argument rests entirely on what he sees in the charts. A Chart That Points Higher, Way Higher The analyst, known on X as CryptoBull, posted a monthly XRP/USD chart showing what he described as a multi-year consolidation pattern followed by a fresh breakout attempt heading into 2026. His conclusion was blunt: a move to $50 looks like a “natural and normal” extension of the current structure. “No matter your feelings,” he wrote, “the chart says $50.” Based on reports, CryptoBull has been building this case for some time, and the $50 figure is not pulled out of thin air — it falls squarely within the $28 to $70 target band he had previously laid out using higher timeframe analysis. You can’t tell me that #XRP to $50 is not a very natural and normal looking chart. No matter your feelings, the chart says $50. pic.twitter.com/QHfBOPQ3hg — CryptoBull (@CryptoBull2020) February 14, 2026 At current prices, a run to $50 would mean gains of more than 3,500%. That is a big number. But CryptoBull has been consistent in pushing back against the even wilder figures that circulate in XRP circles. He has publicly rejected price targets of $1,000 or $10,000, calling them unsupported by any credible chart structure. By his own standards, $50 is the measured, reasonable call. For context, a $28 XRP price would put its total market value near $1.7 trillion. At $70, that figure climbs above $4 trillion. Extreme? Yes. But far more grounded than the multi-hundred-trillion valuations implied by some of the more outlandish targets floating around online. History As A Reference Point CryptoBull has also pointed to XRP’s own track record to support his thesis. Reports say he reminded his followers that XRP once surged 3,500% — climbing from $0.11 all the way to $3.65 in a single market cycle. Related Reading: Bitcoin In The Line Of Fire: Price Dips To $63k As US, Israel Launch Strikes On Iran Using that as a baseline, he suggested that a 2,000% expansion from current levels toward $28 is plausible in this cycle. A move to $50 would actually exceed that, coming in closer to the 3,500% range — roughly matching the scale of that earlier historic run. $XRP‘s measured move target above $15 goes unchanged! The breakout that took place in late 2024 hints at another 10X (>900% Increase) being possible to those price levels… pic.twitter.com/dbuZFcVCvj — JAVON⚡️MARKS (@JavonTM1) February 25, 2026 Other analysts have echoed a similarly constructive view. Javon Marks has maintained that his measured price target above $15 remains unchanged, citing the same late-2024 breakout structure that CryptoBull references. Korean Elliott Wave analyst XForceGlobal has also weighed in, saying XRP’s chart looks strong after the token revisited its previous all-time high zone and fully retraced toward the $1 area — a reset he believes can come before a powerful upward move. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
XRP has had a rough stretch. The token is on pace to close its fifth straight month in the red, a run of weakness that has tested the patience of long-time holders and fueled debate about what comes next. Related Reading: Crypto’s Biggest Bull Run Could Come From The Most Unexpected Place: AI Bubble Yet even as the price sits well below its recent peak, a growing number of voices in the XRP community are not backing down from optimistic forecasts. One Analyst Says XRP Will Make People Rich In 2026 A market commentator known as Archie recently posted a chart on X projecting that XRP could climb as high as $83 per token before the end of 2026. At its current price of around $1.44, that would amount to a gain of roughly 5,900% — enough to push XRP’s total market value to an estimated $5 trillion. A holder sitting on 10,000 XRP would be approaching millionaire status at that price. Archie went further, suggesting the token could eventually reach four figures — meaning $1,000 or more per coin. Good morning XRP fam ☀️ Prediction????⬇️ XRP will make a lot of people rich in 2026???????? pic.twitter.com/mat4QMtWjN — Archie ???? (@Archie_XRPL) February 24, 2026 The post drew mixed reactions. Some holders backed the outlook. Others pushed back, with one user arguing that even a three-fold increase would barely move the needle for most people. Reports say some community members also raised concerns that any major price surge would disproportionately reward insiders, pointing to the significant token holdings of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and co-founder Chris Larsen. The 2016 Comparison That Bulls Keep Bringing Up XRP is currently down more than 60% from its recent high. Some analysts are drawing comparisons to a similar flat period the token went through in 2016, before a sharp rally took hold in 2017. The argument is that extended low-price stretches often clear out sellers who have lost conviction, setting the stage for stronger moves ahead. XRPL validator Vet addressed holders directly, saying this is not the time to walk away. Supporters point to greater regulatory clarity in the US, rising institutional interest, and continued activity on the XRP Ledger as factors that could shift momentum. Tokenization Adds A Different Kind Of Fuel The XRP Ledger has seen $1.3 billion in tokenized real-world assets added this year, pushing its total past $2.3 billion. Based on reports, commentator Brad Kimes of Digital Perspectives assembled views from multiple market voices arguing that if institutions tokenized 50% of circulating cash globally and the XRP Ledger captured 10% of that market, the resulting demand could push XRP’s price to triple digits. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red It is an ambitious model, but one tied to a real and growing trend in finance. Where XRP goes from here remains an open question — and the debate around it shows no signs of quieting down. Featured image from Flickr, chart from TradingView
The crypto markets are sitting in a mood that rarely looks like hope. Fear sits very high, and that kind of fear has traders asking whether the worst is already behind them or still to come. Extreme Fear And Market Signals Reports note the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recently hit a low of 11, one of the weakest readings this year. That kind of reading has shown up near big turns before, but it is not a guarantee of an instant rebound. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red Some pieces of market data point to deeper stress — consumer credit trouble, weak housing figures, and loan strain — while other parts of the market, especially certain tech sectors, have kept rising. One analyst warns that what looks like calm at the surface may be hiding pressure underneath. Jesse Eckel argues the broader economy has been dragged forward by gains in AI-driven stocks, even though many everyday measures show strain. His view: investors who want exposure to AI’s upside may find it easier to chase smaller crypto tokens than to buy into giant tech firms. AI Speculation Spreads To Smaller Tokens That logic is simple. Big tech stocks are expensive. Smaller crypto projects promise bigger upside for retail traders who want a quick win. Analysts say this pattern could push money into crypto rails when mania returns, and that retail buyers often prefer instruments that feel close at hand and cheap. Yet there is a difference between wanting a bet and finding a solid reason to make one, and that difference matters to outcomes. A Paid Model’s Bold Numbers Some forecasts backing the bullish case come from an AI model accessed by market participants. The model gave numbers that look dramatic: roughly $155,000 for Bitcoin by the end of 2026 and about $240,000 by 2027. Those figures are treated as directional estimates, not precise promises, and the analyst using the model stressed they should guide thinking rather than dictate it. How This Might Play Out If money does rotate from expensive tech shares into speculative crypto bets, the flow would likely start small and then build as headlines and social chatter amplify the move. Related Reading: Is Bitcoin The Poor Man’s Hedge Against Inflation? Coinbase CEO Thinks So That could lift small tokens first. Big moves often happen after long stretches where few people expect them. But the timing is hard to pin down. Market sentiment can stay negative for a long time even when conditions for a rebound are present. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Crypto investment funds have now recorded a fifth straight week of net outflows, wiping roughly $4 billion from investor coffers over that span. Related Reading: Bullish Signal? Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Turns Positive After Months In Red That steady removal of capital has been paired with a sharp fall in trading activity, signaling that many holders are standing on the sidelines rather than buying dips. Trading Volume Hits Multi-Month Low According to a CoinShares report published Monday, crypto funds saw $288 million in net outflows last week, bringing the five-week total to roughly $4 billion. Weekly trading volumes also fell to about $17 billion, the lowest level since mid-2025, highlighting a slowdown in market activity even as prices have recently stabilized. Fewer transactions were recorded across major investment products, reflecting a quieter stretch for the market compared with earlier periods of heavier trading. Regional Flows Paint A Split Picture Reports note the US led withdrawals, while parts of Europe and Canada added fresh money. The US recorded $347 million of outflows, while Europe and Canada together showed net inflows of close to $60 million. Digital asset investment products recorded US$288M in outflows last week.@Bitcoin remains the key proponent of this negative sentiment, seeing US$215M in outflows. @ethereum saw the second largest outflows totalling US$36.5M. Minor inflows were seen in XRP @Ripple (US$3.5M),… pic.twitter.com/HFWIxVAZgO — CoinShares (@CoinSharesCo) February 23, 2026 Countries such as Switzerland, Canada, and Germany were among those adding funds. That split shows that not all investors view the market the same way right now. Some see value at lower prices; others are trimming exposure until clearer signs appear. Bitcoin Remains The Main Focus Of Selling Bitcoin accounted for the largest single-asset outflows, with about $215 million removed last week. At the same time, instruments that profit from falling prices received renewed interest, with short-Bitcoin products taking in around $5.5 million. A fair amount of recent liquidations was tied to Bitcoin moves, driven by traders who had large positions and saw prices move against them. Some positions were forced closed. That pushed volatility up in the short term. Ethereum and a handful of other coins also saw money leave, though a few assets attracted small inflows. XRP, Solana, and Chainlink each gained minor sums relative to the overall outflow. These were selective bets rather than broad rotations back into risk assets. Investment managers who moved into specific tokens appeared to be making tactical, not broad, commitments. Sidelined Capital Is Waiting Reports say much of the market’s strength depends on outside cash returning. Right now, many potential buyers are waiting for clearer signals from the macro side — interest rates, big economic reports, and policy hints from regulators. Without sustained buying, price bounces are more likely to be brief technical recoveries than full trend changes. Related Reading: Bitcoin Buying Spree Nears Century Mark, Saylor Hints A Pause More Than A Collapse This is not a market breakdown. It is a pause, according to analysts. Participation has dropped and that creates a fragile environment. If macro sentiment shifts and more buyers step in, flows could reverse quickly. Until then, expect choppy moves, low volume, and a market that reacts strongly to each new piece of news. Featured image from Vecteezy, chart from TradingView
Markets blinked hard this week. According to Checkonchain, a measure tied to recent Bitcoin buyers has dropped into extreme territory not seen since the late 2018 slump. Related Reading: XRP On The Spotlight As Arizona Advances Landmark Digital Asset Bill That metric compares where new buyers paid against price swings, and right now those who bought inside the last 155 days sit well below break-even on average. That creates stress. It can also mark a low if other pieces line up. Short-Term Holder Signal Flashes Again Reports say the Short-Term Holder Bollinger Band reading has pierced its lower band, a statistical cue that recent buyers are unusually underwater. In past cycles that kind of print arrived near major lows — a deep wash-out when selling activity peaked and then buying began to reclaim value. Realized losses among large short-term wallets have not exploded yet, which, based on reports from MatrixPort, hints that heavy hitters may be holding through the pullback rather than throwing in the towel. Reports note that a similar signal appeared before Bitcoin’s historic 1,900% rally from the late 2018 bottom to 2021. While past performance does not guarantee the same outcome, the comparison highlights how extreme stress among short-term holders has previously aligned with major long-term gains. ????Today’s #Matrixport Daily Chart – February 17, 2026 ⬇️ Bitcoin Sentiment Hits Extreme Lows ⁰— Durable Bottom Are Emerging? #Matrixport #Bitcoin #BTC #CryptoMarkets #MarketSentiment #FearAndGreed #RiskManagement #Volatility #CryptoResearch pic.twitter.com/WxJg3xrHSf — Matrixport Official (@Matrixport_EN) February 17, 2026 Price Action And Market Moves Price behavior has been messy. Bitcoin slipped under $67,000–$70,000 as risk-off flows hit markets. Traders point to rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the broader pull in risk assets as key drivers of the move. Reports say a note picked up by a popular media and TV firm relayed a Wells Fargo view that a seasonal surge in US tax refunds — the bank’s strategist described a sizable liquidity window — could re-route fresh cash toward risk bets, possibly supporting a rebound by the end of March. Bitcoin STH Bollingers most oversold in 8 years pic.twitter.com/tHyBv3V1Ge — Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) February 17, 2026 What History Can And Cannot Tell Us Looking back offers both comfort and caution. The oversold alarm flashed before a big rally after 2018, and a similar signal showed up ahead of the November 2022 trough that later produced a steep recovery. Reports note those moves unfolded against very different backdrops — money supply conditions, interest rates, and institutional involvement were not the same then as they are now. This time there are ETFs, more derivatives, and a tighter policy regime in some parts of the world. Past wins do not automatically repeat, but patterns can still guide risk-aware decisions. Related Reading: What Bitcoin Rout? Michael Saylor Unfazed, Teases New Accumulation Where This Leaves Traders And Longer-Term Holders Short-term pain may still come. Volatility can remain high while markets reconcile macro news and geopolitical shocks. Yet the stretched readings among recent buyers do improve the odds that a better buying window is near for anyone with a multi-year horizon. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin sits on edge again, trading below the critical $68,000 level after a volatile stretch that erased around 28% from its price in about a month. Prices are swinging hard, and that swing has pushed smart-money talk and wild bets into the same room. Related Reading: Bitcoin Should Be Flying—Instead, Quantum Risk Keeps It Grounded: Analyst Experts Offer Starkly Different Paths According to some investors, a deep bargain is forming. Andrew Parish, a serial entrepreneur and outspoken Bitcoin proponent, argues that mood matters — when retail traders turn gloomy, big buyers can step in and lift markets fast. He put a bold target on the table: $500,000 within a few years if flows and sentiment flip. Ric Edelman, a veteran investor, has a similar headline number but with a slower clock; his math rests on broad wealth moving a tiny slice into crypto over time. Both views hinge on steady inflows and more investors taking small positions in crypto. GM. Bitcoin sub $70K is a gift. Buy more. In three years $BTC will trade above $500K. — Andrew (@AP_Abacus) February 16, 2026 A Bear Case That Cuts Deep On the other side, the warning is loud and clear. Bloomberg macro strategist Mike McGlone has painted a much darker path, saying an 85% drop could be possible and that $10,000 should not be dismissed. Legendary Investor Ric Edelman: “I believe #bitcoin can reach $500,000 by 2030.” ???? pic.twitter.com/XNQFTbuA69 — Altcoin Daily (@AltcoinDaily) February 16, 2026 He points to stronger stock markets, lower market swings, and fading political tailwinds tied to US President Donald Trump as reasons capital might stay away from risky bets. Markets can be moved by big shifts in where money chooses to sit, and moments like this can put a damper on optimism quickly. Collapsing Bitcoin/Cryptos May Guide the Next Recession – “Healthy Correction” is what we should hear soon from stock market analysts (who risk unemployment if not onboard), following collapsing cryptos. The buy the dips mantra since 2008 may be over, here’s why: – US stock… pic.twitter.com/fPPc2fV3EU — Mike McGlone (@mikemcglone11) February 15, 2026 Flows And Sentiment Matter Reports note that exchange-traded funds saw heavy withdrawals recently. On-chain readings flagged hundreds of millions in outflows in a short window. A separate fear-and-greed meter cratered to very low readings, signaling panic among small traders. Those two facts together help explain why price fell so sharply; when many try to leave, price can slip faster than logic expects. That said, outflows can also clear the way for a different type of buyer to move in later. Related Reading: What Bitcoin Rout? Michael Saylor Unfazed, Teases New Accumulation On Institutional Behavior & Lofty Price Targets Meanwhile, institutional behavior will be the key variable. Large managers could buy when retail is jittery, and some market watchers point to companies that have built crypto desks as potential demand anchors. Despite the uncertainty, the $500,000 mark remains the headline grabber for bullish investors. Parish’s call captures attention because it ties sentiment swings to potential market moves, while Edelman’s projections underline how even modest allocations from global wealth could push Bitcoin higher over time. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Crypto markets are leaning toward their quietest mood in years, and some analysts say that could be the signal sellers have run out of steam. According to Matrixport, a slump in investor mood has pushed its measures to levels that have in the past lined up with market turning points. Related Reading: XRP Spotlighted In German Media With Bold $9 Projection Crypto Sentiment At Multi-Year Lows According to Matrixport, its Bitcoin fear-and-greed gauge has the 21-day moving average below zero and starting to turn up, which is the kind of shift that in prior episodes marked the end of broad selling. Reports note Alternative.me’s Fear and Greed Index sits near 10 out of 100, a reading that lines up with what traders call “extreme fear.” Those are blunt, unsightly numbers. They also tend to make a few investors start looking for bargains. Similar Readings From The Past Past moments with similar readings came after steep drops. June 2024 and November 2025 were named by Matrixport as earlier times when market mood hit comparable depths, and each was followed by at least a temporary change in price action. That pattern doesn’t promise a rebound every time, but it does show how deeply negative views can eventually be absorbed by buyers who step back in at lower prices. ????Today’s #Matrixport Daily Chart – February 17, 2026 ⬇️ Bitcoin Sentiment Hits Extreme Lows ⁰— Durable Bottom Are Emerging? #Matrixport #Bitcoin #BTC #CryptoMarkets #MarketSentiment #FearAndGreed #RiskManagement #Volatility #CryptoResearch pic.twitter.com/WxJg3xrHSf — Matrixport Official (@Matrixport_EN) February 17, 2026 Technical Indicators Flash Oversold Signals Frank Holmes of Hive says Bitcoin is about two standard deviations below its 20-day trading norm — a rare reading seen only a few times in five years. Reports note that these extremes have historically produced short-term bounces over the following 20 trading days. Bitcoin itself has been moving sharply: it briefly climbed above $70,000 over the weekend, only to fall back about 2.5%, trading near $68,750 at the time of writing. Other trackers report it dipped close to $60,000, marking one of the deepest drops in several years. Traders are keeping a close eye on US GDP and income data, which could influence risk appetite and the next moves for crypto markets. Selling Pressure May Be Near Exhaustion Reports say Matrixport still warns that prices could move lower before any meaningful bottom is cemented. The firm points to a cyclical link between mood and price — deep pessimism often precedes an inflection, but cycles can be messy and extend. Selling pressure can be exhausted and yet new headlines or data can push prices down further before buyers feel confident enough to stay. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $8,000? Michael Saylor Says Strategy Still Won’t Break What Traders Might Do Next Some investors see present readings as an attractive entry point, while others prefer to wait for clearer confirmation from price and volume. Long-term holders often point to the underlying network metrics and institutional interest as reasons to remain optimistic, and their positions are being watched closely. Short-term players, by contrast, are taking a cautious stance, using stops, scaling entries, or sitting out until signals firm up. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin’s image as a steady store of value is being tested. What once was talked about as a hedge against uncertainty now moves more like a high-upside, high-risk bet. Related Reading: Jim Cramer Suggests US Government Could Buy Bitcoin Near $60K Signals Of A Growth Asset According to Grayscale, recent trading patterns show Bitcoin tracking closely with shares of software companies rather than with gold or silver. That change in behavior has been noticeable since early 2024, when institutional flows and exchange-traded products pushed crypto into more mainstream hands. Reports say investors who chase growth — many drawn by the AI story — have been selling software names hard, and Bitcoin has followed some of that pressure. Institutional Links And Market Forces Reports note that deeper ties to traditional markets explain part of this shift. Large firms, ETF mechanics and growing institutional holdings mean movements in stock markets can spill into crypto. There has also been active selling from US-based accounts that left Bitcoin trading at a discount on some platforms. That selling happened after a string of big liquidations late in the year and again in recent weeks, which amplified losses for traders who used leverage. Where Price Stands Now Bitcoin is changing hands around $66,900, with clear resistance near $69,900 and support levels slipping under $66,600. The swings are sharp and intraday moves can be wide, reflecting a mood that is cautious and reactive. From its peak above $126,000 in October, the market has pulled back by roughly 50% in several waves, which shows how quickly sentiment can turn against even the most talked-about crypto. Gold, Geopolitics And Risk Appetite Reports point out that bullion has climbed to fresh highs while Bitcoin has failed to mirror those safe-haven flows. Rising geopolitical friction has driven some money into metals and away from riskier bets, including tech shares and crypto. Traders who expected Bitcoin to act like a fortress against turmoil have found that, for now, it behaves more like an asset whose value rises on hope and falls when fear returns. A return of fresh capital would likely be needed to steady prices. ETF inflows could help, and a renewed wave of retail buyers would too. Research suggests that retail interest is currently focused on AI stories and growth narratives, which leaves crypto out of favor for many individual investors. That concentration of attention matters: capital flows are what lift or sink these markets. Related Reading: After Predicting XRP’s Drop, Analyst Says The Bottom May Be In Bitcoin Tracks Tech, But Long-Term Value Still Intact Grayscale says Bitcoin’s recent moves mirror tech stocks, not gold, but its long-term potential as a store of value remains. Short-term swings reflect market integration and investor activity, while future performance will depend on capital flows and broader economic trends. Featured image from ETF Trends, chart from TradingView
Bitcoin’s market shook hard on a single day of trading, sending prices tumbling to $65,000 and nerves flaring. Reports note the move wiped out a big chunk of recent gains and pushed many recent buyers into loss. Price action this sharp rarely comes without a story behind it — and this one had several threads pulling at once. Related Reading: Polygon Hits $3.50 Billion In Payments As Crypto Activity Expands Bitcoin: Capitulation And Selling Pressure According to Glassnode, the spike in forced sales is one of the biggest seen in about two years. Traders who had used borrowed money were hit first. Liquidations swept through positions, and many coins moved from hands that bought recently to hands that sold quickly. Realized losses climbed to the highest levels since late 2022, with close to $890 million a day recorded on a seven-day average. The sell-off unfolded over roughly 10 hours of intense trading, with panic and program trades both playing a role. The $BTC capitulation metric has printed its second-largest spike in two years, highlighting a sharp escalation in forced selling. These stress events typically coincide with accelerated de-risking and elevated volatility as market participants reset positioning.… pic.twitter.com/mcvVqXJcYq — glassnode (@glassnode) February 5, 2026 Prices Fall Below Buyer Cost Lines Reports say Bitcoin’s market price has fallen under several on-chain cost markers that many investors watch. Short-term buyers who picked up coins in recent months now sit below their purchase price. That creates a kind of pressure where emotional selling can feed into more selling. Active investor costs and broader market averages were all above the spot price, which made the slide feel deeper. When a market drops under the average cost of recent buyers, volatility tends to rise and traders begin hunting for the next reliable support. News Flow And Timing The move comes after a run of strong gains earlier in the year. Price was last at these levels back in November 2024, just before US President Donald Trump won his reelection. That timing put the fall in sharper relief for some observers who had started to see those prior highs as a fresh floor. Headlines and big trades added friction to the market. Social chatter and rapid shifts in order books amplified selling, and some long-term holders did move to lock in gains or cut risk. Related Reading: Russia’s Biggest Exchange To Launch XRP Indices And Futures What The Numbers Tell Us Based on on-chain measures, the recent drop forced a large group of holders to realize losses, not just paper losses but actual transactions where coins left wallets at a lower price than they were bought. That kind of clearing can remove built-up leverage and leave a cleaner market on the other side. It also leaves fewer buyers near current levels, which means rebounds can be choppy and uneven. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Reports have disclosed that Polygon closed the final quarter of 2025 with higher on-chain usage, driven by payments, stablecoin transfers, and tokenized assets. Related Reading: Crypto Could Bounce Soon As Fundamentals Firm Up, Tom Lee Says While traders watched MATIC drift inside a narrow range, activity on the chain told a different story, one focused on payments, stablecoins, and quiet institutional adoption rather than price momentum. Polygon Payments Use Grows Faster Than Prices According to Messari’s Q4 network review released on January 4, Polygon processed heavy payment traffic as fees stayed low and settlement times remained short. More than 50 apps built for payments handled about $3.50 billion in transfers during the quarter. That figure was 96% higher than the prior quarter and close to four times the level seen a year earlier. Stablecoin-linked cards added another layer of activity. Ten card programs together moved nearly $363 million using Mastercard and Visa rails, with Visa responsible for the larger share. Reports say this growth came from everyday spending rather than one-off events, a sign that Polygon is being used for routine transfers instead of short-term experiments. Beyond card payments, several firms expanded how they move money on the chain. DeCard allowed users to pay with USDC and USDT at a wide range of merchants. Flutterwave chose Polygon for cross-border business payments in 30 African countries. Revolut integrated cheap stablecoin transfers inside its app, while Stripe continued building subscription tools that rely on USDC. None of those moves grabbed market headlines, yet together they pushed steady volume through the network. Tokenized Assets Gain Ground Quietly Away from payments, tokenized real-world assets continued to stack up. Reports note Polygon ended Q4 with nearly $1.10 billion in RWAs, ranking ninth worldwide. Growth was driven less by retail hype and more by regulated structures. Stablecoin supply climbed to nearly 3 billion, led by USDC at $1.34 billion and DAI near $630 million. Latin America stood out as a key region, where non-USD stablecoin volume totaled $1.18 billion. Average daily DEX volume jumped 44% to a little over $200 million. MATICUSD trading at $0.19 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView MATIC Trades Sideways As Activity Builds MATIC’s price action stayed restrained despite the on-chain growth. The token slipped back from short-term resistance during broader market weakness and then stabilized as buyers defended key support zones. Related Reading: Russia’s Biggest Exchange To Launch XRP Indices And Futures Deeper losses were avoided, but strong upside moves failed to appear. Volume has yet to confirm a shift in trend. For now, Polygon shows rising use across payments and tokenized assets, while its token waits for a clearer signal from traders. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
Reports say an on-chain analytics account called Rand flagged a new milestone: crypto funds have recorded three straight months of outflows for the first time on record. Related Reading: Crypto Could Bounce Soon As Fundamentals Firm Up, Tom Lee Says That streak stands out because it breaks the pattern of sporadic withdrawals and inflows that marked earlier market cycles. Many investors are watching closely. Outflows Reach A Historic Turning Point According to market watchers, the run of withdrawals covers both retail and institutional flows. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US have been a major focus, with inflows that were once enormous now trimming down. Some of the earlier gains that piled into ETFs have been partially reversed, leaving holders with paper losses that many see as painful right now. US ???????? spot #Bitcoin ETF’s recorded 3 months of net outflows in a row. The first time in history that there has been 3 consecutive months of outflows. pic.twitter.com/WusDpXuSSm — Rand (@cryptorand) February 3, 2026 ETF Investors Holding Their Ground Reports say several prominent analysts have pointed out that, while the recent bleed looks alarming, ETF holders haven’t fled. James Seyffart noted that holders remain largely in place despite steep paper losses. Jim Bianco weighed in too, suggesting the average ETF stake is underwater by a meaningful margin yet still being held. This is not a full-scale selloff; it’s a slow retreat for now. Large sums entered the market during the peak months and those inflows dwarf the recent outflows when measured over the longer run. Sentiment has shifted, but conviction has not collapsed. What The Numbers Show Over 30 days, spot Bitcoin’s price slid by a sizable amount, and that drop helped push ETF positions into the red. Reports show some holders face losses around the low 40%, while shorter windows show steeper swings. The math is simple: big gains came fast, and some of that profit has been given back. At the same time, net positions remain sizable and a fair share of the capital that flowed in earlier is still parked in ETFs. Long Term Gains Versus Short Term Pain According to other market commentators, the bigger picture still favors those who kept faith through the rally years. Since 2022, Bitcoin’s cumulative rise outpaced several traditional stores of value, say analysts tracking long-term performance. That record is raised as a counterpoint to the current outflow story. Some investors see the current weak stretch as a pause; others see it as a warning. Related Reading: Russia’s Biggest Exchange To Launch XRP Indices And Futures What Comes Next The three-month outflow run is a sobering marker. It signals caution has spread beyond a handful of traders and reached products that many thought would smooth volatility. Money can return just as quickly as it left, or the slow drip could continue. For now, reports and the data both show a market in a rare place: bruised, but not emptied. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView