The crypto market has been under pressure for months. The selling has been relentless. And the world outside the chart is not making it easier. Top analyst Darkfost has published an assessment that places the current market environment in its full context: the geopolitical situation is deteriorating, not stabilizing. Despite announcements from the Trump administration suggesting a path toward de-escalation, the attacks and bombings have not stopped. The conflict is escalating. The consequences are spreading across every asset class without exception. Related Reading: An XRP Key Indicator Just Flipped Bullish — and Most Traders Are Not Watching It The damage is not limited to crypto. The 60-40 portfolio — the stocks-and-bonds allocation that has defined institutional risk management for decades and survived every major market stress of the past thirty years — is experiencing its worst performance since 2022. When the most robust mainstream strategy is breaking down, the environment for risk assets is not merely difficult. It is structurally hostile. Crypto has not been spared. But Darkfost notes something that the headlines are missing: relative to the scale of the macro dislocation, the crypto market has shown a degree of resilience over recent weeks that deserves attention rather than dismissal. That resilience is not a recovery. It is a signal worth watching in a market where most signals have been pointing in one direction for months. The Bleeding on Binance Has Stopped. What Comes Next Is the Question Darkfost’s on-chain data introduces the first constructive development in weeks. Amid the macro pressure and the sustained selling environment, Binance — the platform recording the highest trading volumes globally — is showing a clear increase in stablecoin inflows. The shift is measurable, dateable, and significant enough to warrant serious attention. The historical contrast makes the current reading more meaningful. On December 11, Binance recorded net stablecoin outflows of -$3.4 billion — capital leaving, liquidity contracting, the market voting with its feet. On February 15, that figure deteriorated further to -$6.7 billion, the largest single outflow reading in the period under review. Those two dates marked the depths of investor withdrawal from the platform. Today, the stablecoin netflow on Binance stands at +$2.4 billion. The direction has reversed. Capital that was leaving is now entering. The $9.1 billion swing from the February low to the current reading is not a footnote — it is the largest behavioral shift visible in the flow data this quarter. Darkfost’s qualification is precise and should not be dismissed: the signal is encouraging, but it needs to hold and build. A single positive reading is a data point. A sustained trend is a signal. The difference between the two is what the next several sessions will determine. Related Reading: Crypto Market Open Interest Hits $30 Billion, Highest Since January: Leverage Returns To The Market The Entire Crypto Bull Run Is Being Weighed Against a Single Support Level The total crypto market cap stands at $2.3 trillion, up 1.85% on the week — a candle that opened at $2.26 trillion, reached $2.32 trillion, and is holding above the week’s low of $2.25 trillion. The green candle is real. The context surrounding it is sobering. The macro picture requires no interpretation. Total market cap peaked near $4.05 trillion in January 2026 — the highest level in crypto’s history — and has retraced 43% over three months, erasing the entirety of the second half of 2025’s advance. The speed of that decline is as significant as its magnitude: what took eighteen months to build was unwound in twelve weeks. Related Reading: $2.3 Billion Ethereum Has Left OKX And Binance This Quarter: The Sell-Side Supply Is Thinning The weekly moving average structure tells the most important structural story visible on this chart. Price has broken below the 50-week MA and is now testing the 100-week MA — the green line, currently ascending through the $2.85–$2.9 trillion region — from well below it, having failed to reclaim it in recent weeks. Both the 50-week and 100-week MAs are now turning lower. The 200-week MA continues its long-term ascent near $2.1 trillion — the last structural support this chart offers and the level that has never been violated since 2023. Current level at $2.3 trillion sits in the gap between the 200-week MA below and the 100-week MA above. Reclaiming $2.85 trillion is the minimum requirement for any credible recovery argument. Until that level is reclaimed on a weekly close, the market remains in a confirmed downtrend on its most reliable long-term timeframe. Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) have extended their negative streak to a fourth consecutive week after US market weakness pushed global funds to over $170 million in weekly outflows. Related Reading: Bitcoin Should Be Flying—Instead, Quantum Risk Keeps It Grounded: Analyst Crypto Funds Outflows Extend Amid US Weakness According to the latest CoinShares data, crypto-based investment products recorded their fourth week of outflows amid the negative market sentiment of the past month. In a Monday report, James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, shared that global crypto funds closed the week with negative net flows totaling $173 million, bringing cumulative four-week outflows to $3.47 billion. Notably, crypto ETPs recorded over $1.7 billion in outflows each of the last two weeks of January as the market sentiment shifted, marking the largest negative net flows since November 2025. Over the past two weeks, investment products have seen outflows of $187m and $173m, respectively. The latest figures suggest that the strong selling pressure has slowed, although it has not yet reversed despite improved market sentiment. “The week began on a more positive note, with inflows of US$575m, followed by outflows of US$853m, likely driven by further price weakness. Sentiment improved slightly on Friday following weaker-than-expected CPI data, with inflows of US$105m,” he detailed. Meanwhile, ETPs’ trading activity also dropped notably, with volumes falling to $27 billion from a record $63 billion recorded the previous week. Butterfill noted that the funds also saw a sharp regional divergence in sentiment between the US and the rest of the world. Per the report, the US saw $403 million in outflows last week, while all other regions recorded $230 million in inflows. Germany, Canada, and Switzerland registered the strongest performance, with inflows worth $114.8 million, $46.3 million, and $36.8 million, respectively. Altcoins See Selective Resilience As the report noted, the two leading cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), saw the worst performance among major assets. The flagship crypto had the weakest sentiment, recording $133 million in negative net flows, fueled by BlackRock IBIT’s $235 million in outflows. However, short Bitcoin investment products also recorded outflows, totaling $15.4 million over the past two weeks, “a pattern often seen near market lows,” Butterfill added. Related Reading: Bitcoin At $8,000? Michael Saylor Says Strategy Still Won’t Break Ethereum suffered $85.1 million in outflows, led by BlackRock ETHA’s $112.7 million, while Hyperliquid saw $1 million in outflows. On the flip side, some altcoin-based investment products saw positive sentiment, continuing to attract fresh inflows last week. Crypto funds based on XRP led the charge with $33.4 million in inflows, adding to the previous week’s $63.1 million positive flows. Solana ETPs followed second with $31 million inflows, a notable increase from the $8.2 million recorded the week prior, signaling confidence in these assets despite the broader trend. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
While some consider the altcoins season may never come, others believe the altcoin market has changed, suggesting that a different version of the highly anticipated rally is in its early stages. Related Reading: Ethereum Targets April 2025 Lows As Price Drops Below $2,000 – What’s Next For ETH? ‘Inverted Altcoin Season’ Just Begun On Friday, the market recovered 15% from its multi-year lows, with most cryptocurrencies bouncing in the short-term timeframe. Amid the recent crash, investors’ sentiment has sunk to its lowest levels since 2022, with many expressing concerns about the future performance of altcoins. Market observer Ali Martinez discussed how the long-awaited altcoin season might have started, but not in the way most investors expected. In an X post, the analyst highlighted that after Bitcoin bottomed in November 2022, a nearly three-year bull run began, which carried the flagship crypto to its October all-time high (ATH). “During that entire period, many traders kept waiting for a traditional altcoin season: the familiar phase where Bitcoin rises and capital rotates broadly into altcoins, lifting nearly everything together,” he noted. However, unlike a traditional alt season, the market didn’t see altcoins rally all at once this cycle. Instead, many altcoins have been simultaneously breaking down structurally, with “channels that held for years (…) failing, support levels (…) giving way, and downside expansions (…) accelerating.” To him, “we are witnessing what I would call an inverted altcoin season.” Martinez noted the performance of cryptocurrencies like Filecoin (FIL), Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), and Cardano (ADA), which have either completed or started the breakdown from their macro channel supports. He considers this to be where new opportunities emerge: For traders willing to shift their bias, this environment has created meaningful opportunities — especially on the short side. (…) What’s important is that this pattern isn’t finished playing out. As a result, the analyst affirmed that the new inverted altcoin season is in its early stages, concluding that this cycle, it “didn’t arrive as a broad rally. It arrived as a selective unwind.” No More Broader Altcoins Rally? During a Thursday panel at the Ondo Summit 2026, Bitget’s CEO Gracy Chen discussed what crypto will look like in 2030. The executive predicted that the Real-World Asset (RWA) sector will grow significantly in the next four years, with “everything tokenized.” However, she also shared the “controversial opinion” that the highly anticipated alt season “may never come” and that altcoins could never rally all at once again, which would be “a little bit tricky” for crypto businesses, she added. Others have previously discussed market changes and whether the “old cycles” for Bitcoin and altcoins still hold. Last year, analyst Altcoin Sherpa asserted that the crypto market is in a “hyper-accelerated regime.” He explained that the earlier cycles consisted of euphoric, corrective, and accumulation phases before the start of a recovery phase. Meanwhile, the market now experiences short-term uptrends followed by mid-term downtrends under the new regime. “We have 1-3 months of pump followed by 2-6 months of downtrend and rinse repeat,” he wrote. “There is no more euphoria where things go berserk for an entire year. Just 1-3 months and then down.” Related Reading: Solana Eyes Deeper Correction As Bearish Pattern Confirmation Targets $40 Based on the new system, he advised traders not to expect 2021-like market conditions for most altcoins or a traditional Alt season. Instead, Altcoin Sherpa suggested that investors should capitalize on shorter rallies while being aware of their limited duration. Nonetheless, he noted that, unlike previous cycles, altcoins will also recover faster and won’t take over a year to bottom and accumulate before a fresh leg up begins. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
As we approach the final day of a massive year for the crypto industry, a recent report revealed that the sector has lost nearly $3 billion amid the emergence of new trends from malicious actors and growing security complexities. Related Reading: Solana Bearish Formation Hints At Major Correction Until Mid-2026 – Here’s The Target 2025 Crypto Losses Increase By 45% On Tuesday, blockchain security firm SlowMist shared its 2025 Blockchain Security & AML Annual Report, highlighting the severe security challenges the crypto industry faced throughout the year. According to SlowMist, the total value stolen from crypto hacks increased by 46% in 2025 compared to 2024, a trend previously noticed by earlier reports. Notably, crypto theft had been more devastating by the first half of this year than the entirety of 2024. A Mid-Year report by Chainalysis showed that 2025’s activity by the end of June revealed a significantly steeper trajectory into the end of the first half than any previous year, with an alarming velocity and consistency. Now that the year is near its end, security incidents have cost approximately $2.935 billion, according to SlowMist data, significantly surpassing the $2.013 billion in losses from the previous year. However, the number of incidents dropped year-over-year (YoY) despite the total amount of losses increasing, signaling a trend of fewer but larger-scale crypto heists. The number of incidents declined by 51%, with 200 cases in 2025. In comparison, 2024 saw 410 reported hacks. The report shared that DeFi remained the most frequently targeted sector this year, with 126 security incidents, accounting for approximately 63% of all hacks and total losses of around $649 million. This represents a 37% and 62% YoY decrease from 2024’s 339 incidents and $1.029 billion in losses, respectively. Meanwhile, Centralized exchange (CEX) platforms reported 22 incidents, which accounted for $1.809 billion in losses, led by Bybit’s hack. The February attack resulted in approximately $1.46 billion being stolen in a single incident, becoming the most serious and largest security event of the year. Regulatory Enforcement Strengthens Although phishing remained one of the most active schemes, scams and intrusive attacks continued to evolve in 2025, noted SlowMist. Therefore, scams have become more deceptive and difficult to detect, with malicious actors no longer relying on a single method of attack to deceive victims: Traditional phishing has gradually expanded into permission hijacking, malicious code execution, and supply-chain poisoning. Attacks are no longer reliant on a single method; instead, they increasingly combine social engineering, browser exploitation, new protocol mechanics, and hybrid lure strategies to form stealthy and destructive attack chains. However, the report highlighted that crypto enforcement and sanction actions worldwide displayed a “clear trend of escalation” this year, as regulatory and law enforcement agencies directly intervened “in key areas of crypto-related money laundering, fraud, sanctions evasion, and illicit financing.” Related Reading: Crypto’s Big Money Signals Change: BTC Holders Pause, ETH Whales Buy Notably, there were 18 incidents this year in which lost funds were recovered or frozen. In these cases, the total stolen funds totaled to $1.95 billion, of which nearly $387 million was successfully returned or frozen. SlowMist concluded that “the development of the Web3 industry will no longer rely solely on technical innovation. (…) Organizations that can build stronger internal security controls, more transparent fund governance models, and more comprehensive KYT/AML review capabilities will gain longer-term resilience in the next cycle.” Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
As the market bleeds red and most altcoins lose crucial levels, some have suggested that investors must reshape their expectations of the crypto market this cycle and the long-awaited “alt season.” Related Reading: BitMine’s Unrealized Losses Hit $3.7B As Ethereum (ETH) Price Struggles Below $3,000 Old Crypto Cycle Is Gone – Analyst Over the past month, the crypto market has wiped out over $1 trillion in market capitalization due to a series of large-scale liquidations and strong selling pressure since the October 10 pullback, which has sunk investors’ sentiment to its lowest levels in months. Amid this performance, the early Q4 rally buzz has faded, and most altcoins have lost the ground gained during the Q3 market breakout. Market observers have shared their outlook on how the crypto market has changed and what to expect in the future. In October, Nic Carter, crypto investor and partner at Castle Island Ventures, weighed in on the shift in retail sentiment regarding most altcoins. As reported by NewsBTC, he affirmed that the bearish sentiment means the space has matured significantly. Carter explained that crypto is “boring” now because most of the uncertainties that drove much of the historical volatility have been resolved, adding that the industry has also largely derisked as a technological substrate. The investor considers that “crypto natives no longer control the narrative, there’s more serious businesses (which don’t require tokens), there’s less chaos, the whole space has matured significantly.” In a Friday thread on X, the Altcoin Sherpa also discussed the market changes, affirming that the “old cycles” have been “dead” for a while. As he explained, the previous cycles consisted of an euphoric phase, a corrective phase, and an accumulation phase before the start of a recovery phase. He highlighted the performance of Altcoins like Solana (SOL) between 2020 and 2024, noting that “this market environment is gone.” Instead, the analyst believes that the market is in a “hyper-accelerated regime.” Altcoins In A ‘Hyper-Accelerated Regime’ Under this new regime, the market experiences short-term uptrends followed by mid-term downtrends, similar to the price action of altcoins like BONK since late 2023, Altcoin Sherpa added: We have 1-3 months of pump followed by 2-6 months of downtrend and rinse repeat. There is no more euphoria where things go berserk for an entire year. Just 1-3 months and then down. Look how many cycles BONK had in a year or 2. The analyst suggested that investors should not expect 2021 conditions for most altcoins or a traditional “Alt Season,” where most tokens experience massive gains at once. He advised to capitalize when the “good times” arrive and be aware that “price can still die in 3 months.” “Reframe your brain in how you think about alt pumps and ‘alt season’. Coins will still downtrend, just not in a slow bleed. More [of] an accelerated destruction + carnage, Altcoin Sherpa detailed. Related Reading: This Altcoin Soars 20% In One Day Following Major Saudi Arabia Partnership He also noted that, unlike previous cycles, altcoins will also recover “a bit quicker than before,” and won’t take over a year to bottom and accumulate before a new leg up begins again. However, Sherpa affirmed that the lack of an accumulation phase will mean that “the overall coins will NOT have as strong of pumps like they used to,” as that period is what makes the rallies strong. “We aren’t seeing anything close to that anymore,” he concluded. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Pi Squared has announced the launch of its Devnet 2.0 to bring “internet-speed payments” to Web3 and advance its goal of 1 million transactions per second (TPS) by 2026. Related Reading: Bitcoin Eyes ‘Moment Of Truth’ As Price Retests $100,000 Support – Is The Rally Over? Pi Squared Unveils New Upgrade On Wednesday, Pi Squared, a project behind an infinitely scalable network for internet-speed payments, announced the launch of Devnet 2.0, a major upgrade to its Web3 verifiable settlement protocol. Notably, Pi Squared is building FastSet, an infinitely scalable, decentralized payments network designed to deliver “uncapped throughput, internet speed finality, and real-time verifiability.” The network settles transactions in parallel, which allows it to process more transactions per second than blockchains that rely on total ordering. In a September blog post, the project noted that TPS has been a key metric to evaluate the capacity, scalability, and efficiency of a credit card payment system. This metric was later adopted for the data transaction rate of cryptocurrencies, but “TPS may be discouraging to use as a metric in Web3 since there is so much heterogeneity and inconsistency around.” Pi Squared explained that, in the protocol, “TPS refers to the number of claims per second that can be effectively settled. Transactions are a typical example of claims, but FastSet is more than just settling transactions. Any verifiable statement can be settled on FastSet.” According to the official statement, the Web3 verifiable settlement protocol currently reaches 150,000 transactions per second with sub-100ms finality. Additionally, it targets 1 million TPS by mainnet in 2026, aiming to deliver “instant and trustless payments at a global scale.” Grigore Roșu, founder and CEO of Pi Squared, affirmed that “the future of payments demands more than what blockchains can deliver.” Therefore, “with theoretically uncapped TPS, sub-100ms finality, and verifiability by design, Pi Squared is ready to power global payments and financial systems at scale.” A New ‘Playground’ For Web3 Developers Per the statement, Devnet 2.0’s launch advances the Pi Squared goal to build “a future where payments and all forms of transactions happen instantly, verifiably, and with negligible fees.” It detailed that the Devnet 2.0 is a “fully accessible playground for developers to experience FastSet in action, providing a richer ecosystem, new apps, improved infrastructure, and comprehensive developer docs designed to make building on FastSet seamless.” Within the next week, two Decentralized Finance (DeFi) applications, Omniset and OmniSwap, are set to debut on the Devnet 2.0, seeking to “redefine cross-chain asset movement.” The first one acts as a universal liquidity and settlement layer, connecting fragmented liquidity across blockchains into a single verifiable layer, rather than relying on traditional bridges. As a result, users will reportedly be able to “deposit tokens on any chain, mint and use the tokens unrestricted on FastSet, and withdraw them on any other chain, seamlessly, securely, and instantly.” Related Reading: Solana (SOL) Loses Key Support Amid 8% Drop, Risks Major Correction To This Level Meanwhile, the second DeFi application is built on top of OmniSet. It will aggregate decentralized exchanges (DEXs) across networks, discover the best available swap rates, and execute trades using verifiable proofs, to make cross-chain swaps “trustless and lightning fast.” Roșu concluded that the launch of Devnet 2.0 “represents the latest milestone in our mission to deliver on one of the biggest promises of Web3, enabling p2p payments to move as fast as the internet.” Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
As the early ‘Uptober’ buzz fizzles and Bitcoin struggles to hold $110,000, the overall crypto market sentiment has seemingly taken a beating. According to online reports, market participants are disappointed with the recent performance, but some experts argue that this means the industry is “winning.” Related Reading: Bitcoin (BTC) November Rally At Risk? Analysts Say This Week’s Close Holds The Key Crypto Vibes Are ‘Sad’ Despite Industry Adoption On Thursday, investor and analyst Will Clemente shared on X that “the vibes in the crypto groupchats are just sad.” He explained that investors seem “jaded, depressed, and defeated,” adding that they are “completely giving up” and switching to other asset classes after BTC’s performance this year. Bitwise’s CEO, Hunter Horsley, weighed in on the matter, affirming that “Crypto natives are now in a multi-month bear market sentiment,” while the “off-Twitter” sentiment is the “best it’s ever been.” Horsley detailed that the offline positive outlook is fueled by the notable decrease in regulatory risk, which has led to the recent spike in institutional adoption and mainstream recognition. Notably, the second wave of crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) started trading this week, with Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) stealing the spotlight. Moreover, the Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) trend, led by Strategy, continues to pour millions of dollars into cryptocurrencies. “The market is changing,” the CEO asserted in his Friday X post, pointing out JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent approach shift. Dimon has been a long-time crypto skeptic, calling the flagship crypto a “Ponzi scheme” and dismissing it as “useless as a pet rock.” Nonetheless, he recently admitted that he was wrong and that crypto, stablecoins, and blockchain are “real.” Is The Market ‘Boring’ Or Mature? In a response to Clemente’s post, Nic Carter stated that the sentiment shift highlights a deeper truth about the market: the space has matured significantly. He explained that crypto is “boring” now because most of the questions and uncertainties that drove much of the historical volatility have been answered. So many of the open questions have been answered, will stablecoins be allowed? yes. will we be banned? no. will we all go to jail for writing software? no. will we be incorporated into tradfi? yes. can tokens have cashflows and not be securities? Apparently. (…) There are still some unanswered questions, particularly around cash-flowing pseudoequity tokens, but we will probably get answers to those in the coming years. He also argued that the crypto industry has been largely derisked as a technological substrate, bringing large corporations to adopt these tools, which shows that “crypto natives no longer control the narrative, there’s more serious businesses (which don’t require tokens), there’s less chaos, the whole space has matured significantly.” Related Reading: Ethereum (ETH) Prepares For ‘Last Euphoric Run’ As Whales Go On $135M Buying Spree To Carter, this means that the industry has “won.” However, he noted that clarity and maturity come with less excitement, as “winning means the inherent volatility in the space is highly reduced! This applies to both startups and the underlying assets themselves.” “So if you’re sad that volatility has been dampened smile through the tears. it means we won,” he concluded. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
A recent MEXC Q3 report highlighted the strong performance of the crypto market during the last quarter, which saw active traders surge as the total crypto market capitalization climbed to the $4 trillion mark. Related Reading: Fetch.AI CEO Offers Reward To ‘Uncover’ Ocean Protocol’s Alleged $120M FET Dump Spot Market Sees Strong Q3 Performance On Wednesday, crypto exchange MEXC published its Q3 2025 Ecosystem & Growth Report, highlighting sustained expansion, robust user activity, and security from the previous quarter. According to the report, the exchange experienced strong activity and trading momentum during the market run between July and September, with over 680 new tokens added to the crypto exchange in Q3, representing a 17% increase from Q2. Moreover, the number of active users trading new listings in the exchange increased 16%, while the trading volume for these tokens surged 97%. The report also noted that the spot market had a “particularly robust” performance last quarter, with the top 10 highest-volume tokens recording an average peak gain of 2,933%, a 158% jump from Q2. Notably, memecoins, AI + Web3, Perpetual Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs), and stablecoin protocols were among the dominant narratives, with tokens like STBL, Chainbase (C), and DeAgentAI (AIA) showing remarkable 500% to 12,00% performances. Meanwhile, the BSC ecosystem outperformed all other ecosystems, taking six of the top 10 tokens by growth in the crypto exchange. The report detailed that BSC projects produced an average return of over 9,000%, including TALE, BAS, and MEAL. It’s worth noting that the BSC outperformed other networks in DEX activity earlier this month, with data showing that it recently ranked first across all chains, surpassing Ethereum and Solana on DEX daily trading and chain fees. Additionally, BSC reached a new all-time high (ATH) of 5.02 trillion gas used in a single day two weeks ago. MEXC also highlighted that BSC’s strength was matched by the Ethereum and Base ecosystems, which recorded strong performance with GAIA, ERA, and Avantis (AVNT), “representing the growing cross-chain vitality of Layer-2 and DeFi derivative protocols.” Crypto Losses Trend Slows Down The report revealed that the crypto exchange intercepted 48 fraud cases last quarter, freezing nearly $5 million in illicit funds. As part of its efforts to prevent fraud, it also restricted more than 19,000 suspicious accounts, including 17,000 collusive accounts and over 2,000 bot-trading accounts. Notably, a concerning trend that has been developing this year, which could drive theft from digital asset services to a new milestone by the end of 2025. According to Chainalysis, crypto theft this year has been “more devastating” than the entirety of 2024, with over $2.7 billion worth of funds stolen from crypto services in the first half of 2025. Related Reading: Bitcoin (BTC) Price Eyes $114,000 Retest Amid Bounce, But Analyst Suggests Caution As reported by NewsBTC, hacks significantly increase at the start of Q3, driving over $100 million in losses for exchanges. Q2 showed a diminishing trend in total crypto losses, with May and June recording 40% and 56% month-on-month (MoM) declines, respectively. This trend briefly shifted in July as the total value of stolen funds surged 27.2% from the previous month. Nonetheless, recent reports show that total funds lost to crypto hacks and exploits dropped around 37% in Q3, despite the market rally and initial trend. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
As the stablecoin sector sees global momentum grow, white label event management infrastructure provider Rhuna has raised $2 million in seed funding to expand stablecoin payments in the entertainment industry. Related Reading: BNB Chain Memecoin Season? 70% Of Investors In Profit As Four.Meme Surpasses Pump.Fun Rhuna Raises $2 Million In Seed Round On Thursday, Romania-based infrastructure platform Rhuna announced the completion of a $2 million seed round, led by Aptos Labs, to continue providing on-chain payments, access, identity, and rewards infrastructure for the entertainment industry. The seed round saw the participation of Acc Ventures, X Ventures, NewTribe Capital, Keyrock, CoinarketCap Labs, FunFair, Lémanique, and other investors. Notably, Rhuna provides event organizers with a single, programmable layer for wallet-native checkout and POS, ticketing, access control, and real-time stablecoin settlement, acting as a “universal entertainment pass” at different events, powered by stablecoin settlement and on-chain identity. “Organizers can use Rhuna to issue tickets, verify access, run loyalty, accept wallet-native payments, and settle value through a secure, composable layer that feels familiar to users and verifies on-chain,” the platform explained. According to the statement, the new funding aims to strengthen Rhuna’s payments and settlement rails, expand organizer tooling and integration, and accelerate the launch of the platform’s consumer app, designed to “bring discovery, access, and wallet-native checkout into one seamless experience.” Aptos Labs co-founder and CEO, Avery Ching, affirmed that Rhuna is “bridging the gap between digital innovation and real-world experiences.” “We’re proud to support Rhuna in making on-chain payments, access, and rewards seamless and accessible for millions of users across the global entertainment economy,” he added. A Bridge For Stablecoin Payments Rhuna has already supported over 2 million users across its pilot deployments, bridging fiat payments and stablecoin settlement, and reportedly processing over $90 million in volume. Moreover, the platform’s infrastructure has powered over 165 events and major festivals, including UNTOLD, Neversea, and Kapital. The platform highlighted that more than 450,000 attendees of UNTOLD, one of the world’s top music festivals, held in Romania, used Rhuna-powered payments and access systems across the festival grounds. Sveatoslav Vizitiu, Rhuna’s co-founder and CEO, considers that “Entertainment runs on transactions and trust,” affirming that the platform aims to make every step, from the venue gate to the ride home, “verifiable, programmable, and portable so that operators run smarter businesses and fans actually own their experience.” Related Reading: Ethereum 23% Rally Pushes BitMine’s ETH Treasury Holdings To $13.4 Billion The announcement added that the platform has also expanded across continents to power Dubai’s first mega festival, UNTOLD Dubai, which will take place in early November, and to “further validate its scalability across global entertainment ecosystems.” Vizitiu stated that the platform is entering a new phase with the expansion. “With global events like UNTOLD Dubai, we’re bringing more of the entertainment experience on-chain,” he continued, “from Buy Now, Pay Later and our upcoming consumer app, where users can create their own events, to innovative tools for organizers covering payments, mobility, ticketing, and more.” Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
A recent report revealed that over 50% of all crypto tokens have failed in the past five years, with a significant decrease in token survivability over the past year. Related Reading: Solana: Analysts Forecast Q3 ATH Rally As SOL Retests Make Or Break Level 50% Of Crypto Tokens Have Collapsed On Wednesday, CoinGecko published a report claiming that over half of the tokens registered in its Decentralized Exchange (DEX) tracker, GeckoTerminal, have died in the past five years. The study examined the total number of crypto tokens once listed in the DEX tracker with one trade or more before going defunct. Since 2021, nearly 7 million tokens have been listed in the real-time tracker, with 3.7 million cryptocurrencies no longer actively traded and considered to have failed. As a result, 52.7% of all examined crypto died, 86.5% failing between 2024 and early 2025. According to the report, 49.7% of all recorded project failures between July 2021 and March 2025 occurred in the first quarter of this year. By March 31, 1.8 million tokens had collapsed, representing the highest number of failures recorded in a single year. In 2024, nearly 1.4 million crypto projects failed, accounting for 37.7% of all collapses during the analyzed period. The number of failing projects has significantly increased from 0.5% in 2021 to 25% in 2025’s first three months. Nonetheless, CoinGecko noted that 2024 has the highest number of launches, seeing over 3 million new projects deployed in the crypto market. Since 2021, the total number of projects has skyrocketed by around 1,550%, going from 428,383 listed projects on GeckoTerminal to nearly 7 million crypto projects. Memecoin Frenzy Responsible For Most Failures? The massive increase in token launches was fueled by the launch of the Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun, which facilitated the deployment of tokens. The platform’s creation led to a “flood of meme coins and low-effort projects entering the market.” Notably, the start of this cycle’s memecoin frenzy saw the launch of hundreds of PolitiFi tokens, celebrity tokens, and scam tokens, with many reaching market capitalizations of hundreds of millions in record time. The report highlighted that crypto failures were in the low six digits before Pump.fun’s launch, with only 12.6% of all dead tokens between 2021 and 2023. By July 2024, reports revealed most celebrity memecoins had crashed over 90% since launch, with the majority essentially “dead.” Related Reading: Monero (XMR) Price Jumps 50% Amid ‘Suspicious’ $330 Million BTC Transfer – Details Amid the Q1 market retraces, most cryptocurrencies have seen a sharp price decline, with some of the strongest tokens retesting monthly and yearly lows. The recent nosedive in token survivability could be related to the market exhaustion and market turbulence, which coincided with the launch of the official TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins and the LIBRA token scandal. “This sharp decline in token survivability may be linked to broader market turbulence, particularly following Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, which coincided with a downturn in the crypto market,” the report concluded. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
Coinbase’s Layer-2 (L2) Network, Base, has faced intense backlash over rug-pull allegations after it promoted an unofficial memecoin that crashed by over 90%, sparking a debate about the future of memecoins and on-chain content. Related Reading: Aptos (APT) To Continue Moving In ‘No Man’s Land’ – Can It Reclaim $5? The Rise And Fall Of Base’s Unofficial Memecoin On Wednesday, Base’s official X account posted an image with the text “Base is for everyone.” Moments later, they shared a link to the on-chain social protocol Zora and the caption “Coined it,” sparking a speculative frenzy among investors. The protocol allows users to make social media posts into tradable tokens, automatically minting them. After Base’s post was turned into a token, the crypto community quickly skyrocketed its market capitalization to $17 million. However, online reports showed that the memecoin collapsed by around 92% after the top holders, who owned 47% of the supply, sold the memecoin just over an hour after launching. Some community members noted that the token was “HORRIFICALLY sniped,” while on-chain data analytics platform Lookonchain highlighted that “3 wallets bought a large amount of ‘Base is for everyone’ before Base posted and sold them, making a profit of ~$666K.” As a result, the community criticized the network’s team for the memecoin, calling the incident a rug pull and asking them to “stop launching worthless tokens that will all inevitably go to 0. You are diluting your brand and the value of real base assets.” Zora data shows Base has earned around $81,000 from the memecoin, which has recovered from the initial sell-off with a peak market capitalization of $26 million before retracing to the $9 million-$10 million range. Base’s Public Experiment Base responded to the backlash, clarifying they will never sell their holdings, but they weren’t an official network token either. The team explained that they posted on Zora because they believe everyone should bring content on-chain and use the tools that make it possible. Memes. Moments. Culture. If we want the future to be onchain, we have to be willing to experiment in public. That’s what we’re doing. To be clear, Base will never sell these tokens, and these are not official network tokens for Base, Coinbase, or any other related product. The content we share is creative, and we’re going to keep bringing culture onchain. The public on-chain experimentation opened a debate about memecoin culture and on-chain content, with Base’s creator, Jesse Pollak, weighing in. In a series of X posts, Pollak explained that “not all coins are the same,” outlining the differences between these two types of tokens. Is On-Chain Content The Future For Creators? According to his posts, a contentcoin is one piece of content with singular value and no expectations. Additionally, multiple of them can be created by the same person, with “big ones” potentially turning into memes. On the contrary, a memecoin is an “aggregation of content,” with aggregated value and high expectations, where the creator “should” only create one. He also noted that big ones turn into projects. Related Reading: Is The Storm Over For Ethereum? Analyst Says ‘Face-Melting’ Rally Comes Next Pollack considers that “someone has to normalize putting all of our content onchain. and i’m not afraid for it to be us. why? because in the wake of the chaos, we’ll normalize the behavior and create a better future for creators.” Nonetheless, many users remain skeptical, with community members also criticizing Base’s post announcing investors can mint a deleted scene of the “Vitalik: An Ethereum Story” documentary, where the project’s founder, Vitalik Buterin, shows what’s in his backpack. “Through ‘the financialization of everything’ we come to learn that most things are worthless,” the user stated. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
After the recent crypto market corrections, some investor’s and market watchers’ bullish sentiment appears to have decreased, with many claiming the top is in. However, other analysts point out that several indicators don’t signal a cycle peak yet, suggesting that the bull still has some gas in its tank. Related Reading: Aptos (APT) Could See A 95% Rebound, But It Must Hold This Level – Analyst Crypto Market Capitalization Retests Key Level The crypto market has recently suffered continuous corrections that have halted the momentum from the post-US election. During the November-December rally, the industry achieved many milestones, including Bitcoin’s breakout from the $100,000 barrier for the first time in history. The crypto market also surpassed its 2021 all-time high (ATH), reaching a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion on December 17, 2024. Nonetheless, its recent shakeout sent the total crypto market cap (TOTAL) to its lowest range in nearly three months. On Monday, the market retraced to the $2.8 trillion mark, briefly losing the key $3 trillion support level before bouncing. Market observer Daan Crypto Trades highlighted that the TOTAL chart retested the 2021 ATH during the pullback, turning the weekly candle “into a pretty interesting one.” The trader explained that the $3 trillion mark is crucial to hold going forward despite the chart showing “plenty of demand for the time being.” Meanwhile, the $3.7 trillion mark remains the key resistance level, as it is “what’s in the way of further expansion higher.” Daan also noted that the Altcoins market capitalization, which excludes Bitcoin and Ethereum, swept the 2024 highs and bounced after briefly losing its current range during the market correction, which could suggest that the long-awaited altseason is still ahead. He pointed out that Altcoins might continue moving sideways within their current range, but a breakout could see them test the December highs, as they are yet to break their 2021 ATH properly. Cycle Top Coming In Q4? Analyst Sjuul from AltcryptoGems shared an analysis of the total crypto market chart. The analyst stated that he doesn’t see the “warning signs” other investors and market watchers have mentioned online. From a technical perspective, the crypto market’s rally is a “straightforward support and resistance situation” since flipping the 2021 ATH level, which the market is currently holding. Sjuul compared this cycle to the previous one, stating that it technically is the beginning of the “real bull run.” Timewise, the chart presents various similarities between the two cycles, suggesting the top is around 230 days away. He explains that the 2021 breakout from the previous cycle’s top occurred 1,120 days from the 2017 ATH. Additionally, the 2021 cycle top occurred 1,400 days after the 2017 peak. Related Reading: Bitcoin Volatility ‘Relatively Low’ Despite Market Shakeouts – Analysts Eye This Crucial Level Meanwhile, this cycle’s breakout from the 2021 ATH happened approximately 1,120 days after the top, similar to the last cycle. If history repeats itself, this cycle’s timing suggests that the crypto market top is around 7-9 months away. Ultimately, the analyst projected the market peak to occur in Q4 2025 and potentially hit a market capitalization of $4.5 trillion. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com
The CEO of K-pop giant Cube Entertainment is under fire after being accused of participating in a crypto investment scam. He is suspected of allegedly using the entertainment company to inflate the price of the alleged scam token and now risks legal action. Related Reading: Oklahoma Senator Introduces Bitcoin Freedom Act To Allow BTC Payments […]
Recent reports revealed that South Korea is set to ease its restrictions on institutional crypto investment. Secretary-General of South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced the watchdog’s plan to review its restrictions amid the ongoing changes in South Korea’s regulatory approach. Related Reading: UK Authorities To Seize $4.3 Million In Bitcoin From Fugitive Crime Boss […]
On Thursday, the South Korea Stock Exchange chairman, Jeong Eun-bo, revealed their plan to “explore” the approval of crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to continue with its “value-up program” and face the ongoing market challenges. Related Reading: Indonesia Rushes To Finalize Crypto Oversight Transfer Ahead of Jan. 12 Deadline – Report Korea Exchange To Explore Crypto […]
A recent report warned about a new sophisticated phishing scam targeting unsuspected crypto users. The scheme involves fake Zoom meeting links to trick investors into downloading malicious software to steal their assets. Related Reading: Russian Companies Using Bitcoin For International Payments To Evade Sanctions – Report Fake Zoom Link Steals Private Data On Friday, Blockchain […]
On-chain investigator Coffeezilla recently accused influencer Hailey Welch and the HAWK memecoin team of scamming her fans with their recent token launch. The team faces backlash because the cryptocurrency nosedived 94% just over 12 hours after launching, leaving investors empty-handed. Related Reading: South Korean Crypto Exchanges Hit Record-Breaking $34 Billion Volume Following Market Shakeout The […]
A US Federal Judge in Little Rock has temporarily halted Arkansas State’s efforts to shut down a crypto mining firm owned by a Chinese-born man. The ruling comes after the firm requested a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) claiming illegal discrimination. Related Reading: Solana’s Pump.Fun Under Fire: Users Ask For Shutdown Over Livestream Chaos US Federal […]
Memecoins have been the top narrative of this cycle, bringing in millions of dollars in revenue to platforms like Pump.fun and generating massive profits for crypto investors. However, many consider that the frenzy around these tokens has taken a concerning turn as the cycle progressed, with figures like Changpeng Zhao urging for projects with ‘real’ […]
Upbit, the leading crypto exchange in South Korea, is being investigated by the country’s financial authorities over an alleged violation of Know-Your-Client (KYC) procedures. The probe comes amid the exchange’s license renewal process and a potential investigation for “anti-monopoly breaches.” Related Reading: Is The SEC Prepared For Trump’s Crypto Promises? Commissioner Peirce Weighs In Crypto […]
In the latest development of the WazirX crypto heist saga, the Delhi Police detained a man for his alleged connection to the July hack, according to local reports. The $235 million theft left millions of investors empty-handed before the second leg of the bull run and dissatisfied with the hacked exchange’s actions to repay its […]
The crypto market has seen a massive rally following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections. For the past week, the sector’s expectations for the newly elected pro-industry administration have grown as a clearer regulatory framework seems within reach. However, some believe the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) still needs to do more to […]
Tron’s founder, Justin Sun, took X to congratulate the newly elected 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump. The pro-industry Republican candidate’s victory has ignited speculation about the sector’s new era, including the future anti-crypto regulators like Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler. Related Reading: Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record Second Largest Single-Day […]
A recent report revealed North America is losing ground to other regions in a key sector. The continent, led by the US, was dethroned as the largest hub for crypto developers after recording a sharp decline in its developer’s share over the past decade. Related Reading: Russia To Ban Crypto Mining In Specific Areas Following […]
South Korean authorities announced their plan to fully regulate cross-border crypto transactions by the end of 2025 to combat a “blind spot” enabling tax evasion by foreign exchanges. Related Reading: Consensys Urges For Clear Crypto Regulation In Open Letter To Future US President Koran Authorities To Regulate Cross-Border Crypto Transactions According to local news media […]
A recent Nansen report revealed that the Game Finance (GameFi) sector is expected to see major growth by the decade’s end, driven by decentralized economic systems, the rise of AAA games in Web3, and the popularity growth of role-playing games (RPG). Related Reading: Crypto Investors Beware: Binance Founder Warns X Users About Fake ‘CZ’ Accounts […]
An Indian man received a 5-year sentence for a multi-million fraud involving a fake Coinbase website. The 2-year scheme took over $20 million in crypto from hundreds of victims, which was used to fund the fraudster’s lavish lifestyle. Related Reading: Nansen Integrates With Solana To Offer Advanced Token And Wallet Trading Tools Indian National To […]
Global fintech Revolut revealed it prevented millions in potential losses in the last three months, using its crypto-specific measures and transaction monitoring to tackle criminal activity as malicious actors continue to target the industry. Related Reading: How Bitcoin Is Propelling A Small Texas Town Into A New Economic Era: The Rockdale Story Revolut Prevents $13 […]
A crypto investigation recently deep-dived into one of the industry’s largest problems, revealing its extent might be larger than suspected. The report exposed how North Korean hackers have targeted and infiltrated the sector, presenting many legal and cybersecurity risks for companies and investors. Related Reading: Sony’s Ethereum L2 Joins Ava Protocol To Support Creators, Here’s […]
Amazon is set to launch 1KIN Lab’s new Web3 gaming subscription on its platform. The new service, developed by the company behind GR1D Network, aims to enhance users’ experience with exclusive content and early access opportunities within its GR1D TERMINAL platform and GR1D ecosystem. Related Reading: 7 Days Left: Pro-XRP Lawyer Predicts Likelihood Of SEC […]