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Congress Targets Crypto Prediction Markets With 4 Bills Banning War And Assassination Bets
Crypto prediction platform Polymarket and derivatives exchange Kalshi were closing in on $20 billion valuations when the US Congress decided it had seen enough.
A Bill Targeting Crypto And A Very Long AcronymSenator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Rep. Greg Casar of Texas introduced the BETS OFF Act this week — short for Banning Event Trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal Functions.
The legislation would make it illegal to place, accept, or facilitate bets on terrorism, assassinations, wars, or any event where someone already knows the outcome or has the power to determine it.
The bill doesn’t stop at US borders. Because many of these contracts trade on offshore crypto platforms, the legislation would extend federal gambling laws to reach international operators.
Payment processors would be required to cut off money flows to prohibited platforms. US-based individuals who run or promote these businesses could face criminal penalties.
Any registered commodity exchange listing these types of contracts would also be barred from doing so.
The law would take effect 30 days after being signed.
Suspicious Trades That Caught Washington’s AttentionThe bill’s arrival follows a pair of incidents that drew intense scrutiny on Capitol Hill. Hours before US military strikes on Iran — and before American forces extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — anonymous accounts on Polymarket placed large bets on those exact outcomes. They walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Murphy argued this creates a dangerous setup: when people connected to government decisions can profit anonymously from bets placed before those decisions go public, the line between governing and gambling disappears.
The concern isn’t just corruption. It’s that decision-makers could develop a financial interest in pushing policy toward specific outcomes.
Polling backs up public concern. According to data from Data for Progress, 61% of independents and 57% of Republicans support banning wagers on government actions. Opposition to betting markets tied to terrorism or assassinations is even higher — 80% of voters said no.
Four Bills In Under Three MonthsThe BETS OFF Act is part of a rapid pile-on from lawmakers. It’s the fourth major piece of legislation targeting crypto prediction markets since January.
In January, Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York introduced a bill barring federal officials from betting on markets tied to government decisions — a direct response to a trader who turned $30,000 into more than $400,000 betting on Maduro’s capture before it happened.
On March 5, a bipartisan pair — Blake Moore of Utah and Salud Carbajal of California — filed a bill requiring the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to ban contracts on terrorism, war, elections, and government activity, with a carve-out letting individual states allow sports betting.
Five days later, Senator Adam Schiff and Rep. Mike Levin introduced the DEATH BETS Act, targeting contracts tied to war, assassination, and individual deaths.
That bill came after $529 million in Iran-related trades hit Polymarket in a single stretch.
Featured image from Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, chart from TradingView
Institutions Are Using XRP As Collateral, Says Ripple Prime CEO
Ripple Prime is pitching XRP not just as a traded asset, but as working collateral inside institutional market structure. In a March 17 interview with Jake Claver, international CEO Mike Higgins said Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road, now rebranded as Ripple Prime, is designed to bring prime brokerage, clearing, custody and treasury functions into a single institutional stack.
Higgins framed Ripple Prime as an access layer for firms trading across both traditional and digital markets. The core idea, he said, is that those markets are no longer separate for much longer, and institutions will need balance-sheet access, collateral mobility and cross-margining tools that work across both.
The Role Of XRP Within Ripple PrimeThat is where XRP enters the picture. Higgins said Ripple Prime has built “innovative ways around taking XRP as collateral” and using it to finance trades, allowing institutional clients to post digital assets without first liquidating them into dollars. In practice, that means a firm holding XRP can keep the position on its balance sheet while still accessing leverage or liquidity in markets that do not natively accept XRP.
He gave a concrete example using CME futures. “If you wanted to trade futures on the CME, the CME doesn’t take XRP as good collateral,” Higgins said. “Instead of transforming that and selling that into dollars to give to your clearer, what you can do through Ripple Prime is post your XRP as good margin. We give you dollar credit to trade on the CME, and so now you could be long spot, front-month future, capturing the basis trade.”
That comparison was central to his argument. Higgins likened the model to traditional commodity finance, where a bank would lend against oranges, gold or Treasuries rather than require a client to sell the underlying asset first. The difference now is that crypto-native collateral is starting to be recognized inside institutional risk systems. For holders of assets like XRP, he said, that avoids crystallizing profit and loss, preserves treasury positions and opens up additional return strategies.
He also argued that digital collateral has one structural advantage over traditional assets: it can be moved and liquidated around the clock. That matters not only for trading, but for risk management. “When you trade traditional assets, they have an open and a close every day and they have weekends or long periods of holidays,” Higgins said. “What you get the next day are these huge gaps. A smooth 24/7 market where you can move collateral, that velocity of collateral to meet collateral calls shrinks.”
In Higgins’ telling, the institutional case for tokenization is broader than a single asset. He pointed to Treasury operations, tokenized repo, onchain money-market products and, eventually, tokenized equities as part of the same transition. “You already have crypto as an asset class itself. You have stablecoin usage,” he said. “The world is inexorably moving in this direction and the pace of that is increasing now that we’ve already proven out the thesis of using the technologies with crypto.”
Still, he did not suggest a clean handoff from legacy finance to open DeFi. Higgins repeatedly stressed compliance, counterparty transparency and permissioned access as prerequisites for serious institutional adoption.
Public decentralized venues may be winning market share, he said, but large firms still need AML, KYC and balance-sheet visibility before they can deploy capital at scale. That leaves prime brokers in a familiar role: connecting fragmented pools of liquidity while managing credit, margin and settlement across venues.
At press time, XRP traded at $1.46.
Grayscale Doubles Down On Ethereum: $44.6M Staked In Fresh ETH Allocation
Ethereum has reclaimed the $2,300 level, positioning itself at a critical juncture as the market prepares for a decisive move. After weeks of volatility and corrective pressure, ETH is now testing a key zone that could determine the next phase of price action. While some analysts argue that the current structure is building toward a bullish impulse, others remain cautious, warning that the recent recovery could still lead to a short-term retrace before any sustained upside.
Amid this uncertainty, on-chain data is providing additional context. According to Arkham, Grayscale continues to stake Ethereum and recently staked another 19,200 ETH, worth approximately $44.6 million, just a few hours ago. This adds to its growing position and reinforces its long-term exposure to the asset.
Staking activity from an entity like Grayscale carries structural implications. By locking ETH into staking contracts, the firm is effectively removing liquid supply from the market, reducing the amount of ETH available for immediate selling. At the same time, staking reflects a long-term conviction strategy, as assets are committed to generating yield rather than being actively traded.
For market participants, this behavior can be interpreted as a signal of institutional confidence in Ethereum’s long-term value, even as short-term price direction remains uncertain.
Grayscale Expands Staking While Market Remains CautiousInstitutional activity continues to provide a structural backdrop for Ethereum, even as price action remains uncertain. On March 13, Grayscale (Ethereum Mini Trust) staked 57,600 ETH, valued at approximately $121.6 million, marking one of its largest recent allocations into staking. This move reinforces a broader trend of institutional players increasing exposure to Ethereum through yield-generating strategies rather than maintaining liquid positions.
From a supply perspective, this is meaningful. Staked ETH is effectively removed from the circulating supply, reducing immediate sell-side pressure and tightening available liquidity in the spot market. In isolation, this type of behavior would typically be interpreted as supportive of price over the medium to long term.
However, the market response has been more restrained. Despite these large-scale staking inflows, Ethereum’s price action continues to reflect caution rather than conviction. The asset remains near key resistance levels, with limited follow-through after recent attempts to move higher.
This divergence suggests that while long-term capital is positioning aggressively, shorter-term participants are still hesitant. Macro uncertainty, recent volatility, and prior liquidation events continue to weigh on sentiment.
As a result, Ethereum currently presents a mixed structure: institutional accumulation on one side, and cautious, reactive trading behavior on the other.
Ethereum Faces Key Resistance After Reactive BounceEthereum’s price structure on the 3-day chart reflects a reactive recovery rather than a confirmed trend reversal, despite the recent reclaim of the $2,300 level. The asset is rebounding from the sharp selloff seen in February, where price briefly capitulated below $2,000 before finding demand and stabilizing.
Technically, ETH is now attempting to push into a dense resistance cluster between $2,300 and $2,600, an area that previously acted as support and has now flipped into resistance. This zone also aligns with the short-term moving averages, which are beginning to flatten but have not yet turned decisively bullish.
The broader structure remains cautious. Price is still trading below the 200-day moving average, indicating that the macro trend has not fully shifted back to bullish. Additionally, prior lower highs from late 2025 remain intact, suggesting that ETH is still operating within a corrective or transitional phase.
Volume dynamics reinforce this interpretation. While the bounce from local lows showed increased participation, follow-through volume appears limited, pointing to selective buying rather than aggressive accumulation.
To confirm a stronger recovery, a sustained break above $2,600 is likely required. Until then, the current move can be interpreted as a relief rally within a broader restructuring market environment.
Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin Price Only Inches Away From Historical Bottom, Here’s The Level
Bitcoin is approaching a price level that has, without exception, led to the absolute bottom of every major bear market cycle in its history, and on-chain indicators show the moment of maximum opportunity may be drawing near for Bitcoin traders to capitalize on an incoming rally.
Bitcoin’s Historical Bottom At The 200-Week Moving AverageOne technical level has held with incredible consistency throughout more than a decade of Bitcoin’s price history. This technical level is, in fact, the 200-week moving average. Bitcoin has never closed a weekly candle meaningfully below the long-term 200-week moving average, even during the pandemic-era crash of 2020 and the cycle bottom of late 2022, and has, in each instance, staged a powerful recovery every time it touched it.
The chart below shows Bitcoin moving in cycles, with each correction eventually cooling off near this long-term average before the beginning of a rally phase. Notably, the Bitcoin price action followed this same script in 2015, 2018, and 2022. Each time, extended drawdowns ended only after Bitcoin touched or briefly dipped below the 200-week moving average.
The chart also adds a 14-month Relative Strength Index reading directly onto price via a color-coded dot system. Red dots highlight overbought euphoria around cycle peaks, while blue dots signal deeply oversold conditions consistent with capitulation bottoms. Green and yellow dots, on the other hand, populate the recovery and mid-cycle expansion phases in between.
At present, BTC is trading just above that same line once again, placing the price in a position that has historically led to a bottom. Blue dots are once again beginning to form along the current price trajectory. This is precisely the RSI pattern that appeared at the 2015 bottom, the 2018-2019 bottom, and the 2022 bottom.
If history holds, then the distance between the current price and a confirmed cycle bottom may be very small indeed. Bitcoin can either start a new rally from here or reverse from here to retest $60,000 again before embarking on the rally.
A Larger Breakout Structure Points To $500,000According to crypto analyst Coinvo Trading, a multi-year Cup and Handle formation is playing out on Bitcoin’s monthly chart. The bullish structure stretches across several years, with the rounded cup forming from mid-2021 to early 2025. The breakout of neckline resistance occurred in 2025, and the handle stage of the pattern has been forming since then.
As it stands, BTC is now approaching the final stages of this formation. Coinvo Trading projected the measured price target for this breakout at $505,761, which is derived from projecting the full depth of the cup formation above the breakout level. “Once it breaks, you’re too late,” the analyst warned.
Bitcoin Short-Term Holders Dump 48K BTC In Profit As Price Tests $75K
Bitcoin is attempting to push above the $75,000 level as market activity intensifies and bullish momentum begins to build. The recent price action suggests that buyers are testing a key resistance zone, with traders closely watching whether BTC can sustain a breakout and extend its recovery after weeks of volatility.
However, underlying data indicate that confidence among certain market participants remains fragile. According to a CryptoQuant report by analyst Darkfost, short-term holders (STHs) are still showing signs of caution despite the improving trend in Bitcoin’s price. Rather than fully committing to the rally, many of these investors continue to treat upward moves as opportunities to secure profits.
The report highlights that the current macro and liquidity environment is not particularly favorable for aggressive risk-taking, which is influencing behavior across the market. As a result, STHs are more inclined to realize gains quickly, contributing to intermittent selling pressure during periods of price strength.
This dynamic creates a mixed structure for Bitcoin. While demand is clearly returning and pushing prices toward higher levels, persistent profit-taking from short-term participants may act as a temporary ceiling, particularly around key resistance zones like $75K, where liquidity and sell-side pressure tend to concentrate.
Profit-Taking Pressure Builds as Bitcoin Tests $75KAccording to CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost, recent on-chain data shows a clear resurgence in profit-taking activity among short-term holders as Bitcoin approaches key resistance levels. The report highlights that the amount of BTC in profit sent to exchanges has reached a yearly high, coinciding with Bitcoin’s attempt to break above the $75,000 level.
In a single day, more than 48,000 BTC in profit were transferred to exchanges by short-term holders, signaling a strong willingness among these participants to realize gains rather than hold through potential volatility. This behavior suggests that a significant portion of the market remains focused on short-term opportunities, even as broader conditions begin to improve.
Structurally, this trend reinforces the idea that each upward move is still being treated as an exit opportunity by short-term investors. Instead of supporting sustained upside, these participants are actively supplying liquidity into rallies, creating friction at key resistance zones.
This dynamic introduces a layer of complexity to Bitcoin’s current price action. While demand is clearly returning, persistent sell-side pressure from profit-taking can slow momentum and delay breakouts.
For now, the market appears to be balancing between renewed buying interest and opportunistic selling, with the behavior of short-term holders likely to play a critical role in determining whether Bitcoin can establish a sustained move above resistance.
Bitcoin Tests Key Resistance After Recovering From February SelloffThe daily Bitcoin chart shows the asset continuing its recovery after the sharp selloff that took place in early February. BTC is currently trading around $74,100, having rebounded from lows near the $60,000–$62,000 region, where a clear spike in volume signaled capitulation and strong buyer absorption.
Following that low, Bitcoin established a consolidation base between $65,000 and $70,000, gradually building momentum before pushing higher into the current resistance zone. The recent move has allowed BTC to reclaim the short-term moving average, which had previously acted as dynamic resistance throughout the downtrend, indicating that short-term momentum is now shifting in favor of buyers.
However, the broader structure remains cautious. Price is still trading below the 100-day and 200-day moving averages, both of which continue to slope downward. This suggests that, despite the recovery, Bitcoin remains within a larger corrective phase.
The $74,000–$76,000 region is now acting as a critical resistance area. This zone aligns with previous support that broke during the February decline, making it a likely area of supply and profit-taking pressure.
A confirmed breakout above this range could open the path toward $80,000 and $85,000, while rejection may lead to renewed consolidation below resistance.
Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com
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XRP $1.50 Breakout Was No Coincidence – Here’s What’s Happening Underneath The Move
After surging past key price levels, XRP, one of the leading cryptocurrency assets by market cap, is now entering the market spotlight. A lot of new data is starting to show that this sudden move is not by coincidence, pointing to growing strength underneath the surface.
Behind The XRP’s Price Breakout Above $1.50With the market slowly gaining bullish traction, the price of XRP experienced a sudden bounce, bringing it above the $1.50 mark. However, the latest move above the key level is increasingly being viewed by analysts as more than just a short-term bounce.
Xaif Crypto shared on the X platform that this breakout was not random. It appears the breakout has been supported by improved underlying liquidity, a stronger market structure, and persistent buyer demand. The price movement shows an accumulation of underlying momentum that had been building over time rather than a sporadic spike.
Following an analysis of the XRP Multi Exchange Open Interest Delta, the expert has disclosed a massive buildup of capital on cryptocurrency exchanges. According to Xaif Crypto, there are two big positions built that have happened quietly prior to the movement of $16 million on March 13, and $18 million on the 16th.
As seen in the chart, the development is unfolding on Binance, the largest centralized trading platform in the world, and traders were loading up despite the price being below the $1.50 mark. When the breakout above the level occurred, shorts that were overleveraged were being closed by force, pushing the price of XRP even higher.
Non-Empty Wallets And Active Addresses Are On The Rise AgainBehind the latest breakout is the growing interest and demand for the leading altcoin and the XRP Ledger (XRPL). With this, the breakout is starting to appear like a deliberate change in trend, which, if present circumstances persist, may indicate a longer-term move.
Data from Santiment, a popular on-chain data analytics platform, shows that fresh players are flooding the Ledger as the number of wallets sees sharp growth, reaching new highs. After this wave of new investors, the number of wallet addresses, particularly non-empty wallets, on the Ledger has now reached a staggering 7.7 million.
It is worth noting that this is the first time the Ledger has seen this level of participation in its 13+ year history, as its usage continues to grow. While the number of non-empty wallets has spiked, XRP’s active addresses have simultaneously increased. Santiment highlighted that Monday closed with a 5-week high of 46,767 active addresses, suggesting a sharp rise in the user base.
This surge in activity, which serves as an early sign of renewed market engagement, usually hints at growing interest from retail and institutional investors, who are confident about the future prospects of the token. As more wallets interact on-chain than in recent weeks, the altcoin’s price recorded an upswing of over 14% in a period of 48 hours, pushing it to breach the $1.60 level.
Dogwifhat Jumpstarting The Solana Meme Coin Season: Analyst Predicts 750% Rally For WIF
The Solana meme coin season could be getting an early push from Dogwifhat (WIF) as an analyst outlines a potential recovery from prolonged downside pressure. Market technician John Carter has thrown his full weight behind WIF, laying out a technical case for a massive 750% price rally that could surpass what most traders are expecting from the dog-themed meme coin. The analyst’s forecast arrives as meme coins begin to climb again, signaling a return of momentum and renewed speculative interest in the cryptocurrency.
Analyst Maps Key Levels For A 750% WIF RallyIn an X post published on Monday, Carter points to a developing structure on Dogwifhat’s two-day chart that could position the WIF price for a potential 750% upside move from current levels. The chart reveals a clearly defined descending channel that stretches back to mid-2024, steering price action lower over the past several months.
Within this channel pattern, WIF has repeatedly formed lower highs and lower lows, underscoring former bearish trends and relentless selling pressure. However, recent price movement shows the meme coin testing the lower boundary of this channel, which currently sits at a critical support zone between $0.170 and $0.185.
Carter has stated that WIF’s behavior around this key support band hints at potential accumulation, which could be seen as strategic positioning by larger market players ahead of a perceived opportunity. Supporting this view, volume trends at the bottom of the chart indicate steady activity throughout WIF’s recent consolidation phase.
If the support zone between $0.170 and $0.185 holds, Carter forecasts a staged recovery for Dogwifhat through key levels within the descending channel. He marked the first upside target at $0.27, followed by $0.36 and $0.48. Should momentum continue, the analyst projects that WIF could push toward higher resistance zones at $0.70, $0.85, and $1.03.
The upper boundary of the channel near $1.35 also represents a major long-term resistance level. Based on the trajectory of his outlook, a full move from WIF’s current price levels around $0.188 to this final resistance could deliver a potential rally of roughly 750%. Carter has marked this top resistance level as a potential sell zone where holders can take profit.
Dogwifhat Sees Major Recovery With 15% UpsideThe latest report from CoinMarketCap shows that the WIF price is rebounding from lower levels and now seems to be in a major recovery mode. Over the past seven days, Dogwifhat has surged by more than 15%, modestly outperforming the broader bear market.
This price increase has been largely attributed to improved sentiment toward higher-risk altcoins. The price rally also comes after months of downside pressure, with WIF recording a year-to-date decline of roughly 60%, according to CMC. Alongside Dogwifhat, other popular meme coins such as Shiba Inu and Dogecoin appear to be in a similar recovery phase, with DOGE and SHIB prices up by over 7%.
Fourth Payout: FTX Recovery Trust Plans ~$2 Billion Distribution To Creditors At Month-End
FTX and its Recovery Trust have set March 31, 2026, as the start date for the fourth distribution to creditors, with approximately $2.2 billion slated to be paid to eligible claimants.
FTX Details Payment TimelineDistributions under the plan began in February 2025, with the inaugural round targeting Convenience Class claimants with claims under $50,000, resulting in around $1.2 billion.
The second round, held in May of the same year, saw the first big payouts to larger and institutional creditors, with recovery percentages ranging from 54% to 72%. The third distribution, beginning in September 2025, allocated around $1.6 billion to creditors.
For the exchange’s fourth distribution, eligible creditors should receive funds from whichever distribution service provider they previously selected — BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer — within one to three business days after the distribution date.
Separately, consistent with the Plan and the Preferred Shareholder Agreement, FTX set April 30, 2026, as the record date for a payment to preferred equity holders, which is scheduled for May 29, 2026.
US Customer Entitlements Reach Full RecoveryThe allocation for the fourth distribution follows the FTX’s established waterfall priorities. Under those terms, Allowed Class 5A Dotcom Customer Entitlement Claims will receive an incremental 18% distribution, bringing their cumulative recovery to 96% to date.
Allowed Class 5B US Customer Entitlement Claims are slated for a 5% distribution, which will complete a 100% cumulative recovery.
Both Allowed Class 6A General Unsecured Claims and 6B Digital Asset Loan Claims will receive 15% distributions, likewise reaching 100% cumulatively. Allowed Class 7 Convenience Claims will see a cumulative distribution totaling 120%.
The exchange’s native token, FTT, was trading at $0.28 at the time of writing, representing a nearly 8% loss in the previous 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
Jane Street Is Trading Bitcoin Again: What You Should Know About This Major Player
Bitcoin is once again at the center of attention as a fresh wave of on-chain activity brings one of the most closely watched trading firms back into focus. Recent data shows that Jane Street has resumed moving Bitcoin, drawing renewed attention at a time when scrutiny around its past actions has not fully subsided.
On-Chain Bitcoin Data Reveals Coordinated InflowsRecent blockchain tracking data highlights a clear resurgence in activity tied to wallets associated with Jane Street. Within roughly two hours, these wallets received a combined 205.36 BTC, valued at approximately $15.08 million at the time. The inflows originated from two major trading platforms, BitMEX and LMAX Digital.
The transaction breakdown shows a coordinated pattern. A 150 BTC transfer worth about $11.01 million moved from a BitMEX hot wallet, followed by 55.33 BTC valued at roughly $4.06 million from LMAX Digital. Additional smaller transfers of 0.02 BTC and 0.01 BTC were also recorded from BitMEX-linked wallets. All funds were directed into a single receiving wallet linked to the firm.
The timing and clustering of these transactions point to deliberate execution. Movements from exchange hot wallets into a unified address typically reflect institutional positioning, such as liquidity setup or internal rebalancing. The rapid sequence and scale reinforce the view that this was a coordinated operation, signaling that Jane Street is once again actively engaging with the Bitcoin market.
Jane Street And The Terra/LUNA Collapse, AllegationsThe renewed activity comes as Jane Street remains under scrutiny for its alleged role during the Terra/LUNA collapse in May 2022, one of the most significant failures in crypto market history. The Terra ecosystem, developed by Terraform Labs, revolved around two key tokens: UST, an algorithmic stablecoin designed to maintain a $1 peg, and LUNA, which absorbed volatility to support that peg.
In early May 2022, large withdrawals from the Anchor Protocol, where UST deposits were earning high yields, began to destabilize the system. As UST fell below $1, increasing amounts of LUNA were minted to stabilize it, which rapidly diluted LUNA’s value. Within days, UST collapsed far below its peg, and LUNA dropped from over $80 to near zero, wiping out tens of billions in market value.
Legal filings allege that Jane Street purchased LUNA at a significant discount—around $0.40 per token—before the collapse, with terms allowing favorable conversion or sale. As the market destabilized, it’s claimed the firm sold parts of its holdings while prices were still above acquisition cost, potentially realizing profits of roughly $1 billion. Jane Street denies wrongdoing, asserting that its actions were standard market-making and trading operations, not insider activity.
The controversy continues to influence discussions on institutional behavior in crypto markets. Any renewed activity, such as the recent Bitcoin inflows by Jane Street, draws scrutiny from analysts and investors alike, highlighting the market-moving potential of major players.
Bitcoin Whale Vs. Retail Activity Now Lags Relative To Altcoins: What This Means
Since breaking past the $70,000 price mark during the weekend, Bitcoin has been maintaining an upward trajectory in the past few days. Amid this renewed upside momentum, a subtle but key shift is unfolding in the market structure of Bitcoin, which is crucial in determining the next direction.
Whale Vs Retail Activity In Bitcoin And Altcoin DivergeBitcoin’s price may be displaying bullish momentum as it remains within the $70,000 threshold, but a key metric is hinting at underlying weakness in its market structure. A recent report from Alphractal, an advanced investment and on-chain data analytics platform, shows that the gap between whale and retail activity has fallen to levels now seen below those of major altcoins.
Historically, large holders and smaller users have shown a more noticeable gap in Bitcoin, which frequently indicates institutional influence. However, the chart indicates a more balanced participation dynamic, even though altcoins are displaying a more pronounced difference between major players and individual traders.
According to Alphractal, this drop in the metric relative to altcoins suggests that large investors or whales are more inclined to close their long positions or open more shorts on BTC compared to altcoins. At the same time, retail investors seem to be moving in an opposite direction, displaying heightened interest in longs on BTC.
Alphractal noted that this divergence is likely driven by investors’ belief that the flagship asset still has more downside potential, while many altcoins have already experienced a robust decline. As a result, it could not make as much sense from the whales’ point of view to continue heavily shorting altcoins. However, this remains the same for Bitcoin.
If the Whale vs Retail Heatmap turns negative for BTC and altcoins, the market could likely flip bearish again in the coming days, reinforcing the bear market phase. This thesis continues to hold since whales often have a larger effect on price movements, and Alphractal urges for close monitoring of the metric.
What Traders Are Up To Ahead Of Fed’s DecisionAfter a period of bearish action, bullish sentiment is starting to emerge across the broader cryptocurrency market. In an X post, leading on-chain analytics provider CryptoQuant reported that traders are positioning themselves ahead of the impending Federal Reserve (FED) decision.
In the meantime, the Bitcoin price has reclaimed $70,000, triggering a wave of short liquidations that wiped out bearish bets and allowed for a market structure reset. With short positions completely cleared, fresh long bets are beginning to build above the $73,000 price level.
The development indicates a key flip in positioning and investor sentiment toward the crypto king, which could set the stage for increased volatility. Currently, long positions are the dominant side in the perpetual futures market.
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XRP Holders More Educated Than Bitcoiners? Bank Of International Settlements Report Shares Revelation
Crypto pundit Cool Breeze has drawn attention to a Bank of International Settlements (BIS) report that praised XRP holders as being more educated than Bitcoiners. The report also highlighted these XRP holders as being wealthier than the average crypto holders.
XRP Holders Said To Be More Educated Than BitcoinersIn an X post, Cool Breeze highlighted the BIS report, which claimed that XRP holders were more educated than Bitcoiners. Specifically, the report ranked XRP and Ethereum as the most educated among crypto holders. In contrast, LTC holders were said to be the least educated, with Bitcoin owners ranking in the middle.
Furthermore, the report noted that crypto holders have higher-than-average household incomes, with Ethereum, Stellar, and XRP holders said to be the wealthiest. It is worth noting that this report was released in 2021, and so, the research findings may be different this time around. The report suggested that long-term crypto ownership played a key role in reaching some of these findings.
The BIS report estimated that owning a crypto in one year increases the probability, on average, of owning a crypto in the following year by 50%. Notably, XRP holders, famously known as the ‘XRP Army,’ have gained a reputation for their long-term belief in the altcoin. These crypto holders held their tokens even during the SEC’s multi-year lawsuit against Ripple, which negatively impacted the XRP price.
Pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton had notably praised these XRP holders for playing a key role in Ripple’s case against the SEC. These holders, alongside Deaton, had filed an amicus brief in which they provided the court with information in favour of Ripple explaining why XRP wasn’t a security, as the SEC alleged. The court eventually ruled that XRP wasn’t a security.
XRP Holders Are On The RiseOn-chain analytics platform Santiment revealed that XRP holders are on the rise, with the XRP Ledger (XRPL) now having more than 7.7 million holders for the first time since its launch. This comes as the network’s usage continues to grow, especially with more real-world assets being tokenized.
The XRP Ledger also reached a 5-week high of 46,767 active addresses earlier this week, as the XRP price spiked 14% and climbed above $1.60. Interestingly, this feat for the XRPL comes just as Chainlink community member Zach Rynes (Chainlink God) described the network as a ‘ghost chain.’
Commenting on this, Cool Breeze urged XRP holders not to fall for the ‘hate campaign’ by Link God, claiming that they simply wanted to shake them out. The pundit further highlighted how XRP has performed better against Bitcoin than Chainlink has against the leading crypto.
At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $.152, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
