bitcoinist.com

Bitcoin continues to struggle to reclaim the $70,000 level, with persistent selling pressure limiting upside momentum and keeping the market in a cautious posture. Repeated failures to break above this threshold suggest that traders remain defensive, particularly as volatility and macro uncertainty continue to influence liquidity conditions across risk assets. The inability to sustain higher prices has reinforced short-term resistance, leaving Bitcoin sensitive to further downside if demand does not strengthen.

A recent CryptoQuant report adds context by highlighting behavioral shifts among large Bitcoin holders. According to the analysis, Bitcoin’s temporary drop below $60,000 triggered noticeable nervousness across the market, including among whales. Contrary to the common assumption that large holders always act as patient, rational capital, the data suggest they can also respond quickly to market stress, sometimes opportunistically and sometimes defensively.

Exchange flow data support this view. The chart tracking whale inflows to Binance — a platform often used for large transactions due to its deep liquidity — shows that spikes in transfers tend to occur both during euphoric rallies and during sharp market declines. This pattern indicates that whale behavior often reflects changing risk conditions rather than a consistently bullish long-term stance.

Rising Whale Exchange Flows Signal Persistent Market Stress

The CryptoQuant report further highlights a notable shift in whale behavior during Bitcoin’s recent correction. As BTC declined from roughly $95,000 toward the $60,000 range, average monthly inflows of Bitcoin to Binance from large holders increased significantly. These transfers rose from about 1,000 BTC per month to nearly 3,000 BTC, with a particularly sharp spike of approximately 12,000 BTC recorded on February 6 alone. Such movements typically indicate heightened activity among large investors during periods of price stress.

Since early February, the frequency of large transfers has remained elevated. Data show that seven separate trading days recorded more than 5,000 BTC in daily inflows from whales, an unusually persistent pattern that suggests heightened sensitivity among major holders to rapid market swings. This behavior indicates active portfolio adjustments rather than passive long-term holding.

Historically, rising exchange inflows from whales are often associated with increasing selling pressure, especially when broader market liquidity conditions are tightening. Because these participants control substantial volumes, their actions can significantly influence short-term price dynamics.

Monitoring whale flows, therefore, remains a critical component of market analysis, offering insight into potential volatility phases and helping investors better understand the forces shaping Bitcoin’s current price environment.

Bitcoin Tests Major Support After Sharp Breakdown

Bitcoin’s higher-timeframe chart shows mounting technical pressure following a sharp decline from the $90,000–$95,000 region toward the mid-$60,000 range. The recent breakdown below the $70,000 level confirms a deterioration in market structure, with price now trading beneath key moving averages that previously acted as dynamic support. This shift typically reflects weakening bullish momentum and increased defensive positioning among traders.

The chart also highlights a clear sequence of lower highs since the late-cycle peak, a pattern often associated with corrective or transitional phases. Recent selloffs have been accompanied by rising trading volume, suggesting distribution or forced deleveraging rather than gradual profit-taking. Such dynamics often intensify short-term volatility while making sustained recoveries more difficult without strong spot demand.

From a technical standpoint, the $60,000–$62,000 area now emerges as a critical support zone, aligning with prior consolidation levels and historical liquidity clusters. Holding this region could stabilize sentiment and allow for a period of sideways consolidation. Conversely, a decisive break below it would increase the probability of deeper retracement scenarios.

Bitcoin remains highly sensitive to macro liquidity conditions, institutional flows, and derivatives positioning, factors likely to determine whether the current correction evolves into consolidation or further downside pressure.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Heightened volatility in the market continues to keep the price of Ethereum below the $2,000 mark, capping every attempt towards the upside. During the persistent downward price action, a divergence has emerged among ETH investors, with large holders selling while smaller holders are buying.

Ethereum Whale Selling Meets Retail Accumulation In Market Split

Ethereum’s ongoing waning price action is taking its toll on investors, as evidenced by their current activity and sentiment. Following the downward trend, a notable divergence in investors’ behavior is developing, causing large and small holders to move in separate directions.

Looking at the report from Santiment, a leading market intelligence and on-chain data analytics platform, large investors are pushing toward the sell side, while small investors are leaning towards the buy side. Even as retail and grassroots investors enter the market to purchase, this divergence raises the possibility that major holders often regarded as whales or institutional-grade participants may be locking in profits or repositioning.

The current selling activity is observed among wallet addresses holding at least 1,000 ETH, which in this case are considered high-tier holders. Meanwhile, buying activity is taking place among wallet addresses holding less than 1 ETH, flagged as low-tier investors.

Before now, these high-tier holders were collectively holding more than 75% of Ethereum’s total supply. However, after the dumping of about 1.5% of the supply since Christmas, their holdings are now below the level. Such redistribution phases have the potential to alter the market structure by shifting supply from concentrated hands to a wider base.

According to data from Santiment, mid-tier investors (those holding between 1 and 1,000 ETH) have also been steadily buying the altcoin. This persistent buying has pushed their collective holdings back to over 23% of the total supply for the first time since July 2025.

For smaller holders and low-tier investors, ETH accumulation has been rising, bringing their collective stash to 2.3% of the overall supply, marking the highest level ever. Santiment highlighted that these wallet addresses are likely growing due to ETH staking.

Staking ETH Now Takes More Time

As Ethereum staking grows, the process is now taking more time than ever. Milk Road shared on X that investors are expected to wait for 71 days and 11 hours to stake ETH. Recently, Ethereum staking reached 30% of the total supply, locking up 36.8 million ETH valued at a whopping $72 billion. 

Furthermore, Ethereum validators have reached 1 million, who are securing the network. This is a massive supply restriction as one-third of all ETH is now illiquid, gaining a modest 2.83% APR, and by crypto standards, this is not an attractive yield. 

The 4.1 million ETH queue suggests that demand to stake is at an all-time high while the altcoin’s price sits below $2,000. Meanwhile, the exit queue is essentially nonexistent by comparison, with just 75,872 ETH leaving. Such a trend is an indication of conviction, not yield farming behavior. When people lock up $74B during a price dip, it means they are settling in, instead of speculating. “Watch that queue, it’s a sentiment indicator,” Milk Road added.

Ripple’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brad Garlinghouse has outlined XRP’s irreplaceable role within the crypto company. In a recent discussion, the crypto executive talked about how XRP is driving adoption and growth across Ripple’s ecosystem, highlighting its importance and utility in payments, treasury, custody, infrastructure, and other key areas of the business. 

XRP Powers Ripple’s Products And Institutional Growth

Garlinghouse recently appeared on X’s Spaces to discuss the significance of XRP for Ripple and to reaffirm its role in the company’s long-term strategy. The CEO stated that he wanted everyone in the XRP army and the community to know that XRP is the “North Star” guiding Ripple’s mission and day-to-day operations. 

According to him, the cryptocurrency is central to everything the firm does, including payment solutions, treasury management, custody, USD, and institutional engagement. Over the years, the firm has continued to develop its payment solutions, using XRP to enable faster, more efficient international transfers while also supporting corporate payment risk management and DEX transactions. 

Treasury management further leverages XRP alongside Ripple’s USD stablecoin, RLUSD, to provide liquidity. The crypto company has also recently strengthened its institutional custodian platform, Ripple Custody, through new partnerships with Securosys and Figment, to securely store and manage XRP for banks and asset managers. 

Garlinghouse emphasized that XRP is not just a digital asset but a foundational element that, when combined with the XRP Ledger (XRPL), drives utility, trust, velocity, and liquidity within the ecosystem. He made it clear that XRP underpins both current projects and future initiatives. 

The CEO also explained that regardless of whether the company is focused on Ripple payments, treasury services, payments on DEX’s, or Ripple Prime, its institutional digital asset custody platform, the primary objective remains the same—which is to strengthen XRP’s role within the global financial infrastructure. 

Institutional Adoption And Partnership Strategies

During the discussion, Garlinghouse also addressed Ripple’s focus on institutional growth. He announced that Aviva investors, one of the largest asset management firms globally, has begun tokenizing assets on the XRP Ledger. 

This development illustrates the company’s strong commitment to expanding institutional opportunities while supporting consumer-focused partners. Additionally, it solidifies the firm’s position in the rapidly growing asset tokenization space and highlights XRP’s significant role within it.

Garlinghouse also indicated that the company collaborates with companies pursuing new markets and solutions, ensuring XRP remains integral across applications. He added that the firm’s President Monica Long would share further details about these initiatives. 

The CEO reiterated that XRP connects multiple aspects of the crypto company, describing the cryptocurrency as “the heartbeat” of the comany. By keeping XRP at the center of its operations, the payment firm continues to strengthen its confidence as a “platform company for financial infrastructure,” while reinforcing the broader utility of XRP and its ledger.

Crypto analyst ChartNerd has indicated that XRP is on the verge of a major bullish structure shift that could send it to new highs. The analyst also noted that it was key for the altcoin to stay above the psychological $1 level for confirmation of a move to the upside. 

XRP Eyes Major Bullish Structure Shift

In an X post, ChartNerd explained why XRP may be positioned for a major bullish structure shift, noting that the altcoin has experienced six months of downside with virtually no relief. He further stated that indicators such as the MACD and RSI have reached historically oversold levels, which are key signals of a bullish reversal. 

ChartNerd added that XRP is also seeing a 50-month backtest on a prior 8-year resistance line and Fibonacci demand. He noted that this marks the first 50-EMA backtest since November 2024, and with this, there is a wick marked on the 0.618/0.5 Fibonacci demand zone. These demand zones are popular reversal pockets, which is another reason a bullish reversal may be on the cards for the altcoin. 

Meanwhile, the analyst stated that the key objective now is for XRP to stay above $1 for continuation higher. He warned that a drop below this level could lead to a crash to $0.70, which would be the worst-case scenario relative to prior highs from 2023 to 2024 that have not been backtested. 

Crypto analyst TARA recently warned that XRP could drop to as low as $0.87 if the Bitcoin crash extends to $52,200. Crypto analyst CasiTrades also predicted that the altcoin could see one last move down, dropping to as low as $0.90. However, she also stated that a successful reclaim of $1.65 could invalidate this move down. 

Sellers Are Losing Momentum

Crypto analyst BitGuru stated that XRP sellers appear to be losing momentum. This came as he noted that the altcoin has been in a clear macro downtrend but is now reacting strongly from a major historical demand zone around $1.30 to $1.35. The analyst added that after months of lower highs and distribution, this area is acting as a base and that the sharp rejection from below suggests that sellers are losing momentum. 

Crypto analyst Javon Marks provided a bullish outlook for the altcoin in the long term, stating that altcoin season looks to be nearing and that the token is known to thrive in those times. During this projected altcoin season, he expects XRP to recover back above $2.47 and rally towards $4.8, marking a new all-time high (ATH). The analyst added that a rally to $15 remains on the radar for the cryptocurrency. 

At the time of writing, the XRP price is trading at around $1.37, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) experienced an unexpected service disruption on Wednesday, just hours before the company is scheduled to report its fourth‑quarter 2025 earnings. 

The outage left users temporarily unable to buy, sell, or transfer digital assets on the platform, triggering concern among customers and adding pressure to the company’s stock.

Platform Disruption Hits Coinbase

In a post on X (previously Twitter) Coinbase acknowledged the issue, stating that some customers were unable to conduct transactions on the platform. The company assured users that it was investigating the problem and emphasized that customer funds remained secure. 

Shortly afterward, Coinbase Support announced that a fix had been deployed and that teams were monitoring the platform to ensure services were fully restored. However, the company did not provide details about the root cause of the disruption or explain what led to the interruption in trading activity.

Coinbase shares (COIN) fell sharply during Wednesday’s trading session. As of this writing, the stock is trading at $140, marking an 8% decline over the past several hours. The drop comes as analysts prepare for what many expect to be a challenging fourth‑quarter report.

$120 Price Target Issued For COIN

Research firm Monness Crespi took a notably cautious stance ahead of the earnings announcement. The firm issued a double downgrade on Coinbase stock, moving its rating from buy to sell. 

Analyst Gus Gala described earlier expectations of a steady recovery through 2026 as “foolish,” citing the historical depth and duration of crypto bear markets. 

Monness Crespi now anticipates continued weakness through the first half of the year and has revised its 2026 and 2027 projections to levels below Wall Street consensus estimates. Gala also set a $120 price target for the stock, suggesting that more attractive entry points may emerge later.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

BlockFills, a Chicago-based institutional crypto lender and liquidity provider, has temporarily stopped client bitcoin deposits and withdrawals after a sharp slide in Bitcoin.

The firm told customers the move was taken “in light of recent market and financial conditions,” report say.

Trading access for some accounts remains open, but transfers to and from the platform are on hold. This step has left many institutional clients unsettled and watching for the next update.

BlockFills Freezes Customer Withdrawals

According to the company, the halt is a precaution. Customers were told to expect ongoing communication from management. Based on reports, the pause affects both deposits and withdrawals and no firm date for resumption has been given.

In light of recent market and financial conditions, and to further the protection of clients and the firm, BlockFills took the action last week of temporarily suspending client deposits and withdrawals. Clients have been able to continue trading with BlockFills for the purpose of…

— BlockFills (@blockfills) February 11, 2026

Some accounts are restricted differently; a few can still execute spot trades while transfers are blocked. The action was taken after a rapid and deep fall in Bitcoin prices that triggered a wave of liquidations across exchanges and lending desks.

Market Trigger And Bitcoin’s Slide

The crypto market moved violently. Bitcoin fell sharply from recent highs and that fast drop forced margin calls and forced sales. That dry market action put pressure on credit lines and funding arrangements that firms like BlockFills maintain with trading partners.

Reports note large volumes were unwound in hours rather than days. When prices swing this way liquidity can vanish quickly, and those gaps are what BlockFills said it aimed to avoid for clients and for itself.

Who Uses BlockFills And What’s At Risk

BlockFills serves a wide set of institutional users — asset managers, hedge funds, miners and professional trading firms. The firm handled substantial trading volume in the prior year and has business ties across the industry.

Client balances are at the center of concern now. Some funds that relied on quick transfers to rebalance positions found that option closed. A number of trades were still being processed internally, but moving coins out to external wallets or exchanges was not allowed.

What Customers Are Facing Now

Clients have been given updates and invited to direct questions to account teams. According to messages circulated to customers, the firm is working with investors and counterparties to restore normal flows.

No formal insolvency or restructuring has been announced. That statement may calm some, but similar pauses in the past at other crypto lenders have sometimes been followed by deeper problems, which is why many clients remain cautious.

BlockFills was established in 2017 by CEO Nick Hammer and President Gordon Wallace, with financial backing from Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and CME Group.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

A Deutsche Bank strategist argued that bitcoin has “decoupled” from gold and no longer fits the “digital gold” label, pointing to a sharp divergence in 2025 performance as regulation uncertainty and ETF outflows weigh on sentiment.

In a Yahoo Finance interview, Deutsche Bank senior strategist Marion Laboure told Executive Editor Brian Sozzi and senior reporter Ines Ferré that bitcoin’s volatility hasn’t disappeared, it’s simply showing up again, at an awkward moment for a market that spent much of last year selling a cleaner institutional adoption story.

Is Bitcoin No Longer Digital Gold?

Laboure framed recent weakness as another reminder that “volatility is a feature of Bitcoin. It’s not a bug,” while flagging what she described as “a lot of ETFs outflows” since October alongside a messy policy backdrop in Washington. She pointed to the Stablecoin “Genius Act” being signed last year, but said the Clarity Act “is still in Congress and provides an additional layer of uncertainty.”

She also cited a pullback in retail participation. “In our latest survey, we looked at the US crypto adoption,” Laboure said. “And in July, we had 17% of Americans who had invested in crypto. And the number was down to 12% in December.”

Bitcoin is “no longer digital gold,” Deutsche Bank strategist Marion Laboure says. “Gold outperformed by 65% in 2025. Bitcoin declined by 6.5%.” pic.twitter.com/eBCYp4cxMt

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) February 11, 2026

Pressed on whether bitcoin still deserves the “digital gold” tagline, Laboure leaned on returns. “If you think about that, if I look at the 2025 performance, it’s not digital gold or it’s no longer digital gold,” she said. “Gold outperformed by 65% in 2025. Bitcoin declined by 6.5%. So we are clearly seeing this divergence.”

Her broader framing was that bitcoin remains stuck between narratives. “Bitcoin, I would say it’s not a means of payment. It’s not a currency. It’s unlikely to replace gold or fiat currencies,” Laboure continued. “And I think the way I see Bitcoin is we are in this transition, we are transitioning between a pure speculative asset to a more realistic use case.”

Laboure also returned to what she called a “Tinkerbell effect,” describing a dynamic where price rises on belief rather than fundamentals, until it doesn’t. “So basically, it’s when the price is based on wishful thinking, much more than fundamental factors,” she said.

Asked what could reignite upside momentum, Laboure pointed back to the last two years’ catalysts and suggested the move still looks larger than those inputs alone explain. She noted bitcoin’s run from roughly $35,000 in November 2023 through a period she called “exceptional years,” citing ETF approvals, the halving, and a “very positive stance” from President Trump after his election.

“But all these factors alone probably didn’t fully explain the move that we had from $35,000 in November 2023 to over $120,000 in October last year,” she said, arguing that the market is still searching for a more durable anchor than narrative-driven flows.

X Pushes Back

Laboure’s “digital gold” critique drew immediate rebuttals on X. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called it “a fine argument to make” but added: “To hinge it on one year’s returns is absurd. Does that mean it WAS digital gold in 2023 and 2024 when it was up 450%? But now it isn’t because gold did better in 2025. Make it make sense.”

Others went more ad hominem. VP of Investor Relations at Nakamoto Steven Lubka dismissed the comments as coming from a “CBDC shill,” referencing an older citation where she said: “When it comes to retail CBDCs, the question is not whether it will happen, but when.”

At press time, BTC traded at $68,007.

A Deutsche Bank strategist argued that bitcoin has “decoupled” from gold and no longer fits the “digital gold” label, pointing to a sharp divergence in 2025 performance as regulation uncertainty and ETF outflows weigh on sentiment.

In a Yahoo Finance interview, Deutsche Bank senior strategist Marion Laboure told Executive Editor Brian Sozzi and senior reporter Ines Ferré that bitcoin’s volatility hasn’t disappeared, it’s simply showing up again, at an awkward moment for a market that spent much of last year selling a cleaner institutional adoption story.

Is Bitcoin No Longer Digital Gold?

Laboure framed recent weakness as another reminder that “volatility is a feature of Bitcoin. It’s not a bug,” while flagging what she described as “a lot of ETFs outflows” since October alongside a messy policy backdrop in Washington. She pointed to the Stablecoin “Genius Act” being signed last year, but said the Clarity Act “is still in Congress and provides an additional layer of uncertainty.”

She also cited a pullback in retail participation. “In our latest survey, we looked at the US crypto adoption,” Laboure said. “And in July, we had 17% of Americans who had invested in crypto. And the number was down to 12% in December.”

Bitcoin is “no longer digital gold,” Deutsche Bank strategist Marion Laboure says. “Gold outperformed by 65% in 2025. Bitcoin declined by 6.5%.” pic.twitter.com/eBCYp4cxMt

— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) February 11, 2026

Pressed on whether bitcoin still deserves the “digital gold” tagline, Laboure leaned on returns. “If you think about that, if I look at the 2025 performance, it’s not digital gold or it’s no longer digital gold,” she said. “Gold outperformed by 65% in 2025. Bitcoin declined by 6.5%. So we are clearly seeing this divergence.”

Her broader framing was that bitcoin remains stuck between narratives. “Bitcoin, I would say it’s not a means of payment. It’s not a currency. It’s unlikely to replace gold or fiat currencies,” Laboure continued. “And I think the way I see Bitcoin is we are in this transition, we are transitioning between a pure speculative asset to a more realistic use case.”

Laboure also returned to what she called a “Tinkerbell effect,” describing a dynamic where price rises on belief rather than fundamentals, until it doesn’t. “So basically, it’s when the price is based on wishful thinking, much more than fundamental factors,” she said.

Asked what could reignite upside momentum, Laboure pointed back to the last two years’ catalysts and suggested the move still looks larger than those inputs alone explain. She noted bitcoin’s run from roughly $35,000 in November 2023 through a period she called “exceptional years,” citing ETF approvals, the halving, and a “very positive stance” from President Trump after his election.

“But all these factors alone probably didn’t fully explain the move that we had from $35,000 in November 2023 to over $120,000 in October last year,” she said, arguing that the market is still searching for a more durable anchor than narrative-driven flows.

X Pushes Back

Laboure’s “digital gold” critique drew immediate rebuttals on X. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas called it “a fine argument to make” but added: “To hinge it on one year’s returns is absurd. Does that mean it WAS digital gold in 2023 and 2024 when it was up 450%? But now it isn’t because gold did better in 2025. Make it make sense.”

Others went more ad hominem. VP of Investor Relations at Nakamoto Steven Lubka dismissed the comments as coming from a “CBDC shill,” referencing an older citation where she said: “When it comes to retail CBDCs, the question is not whether it will happen, but when.”

At press time, BTC traded at $68,007.

Strategy Inc. is doubling down on Bitcoin. The move is meant to calm investors while the company keeps buying the crypto asset it made core to its identity. Reports say the pivot centers on expanding a line of perpetual preferred shares that trade near $100 and pay a reset dividend each month.

Preferred Shares To Anchor Volatility

Stretch, often shown as STRC, now sits at the center of that plan. According to Strategy’s own listings, STRC carries an annualized dividend reset that currently reads 11.25% and is structured so its price tends to trade near a $100 par value.

Reports say Strategy CEO Phong Le told Bloomberg the company will lean more on preferred capital than on common equity to raise money for future Bitcoin buys.

A Relentless Buying Stance

Michael Saylor, the company’s executive chair, has been blunt about holding and buying. Based on reports, Saylor affirmed the company will not sell its Bitcoin holdings even if prices fell dramatically, and that Strategy plans to purchase each quarter on an ongoing basis. The comment is meant to reassure holders who have seen the stock move with Bitcoin’s swings.

Funding Bitcoin Buys Without Hitting Stock Price

The logic here is simple. Issue preferred stock that appeals to income-seeking investors and use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin, rather than selling common shares or liquidating holdings.

Stretch is marketed as a way for investors to get exposure while avoiding the same wild swings that hit Strategy’s common shares. Some market watchers argue this shifts risk to preferred holders, and critics in finance commentary have been vocal about the optics of pushing stability through yield products.

How Much Bitcoin And What It Means

Reports note Strategy’s disclosed Bitcoin stack remains vast, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of coins, and executives point to a long time horizon for returns.

The company’s approach makes its balance sheet look more like a crypto fund than a traditional software concern, and that raises questions about how investors should value the stock versus the underlying asset.

Investor Takeaways And Market Signals

Investors who want cash yield without direct crypto exposure may find preferred stocks appealing. At the same time, preferred shares carry their own risks: dividends can be reset, and the company’s obligations to preferred holders compete with the need to manage leverage and reserves.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Strategy Inc. is doubling down on Bitcoin. The move is meant to calm investors while the company keeps buying the crypto asset it made core to its identity. Reports say the pivot centers on expanding a line of perpetual preferred shares that trade near $100 and pay a reset dividend each month.

Preferred Shares To Anchor Volatility

Stretch, often shown as STRC, now sits at the center of that plan. According to Strategy’s own listings, STRC carries an annualized dividend reset that currently reads 11.25% and is structured so its price tends to trade near a $100 par value.

Reports say Strategy CEO Phong Le told Bloomberg the company will lean more on preferred capital than on common equity to raise money for future Bitcoin buys.

A Relentless Buying Stance

Michael Saylor, the company’s executive chair, has been blunt about holding and buying. Based on reports, Saylor affirmed the company will not sell its Bitcoin holdings even if prices fell dramatically, and that Strategy plans to purchase each quarter on an ongoing basis. The comment is meant to reassure holders who have seen the stock move with Bitcoin’s swings.

Funding Bitcoin Buys Without Hitting Stock Price

The logic here is simple. Issue preferred stock that appeals to income-seeking investors and use the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin, rather than selling common shares or liquidating holdings.

Stretch is marketed as a way for investors to get exposure while avoiding the same wild swings that hit Strategy’s common shares. Some market watchers argue this shifts risk to preferred holders, and critics in finance commentary have been vocal about the optics of pushing stability through yield products.

How Much Bitcoin And What It Means

Reports note Strategy’s disclosed Bitcoin stack remains vast, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of coins, and executives point to a long time horizon for returns.

The company’s approach makes its balance sheet look more like a crypto fund than a traditional software concern, and that raises questions about how investors should value the stock versus the underlying asset.

Investor Takeaways And Market Signals

Investors who want cash yield without direct crypto exposure may find preferred stocks appealing. At the same time, preferred shares carry their own risks: dividends can be reset, and the company’s obligations to preferred holders compete with the need to manage leverage and reserves.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

David Schwartz, Ripple’s former CTO and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, poured cold water on the idea of returning to Bitcoin development this week, calling Bitcoin “largely a technological dead end” in a reply that quickly ricocheted through crypto’s never-ending decentralization debates.

The exchange started as a fight over history and governance. On Feb. 9, X user Bram Kanstein argued that XRP’s early “genesis reset” — often described as treating the 32,750th XRP block as a kind of starting point — illustrates crypto’s centralized tendencies. Kanstein wrote that the milestone “may be thought of as the genesis,” before adding: “Except it is not. The XRP Genesis reset is a prime example of the centralized nature of ‘CrYpTO’.”

Ex-Ripple CTO Schwartz Calls Bitcoin A ‘Tech Dead End’

Schwartz jumped in with a comparison that redirected the argument toward Bitcoin. “Bitcoin had at least two incidents that showed way more centralization than this incident did,” he wrote, “especially since the decision in this incident was not to make any coordinated changes and just live with it.”

That claim drew a follow-up from X user, who floated SegWit as a candidate for what Schwartz meant, an example of coordinated protocol change. The ex-Ripple CTO pushed back on that framing: “I wasn’t because I don’t really think of adding new features as showing centralization,” he replied. “But I think you could make a good argument that it does. The biggest one I was thinking of was the coordinated 2010 rollback.”

The thread’s tone shifted on Feb. 10 when X user Khaled Elawadi asked the question that put Schwartz’s own priorities in the spotlight: since co-creating the XRPL, had he worked on or even considered developing Bitcoin again?

“Not really,” Schwartz answered. Then he went further, sketching an argument that Bitcoin’s dominance owes less to the evolution of its base-layer tech than to social and monetary inertia. “I think bitcoin is largely a technological dead end for the same reason the dollar is,” he wrote. “The technology just doesn’t seem to matter all that much to its success, at least not at the blockchain layer.”

For XRP supporters, Schwartz’s comments served two purposes at once: a defense against charges that XRPL’s early history implies unique centralization, and a reminder that Bitcoin’s “hands-off” mythology also has had real-world exceptions in its early days.

What’s hard to miss is where the ex-Ripple CTO  draws the line. Bitcoin’s success can persist even if base-layer technical progress slows, because the network’s strength increasingly behaves like a monetary standard rather than an engineering project. Schwartz is pursuing a different strategy for the XRP Ledger. After stepping down as Ripple CTO, he announced that he would pursue his own projects on the XRP Ledger.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.38.

David Schwartz, Ripple’s former CTO and one of the original architects of the XRP Ledger, poured cold water on the idea of returning to Bitcoin development this week, calling Bitcoin “largely a technological dead end” in a reply that quickly ricocheted through crypto’s never-ending decentralization debates.

The exchange started as a fight over history and governance. On Feb. 9, X user Bram Kanstein argued that XRP’s early “genesis reset” — often described as treating the 32,750th XRP block as a kind of starting point — illustrates crypto’s centralized tendencies. Kanstein wrote that the milestone “may be thought of as the genesis,” before adding: “Except it is not. The XRP Genesis reset is a prime example of the centralized nature of ‘CrYpTO’.”

Ex-Ripple CTO Schwartz Calls Bitcoin A ‘Tech Dead End’

Schwartz jumped in with a comparison that redirected the argument toward Bitcoin. “Bitcoin had at least two incidents that showed way more centralization than this incident did,” he wrote, “especially since the decision in this incident was not to make any coordinated changes and just live with it.”

That claim drew a follow-up from X user, who floated SegWit as a candidate for what Schwartz meant, an example of coordinated protocol change. The ex-Ripple CTO pushed back on that framing: “I wasn’t because I don’t really think of adding new features as showing centralization,” he replied. “But I think you could make a good argument that it does. The biggest one I was thinking of was the coordinated 2010 rollback.”

The thread’s tone shifted on Feb. 10 when X user Khaled Elawadi asked the question that put Schwartz’s own priorities in the spotlight: since co-creating the XRPL, had he worked on or even considered developing Bitcoin again?

“Not really,” Schwartz answered. Then he went further, sketching an argument that Bitcoin’s dominance owes less to the evolution of its base-layer tech than to social and monetary inertia. “I think bitcoin is largely a technological dead end for the same reason the dollar is,” he wrote. “The technology just doesn’t seem to matter all that much to its success, at least not at the blockchain layer.”

For XRP supporters, Schwartz’s comments served two purposes at once: a defense against charges that XRPL’s early history implies unique centralization, and a reminder that Bitcoin’s “hands-off” mythology also has had real-world exceptions in its early days.

What’s hard to miss is where the ex-Ripple CTO  draws the line. Bitcoin’s success can persist even if base-layer technical progress slows, because the network’s strength increasingly behaves like a monetary standard rather than an engineering project. Schwartz is pursuing a different strategy for the XRP Ledger. After stepping down as Ripple CTO, he announced that he would pursue his own projects on the XRP Ledger.

At press time, XRP traded at $1.38.

Ripple’s Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Stuart Alderoty, has signaled that a compromise may emerge soon from ongoing discussions among banks, the US Senate, and crypto leaders over stablecoin rewards. The comments followed a smaller White House meeting focused on stablecoin regulations, which highlighted which activities should be allowed under upcoming rules. Depending on the outcome, this could directly affect Ripple’s operations and the broader outlook for XRP. 

Compromise Puts Ripple In Regulatory Focus

Popular Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on Wednesday, February 11, that both banking and crypto participants had described the Stablecoin yield meeting in the White House as productive, even though no final agreement was reached. The meeting explored deal specifics in more detail than previous sessions, with particular attention on how stablecoin rewards, highlighted in the Clarity Act, could be structured under future rules. 

During the meeting, Alderoty stated that “compromise is in the air,” signaling potential movement toward shared ground between banks and crypto representatives. For XRP, this matters because Ripple’s role in cross-border payments and the services of its stablecoin RLUSD depend heavily on how regulators define permissible reward-based and transaction-based activities. 

Notably, Terrett stated that banks and trade groups arrived at the White House meeting with a written set of prohibition principles that outlined what they would not accept regarding stablecoin rewards. These principles were designed to protect traditional banking structures while limiting the extent to which digital assets could compete with deposit products. 

Under the principles, banks stated that payment stablecoins should not offer yield or rewards to prevent deposit flight and preserve lending in local communities. They also called for strong enforcement measures to close loopholes, restrictions on marketing that could present stablecoins as insured or risk-free, and a regulatory review after two years to assess potential risks. 

According to Terrett, one source said banks made a key concession by accepting language that included possible exemptions, something that had previously been off the table. This change opens the possibility that transaction-based rewards could be permitted under tightly defined conditions, a development that may influence how Ripple structures its stablecoin services, with potential effects on XRP as well. 

What Negotiations Could Mean For XRP And Stablecoins 

A major point of debate during the meeting was the definition of permissible activities, which would determine what crypto firms like Ripple are allowed to do when offering stablecoin rewards. Crypto representatives pushed for broader definitions to provide more clarity for stablecoins, while banks argued for narrower boundaries to reduce risks to the financial system. 

The White House urged both parties to reach an agreement by March 1, 2026, with further discussions expected in the coming days. Although it’s unclear whether another meeting of the same scale will take place this month, Ripple’s participation puts RLUSD and XRP directly in the spotlight. The outcome of these negotiations could shape how the crypto company and the broader stablecoin market offer rewards and likely influence how they operate under future regulatory frameworks.

Thailand has quietly moved a big step closer to making crypto part of its money markets. The Cabinet has given the green light to let cryptocurrencies serve as the underlying assets for regulated products such as futures and options. This opens the door for mainstream trading that is tied to real legal rules and cleared through licensed systems.

Regulators Set Rules

Based on reports, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission will write the detailed rules next. Those rules will say how exchanges must operate, how trades are cleared, and what kinds of risk controls firms must put in place.

Exchanges and banks will need licenses. Custody standards will be tightened. Market makers and institutional investors are already talking to local firms about possible listings and clearing setups. Some work will be done by trading venues; other work will be done by third parties that handle settlement.

Tokenized Bonds And Tax Moves

Reports have disclosed earlier projects that helped pave the way. The government introduced tokenized government bonds, known as G-Tokens, which were offered through licensed digital trading platforms in 2025.

That experiment showed how public debt can sit on a blockchain while still being issued under normal law. At the same time, Reports say a temporary tax break was offered to encourage on-shore crypto trading — a five-year capital gains tax exemption running from 2025 to 2029 for trades on approved platforms.

Stablecoins such as USDT and USDC were added to the approved list to ease trading and settlement.

Market Reaction And Institutional Interest

According to market watchers, the move drew fast interest from regional fund managers and some global trading desks. There is talk of creating Bitcoin futures and possibly ETFs that link to regulated contracts.

Trading firms say the main pull is clearer rules and a legal route for hedging exposure. Liquidity providers see a chance to offer more tools to investors, and some exchanges have already started building product designs.

Volatility remains a concern, and many firms are cautious about running big positions until the clearing rules are final.

Concerns are being raised about custody, fraud, and links to money laundering. Regulators intend to require robust know-your-customer checks and strict audit trails.

Leverage levels will likely be limited at first. Margining rules are expected to be strict so that a sudden price move does not cascade through the system.

Many observers point out that bringing crypto into regulated markets can help manage these risks — if rules are enforced.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Three Cardano ecosystem announcements landed onstage at Consensus Hong Kong yesterday, spanning cross-chain rails, a new stablecoin rollout timeline, and a privacy-focused network’s march to mainnet.

#1 Cardano Taps LayerZero

Intersect said via X its Critical Cardano Integrations workstream has approved bringing LayerZero into the Cardano ecosystem, positioning the move as the network’s largest interoperability expansion to date. In its post, Intersect framed the integration as a step-change in access to cross-chain assets and infrastructure:

“LayerZero is one of the most widely adopted omnichain messaging protocols in Web3, connecting 150+ blockchains and enabling access to 400+ tokens and $80B+ in omnichain assets. This integration unlocks the largest cross-chain connectivity expansion in Cardano’s history, opening pathways to stablecoin liquidity, Bitcoin-backed assets, tokenized real-world assets, and shared DeFi infrastructure across the broader crypto ecosystem.”

A companion write-up describes the effort in similar terms, saying the protocol “connects over 160 blockchains” and “has facilitated over $200 billion in cross-chain volume,” with Cardano gaining technical access to “over 400 tokens” and “$80 billion in omnichain assets” once the LayerZero endpoint is deployed.

The post argues that LayerZero’s messaging-layer approach is chain-agnostic “regardless of the underlying execution model,” explicitly flagging Cardano’s extended UTXO design as a historical friction point for tooling built around account-based chains.

Intersect said delivery work now moves into deployment, with “further milestones and timelines to be shared as progress continues.”

#2 USDCx Gets A Launch Date

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson used the event to put a calendar marker on USDCx, saying the product now has a target launch window at the end of February. “We’ve announced not long ago that we will have USDCx. Now we have a launch date for USDCx, end of February. We’ve done some amazing engineering to have a beautiful UX. You can go straight from any wallet to Coinbase, or Binance, and back, and there’s instant convertibility to USDC,” Hoskinson said.

He also claimed feature advantages versus standard USDC in circulation, saying USDCx has “privacy, and it’s also immutable and irreversible, so it’s actually better [than USDC].”

#3 Midnight Targets Mainnet Before End Of March

Midnight, the privacy-oriented network tied to the broader Cardano ecosystem, said its mainnet is now imminent. “On the ConsensusHK stage, we shared that Midnight mainnet will officially go live before the end of March,” the team posted via X, calling it “a major milestone and the beginning of a live, production network designed to support early applications built around selective disclosure and real-world privacy.”

Midnight added that mainnet is “foundational,” describing it as the stable base for teams to “launch, test, and iterate,” while setting expectations for “rapid protocol and tooling expansion ahead.”

At press time, Cardano traded at $0.261.

Danske Bank has started offering Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs to customers for the first time, but the bank still doesn’t endorse crypto assets.

Danske Bank Now Offers Bitcoin & Ethereum ETPs

As announced in a press release, Danske Bank’s customers can now invest in some exchange-traded products (ETPs) tracking the two largest cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The bank said that the new option is a response to increasing user demand for digital assets and improved regulation related to the sector. Kerstin Lysholm, head of investment products & offering at Danske Bank, noted:

As cryptocurrencies have become a more common asset class, we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from customers wanting the option of investing in cryptocurrencies as part of their investment portfolio.

Headquartered in Copenhagen, Danske Bank is the largest bank in Denmark with 3.75 trillion DKK (around $596 billion) in assets. Previously, the bank took a stalwart stance against offering cryptocurrency trading, but the latest move suggests it’s finally opening up to the market.

Though, Danske Bank still doesn’t offer advisory services for digital assets, labelling them as “opportunistic investments” rather than part of a long-term portfolio strategy. The addition of the new Bitcoin and Ethereum investment option is geared at investors who use the firm’s trading platform without receiving any investment advice, the bank said.

Investors using the option will gain exposure to the cryptocurrencies not by direct holding, but via ETPs, investment vehicles that allow for indirect exposure. This means that traders won’t have to engage with blockchain components like wallets and exchanges.

Lysholm emphasized that access to digital asset ETPs on the company’s trading platform shouldn’t be taken as a recommendation of cryptocurrencies from Danske Bank. The bank warned that the asset class involves “high risk” and may result in large losses.

The move to allow Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs isn’t the only one related to the cryptocurrency sector that Danske Bank has made recently. In September, the bank joined hands with eight other major European banks to develop a shared euro-pegged stablecoin.

Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that have their price pegged to a fiat currency. Currently, the space is heavily dominated by the USD-based tokens, and the consortium of Danske Bank and other European banks plans to challenge this hegemony.

Since the initial announcement, the consortium has gradually added more members, now involving a total of twelve European financial institutions. The banks have set up a company called Qivalis in Amsterdam to handle the issuance of the stablecoin.

While the exact launch date of the token is unknown, the consortium has said it aims to make a commercial release in the second half of 2026.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is floating around $66,700, down more than 8% in the last seven days.

BlockFills, a Chicago‑based cryptocurrency trading and lending firm that caters to institutional investors, has temporarily halted client deposits and withdrawals following the latest sharp downturn in digital asset markets. 

The decision came after Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to around $60,000 last week before recovering some of its losses. A company spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that the suspension remains in effect.

BlockFills Imposes Trading Limits

The firm, which is backed by Susquehanna Private Equity Investments and the venture capital arm of CME Group, said the pause was introduced as a precautionary step. 

According to reports, clients were notified last week that the measure was designed “to further the protection of our clients and the firm.” The notice stated that any funds sent to the platform during the suspension period would be rejected and returned. 

While deposits and withdrawals are frozen, BlockFills clients are still permitted to trade, though under certain limitations. Positions or loans requiring additional margin may be closed if necessary.

BlockFills operates across several areas of the crypto market, offering spot and derivatives execution, structured products, and crypto‑backed lending services. Its clientele includes Bitcoin miners, hedge funds, and other professional counterparties. 

The company emphasized that trading for both spot and derivatives markets remains available for opening and closing positions, subject to restrictions implemented in response to current conditions.

No End In Sight

In a public statement, BlockFills said that recent market and financial volatility prompted the temporary suspension. The firm added that it is working to restore liquidity to the platform as quickly as possible. 

The company has not indicated how long the suspension will last, nor has it disclosed specific details about the underlying issues beyond citing heightened market volatility. 

While such pauses are disruptive, they are not without precedent in the cryptocurrency industry. During the 2022 market downturn often referred to as the “crypto winter,” several major centralized lenders and exchanges froze customer withdrawals as liquidity strains intensified. 

Companies including Celsius, Voyager Digital, BlockFi and Genesis eventually filed for bankruptcy after suspending client funds. More recently, in 2025, some exchanges experienced temporary disruptions. Binance, for example, briefly halted futures trading for less than an hour, attributing the interruption to technical issues.

The situation for BlockFills and its users will likely persist until crypto prices recover. For example, Bitcoin renewed its downtrend on Wednesday, dropping toward $67,554. The cryptocurrency registered losses of 2% and 8% in the 24-hour and seven-day time frames, respectively, positioning it 46% below all-time high levels.

According to CoinGecko data, Ethereum (ETH), XRP, and Solana (SOL) followed Bitcoin’s lead, with respective declines of 3%, 2%, and 3.5% in the 24-hour time frame alone, adding to the growing fear of a full-fledged bear market taking place. 

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

Quick Facts:

• Hong Kong’s SFC is officially exploring allowing perpetual futures contracts, a major step toward institutional crypto adoption in Asia.
• This move drives demand for high-performance blockchain infrastructure that can support sophisticated, high-frequency trading applications.
• Bitcoin Hyper aims to meet this demand by integrating the high-speed Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) as a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution.
• The project has attracted significant interest, with its presale raising over $31M and attracting major whale investments.

In a landmark move, Hong Kong’s top financial regulator has signaled the city is actively exploring perpetual futures contracts for licensed crypto exchanges. The announcement from Julia Leung, CEO of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), at Consensus Hong Kong, marks a profound maturation of the region’s digital asset framework.

We’re moving far beyond the simple spot ETF approvals that dominated headlines earlier this year. Frankly, this isn’t just a minor regulatory tweak; it’s a foundational shift that acknowledges the sophisticated demands of institutional and professional traders.

Perpetual contracts, which let traders speculate on an asset’s price without an expiry date, are the lifeblood of the global crypto derivatives market (we’re talking trillions in monthly volume). By opening the door to these instruments, Hong Kong is positioning itself as a premier crypto hub in Asia, aiming to capture capital that currently flows offshore.

But what most coverage misses is the second-order effect: this legitimization creates immense pressure on the underlying blockchain infrastructure. Institutional-grade trading demands sub-second execution, low fees, and deep liquidity, capabilities that legacy networks like Bitcoin simply can’t provide on their own.

This creates a paradox. Bitcoin remains the ultimate institutional asset, the digital gold standard. Yet its base layer is too slow and expensive for the high-frequency world of derivatives.

The market is crying out for a solution that bridges Bitcoin’s unparalleled security with the high-performance execution required by modern finance. The question is no longer if institutions will build on Bitcoin, but how.

Bringing Solana-Speed Smart Contracts to Bitcoin

The chasm between Bitcoin’s security and the market’s need for speed is exactly where new infrastructure is emerging. One of the most ambitious is Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER), a project designed from the ground up as the first Bitcoin Layer 2 integrated with the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). This isn’t just an incremental improvement. It’s a quantum leap for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

By using the SVM, known for its parallel processing and blistering speed, Bitcoin Hyper aims to deliver transaction finality faster than Solana itself, all while anchoring its security to the Bitcoin mainnet. This architecture directly addresses the very limitations that prevent complex financial apps from running on Bitcoin today.

Developers can build high-speed decentralized exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols, and NFT platforms with familiar tools like Rust, unlocking a wave of innovation previously locked out of the ecosystem.

The project’s design is purpose-built for the future Hong Kong is signaling: Bitcoin for settlement, and a real-time SVM layer for execution. When traders need to execute complex strategies tied to BTC perpetuals, they’ll require an on-chain environment that can actually keep up.

Bitcoin Hyper provides a high-throughput venue for DeFi, payments, and other dApps, all while using wrapped BTC as its core transactional asset.

EXPLORE THE FUTURE OF BITCOIN L2S WITH $HYPER

Smart Money Takes Note as Presale Momentum Builds

So, is there demand for a high-performance Bitcoin L2? The numbers speak for themselves. The Bitcoin Hyper presale has seen a staggering influx of capital, raising over $31M date. With its $HYPER token currently priced at $0.0136754, this level of early-stage funding suggests a broad consensus: solving Bitcoin’s scalability is one of the biggest opportunities this cycle.

And it’s not just retail enthusiasm. Smart money is moving. On-chain analysis shows high-net wallets scooping up as much as $500K in a single purchase. Moves like this often precede wider market recognition, suggesting savvy investors are getting in position.

Delivering a flawless and secure bridge for $BTC is a massive technical challenge, and the project’s success ultimately hinges on its ability to deliver on its ambitious roadmap. We think this is definitely one of the best crypto to watch.

Still, the proposition for investors is compelling. Presale participants can stake their tokens immediately after the Token Generation Event (TGE) to earn a high APY while helping secure the network. This combination of a powerful technical narrative, clear market demand, and serious early funding places Bitcoin Hyper right at the center of the evolving Bitcoin L2 landscape.

BUY YOUR $HYPER HERE

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The cryptocurrency market is volatile, and readers should conduct their own research before making investment decisions.

Quick Facts:

• Sam Bankman-Fried has officially appealed his fraud conviction, reigniting discussions about security and trust in the crypto industry.
• The FTX collapse highlighted the severe risks of centralized custody, pushing the market toward more robust security solutions.
• BMIC is building a quantum-secure financial stack, including a wallet and staking, to protect assets from future cryptographic threats.
• The looming danger of ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attacks makes post-quantum cryptography a critical area of innovation for digital assets.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, is officially appealing his conviction and 25-year prison sentence. The legal filing reopens one of the biggest fraud cases in crypto history, and for an industry still grappling with the fallout, it’s like pouring salt in a very old wound.

SBF’s appeal challenges various trial decisions, from witness testimony to alleged conflicts of interest. But let’s be clear: the FTX saga was never about tech failing. It was a catastrophic breakdown of trust.

Billions in user funds vanished not because of a sophisticated hack, but due to internal fraud and shockingly poor custody. That collapse forced a painful but necessary conversation across the market: How do we actually secure digital assets?

While the courts wrestle with crypto’s ghosts, innovators are already building for the future. We’re now seeing a clear shift in investor focus toward projects that prioritize provable, next-gen security over pure hype. That’s where the real story is.

The Quantum Threat and BMIC’s Future-Proof Solution

But what most market coverage misses is that while the industry defends against today’s threats, a far bigger one looms: quantum computing. State-sponsored and corporate labs are racing to build machines capable of shattering the encryption that protects everything from bank accounts to crypto wallets.

It’s a threat (one many still dismiss) known as the ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ attack, stealing encrypted data today with the plan to unlock it once quantum computers are powerful enough. For crypto, this isn’t just a problem; it’s an existential risk.

This is the exact problem BMIC ($BMIC) was engineered to solve. It isn’t just another DeFi protocol or meme coin; it’s a foundational security layer built for the quantum age. The project delivers a full stack of financial tools, wallet, staking, and payments, all shielded by post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

While traditional wallets expose public keys during transactions, BMIC uses ERC-4337 smart accounts and a Zero Public-Key Exposure model to protect users from both current and future threats. It even integrates an AI-enhanced threat detection system to proactively neutralize suspicious activity.

The key difference here is a shift from reactive security to preemptive protection. So, is your portfolio truly safe if its core cryptography has a known expiration date?

LEARN MORE ABOUT BMIC AND ITS QUANTUM STACK

A New Security Standard Attracting Early Investment

If history has taught us anything, it’s that after a major market failure like FTX, capital flows toward infrastructure that promises to prevent the next crisis. We’re seeing that play out right now. The early traction for the BMIC presale seems to prove the point, having already raised over $446K, with tokens currently priced at just $0.049474.

Frankly, this doesn’t look like speculative froth; it looks like a calculated investment in a long-term solution. It’s why we picked $BMIC as a best new cryptocurrency.

The project’s utility is centered on its native token, $BMIC, which powers the whole ecosystem. It’s used for staking on the quantum-secure network, participating in governance, and fueling its ‘Burn-to-Compute’ model for access to advanced security features.

The ripple effect of a successful quantum-proof platform could be immense, potentially setting a new security standard for the entire industry. The risk? As always, it comes down to execution and adoption. But in a market still scarred by FTX, a project building decentralized, future-proof security is a compelling story.

buy your $BMIC here

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. All investments carry risks, and readers should conduct their own due diligence.

Quick Facts:

• SkyBridge Capital is buying the Bitcoin dip, signaling strong institutional conviction in the market’s long-term outlook.
• After big consolidations, capital tends to rotate into new infrastructure projects that solve core problems like liquidity fragmentation.
• LiquidChain is being built to unify the siloed liquidity of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana into a single execution layer for cross-chain DeFi.
• There’s a growing demand for capital efficiency, highlighting the need for Layer 3 solutions that can unlock trillions in passive assets.

While Bitcoin consolidates below its all-time highs, institutional players are sending a clear signal: this is an accumulation zone, not a time to panic. SkyBridge Capital, led by Anthony Scaramucci, has been actively buying the Bitcoin dip, he shared at Consensus Hong Kong, reinforcing a narrative of long-term conviction in the face of short-term volatility.

This kind of strategic buying matters less for its immediate price impact and more for what it represents, a deeply-held belief that the current market lull is just a foundational reset before the next major leg up.

Right now, the market is wrestling with conflicting data. On one hand, spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen some pretty big outflows lately, dragging the price down. On the other hand, macro players like Scaramucci are stepping in, viewing prices in the low-$60Ks as a discount.

This divergence gets at a crucial theme. While first-gen institutions are busy scooping up Bitcoin, the next wave of value is going to come from putting that capital to work. The digital gold needs its own financial rails.

History shows that after every major consolidation, capital starts hunting for new, high-growth verticals. The problem? Trillions in liquidity remain trapped in isolated ecosystems like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

So, what’s the knock-on effect of all this institutional buying? A growing, urgent demand for infrastructure that can finally bridge these islands of capital.

Unifying Trillions in Fragmented Liquidity

The core challenge holding DeFi back from hitting its full potential? Liquidity fragmentation. Bitcoin’s ~$1.3T market cap is largely passive, unable to interact seamlessly with Ethereum’s smart contracts or Solana’s high-speed applications without relying on risky, centralized bridges and wrapped assets.

This digital segregation creates friction, kills capital efficiency, and, let’s be honest, opens up huge security risks. What happens when you can execute a trade or deploy an application that draws on the native liquidity of all three giants simultaneously?

That’s the exact problem LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is engineered to solve. It’s a Layer 3 protocol that acts as a cross-chain liquidity layer, creating one single execution environment that fuses the strengths of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Its architecture is built around a Unified Liquidity Layer. This lets developers deploy an application once to give users access to the combined liquidity and user bases of these powerhouse chains. Frankly, it’s a paradigm shift from the current clunky model.

Instead of cumbersome multi-step bridging and swapping, users could perform complex cross-chain actions in a single, verifiable transaction. Of course, the risk, as with any ambitious infrastructure play, is in the execution. But the thesis is undeniably powerful.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE LIQUIDCHAIN ECOSYSTEM

The Infrastructure Play for the Next Cycle

While Scaramucci is buying spot Bitcoin, a parallel opportunity is brewing: building the infrastructure that will service this growing pool of capital. Historically, infrastructure projects that solve fundamental problems are some of the most resilient and highest-performing investments when the market expands.

They’re the picks and shovels in a digital gold rush. LiquidChain is positioning itself squarely in this category, aiming to become the connective tissue for the market’s largest liquidity pools. It’s why we think it’s one of the best crypto to watch.

The project is still in its early stages, offering what looks like a ground-floor entry point. According to its official site, the LiquidChain presale has already raised over $535K, with the $LIQUID token priced at just $0.0136. That kind of early traction suggests its vision of a truly interoperable future is resonating with investors who are looking beyond the daily price charts.

By creating a ‘Deploy-Once’ architecture, LiquidChain drastically lowers the barrier for developers to build cross-chain dApps. That alone could spark a new wave of innovation. If DeFi is going to onboard the next 100M users, the experience has to be seamless. Unifying liquidity is the first, and most critical, step.

VISIT THE OFFICIAL LIQUIDCHAIN ($LIQUID) PRESALE SITE

This article does not constitute financial advice. The cryptocurrency market is volatile, and readers should conduct their own research before investing in any digital assets.