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Binance has returned to the center of market attention following the October 10 crash, an event that marked one of the most violent deleveraging episodes of the current cycle. On that day, a sharp wave of liquidations swept through derivatives markets, erasing billions in open interest and exposing the extent of excessive leverage across multiple exchanges.

Binance stood out during the turmoil not because it drove the sell-off, but because its liquidation footprint was notably smaller relative to its market share, highlighting differences in leverage concentration and risk management compared with rival platforms.

Fast forward to today, and the broader market backdrop remains fragile. Bitcoin is trading below the $80,000 level, while Ethereum has slipped under $2,300, reinforcing the perception that the market has entered a corrective, if not outright bearish, phase. Macro uncertainty, shrinking liquidity, and weakening spot demand have led many analysts to anticipate further downside before any durable stabilization can occur.

Against this backdrop, new data from Arkham has added an unexpected twist. Arkham reports that Binance’s SAFU fund has begun accumulating Bitcoin, purchasing 1,315 BTC—worth roughly $100 million—within the last hour. This move contrasts sharply with prevailing risk-off sentiment and suggests that, even as prices trend lower, Binance may be positioning defensively or opportunistically amid market stress.

Binance Under Scrutiny as the Market Searches for Direction

Many analysts have been quick to point fingers at Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, following the latest wave of market weakness. The criticism largely stems from Binance’s dominant position in global derivatives trading, its deep liquidity pools, and its outsized influence on funding rates, open interest, and liquidation dynamics.

In periods of stress, any sharp move originating on Binance tends to ripple across the entire crypto ecosystem, reinforcing the perception that the exchange acts as a central transmission point for volatility.

However, despite the intensity of these claims, there is currently no concrete on-chain or market evidence showing that the exchange or CZ actively triggered or engineered the recent sell-off. Liquidation data suggests that leverage was widely distributed across multiple platforms, and in several instances, Binance recorded a smaller share of forced liquidations relative to its market share. This weakens the argument that Binance was the primary source of systemic pressure.

What appears more likely is that Binance is being conflated with broader structural issues: excessive leverage, thinning liquidity, and fragile investor sentiment. These conditions can amplify moves regardless of where they begin. The coming days will be critical. How price reacts, how leverage resets, and whether spot demand returns will determine whether the market stabilizes—or confirms that a deeper bearish phase is unfolding.

Bitcoin Breaks Key Weekly Structure

Bitcoin’s weekly chart reflects a clear shift in market structure following the loss of the $80,000 psychological level. After failing to reclaim the 50-week moving average (blue line), BTC has resumed its downward trajectory, confirming this zone as active resistance rather than temporary consolidation. The rejection near the mid-$90K area marked a lower high relative to the 2025 peak, reinforcing a broader bearish trend on higher timeframes.

Price is now trading below both the 50-week and 100-week moving averages, while the 200-week moving average (red line) continues to rise well below current levels. This configuration historically signals a transition phase, where momentum has turned negative but long-term structural support has not yet been tested. The recent breakdown toward the $74,000–$78,000 range places Bitcoin back near a former high-volume area from early 2025, which may offer short-term stabilization but does not yet qualify as a confirmed bottom.

Volume dynamics add to the cautionary outlook. Selling pressure has increased on down weeks, while rebound attempts have been accompanied by weaker volume, suggesting limited conviction from buyers. This pattern aligns with distribution rather than accumulation.

Unless Bitcoin can reclaim and hold above the 50-week moving average, the path of least resistance remains to the downside. In this context, the market appears to be entering a corrective or early bear phase, with further downside risk toward deeper demand zones still unresolved.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Institutional capital isn’t just tiptoeing around Ethereum anymore; it’s stomping in. BitMine, a heavyweight in digital asset mining, has officially expanded its Ether treasury to a massive $10.7B following its latest strategic acquisition.

This purchase marks a pivotal shift in market structure, moving beyond simple speculation toward genuine balance sheet fortification. The timing is critical. On-chain metrics are already flashing signs of a deepening supply squeeze as exchange reserves hit multi-year lows. BitMine’s aggressive buying acts as a volatility dampener for the second-largest cryptocurrency.

That matters. Large-scale accumulation usually precedes a reduction in liquidity, where price discovery becomes hypersensitive to marginal demand. When entities like BitMine lock billions in cold storage, they effectively remove that supply from circulation, theoretically establishing a higher price floor.

While institutions play the safe long game with blue-chip assets, retail traders are signaling a different kind of appetite. The stability provided by these institutional floors often emboldens high-frequency traders to seek alpha further out on the risk curve. This rotation of capital, from safety to speculation, is fueling a surge in the meme token sector.

That’s where Maxi Doge ($MAXI) has emerged as a focal point for traders seeking high-leverage exposure.

Buy your $MAXI here.

Maxi Doge Brings Gym-Bro Intensity to Ethereum’s Meme Ecosystem

While the broader market watches BitMine stabilize the macro environment, the meme token niche is rewarding projects that bring utility to the culture of volatility. Maxi Doge has captured this sentiment by positioning itself as the ‘Leverage King’ of the ERC-20 space.

Distancing itself from the passive ‘hold and hope’ strategy of earlier dog coins (which often fail to deliver), the project embodies the aggressive mentality of 1000x leverage trading. The brand identity centers on ‘never skipping leg day’ and the perpetual grind of the bull market.

This narrative seems to be hitting home with sophisticated capital. On-chain data from Etherscan shows two whale wallets accumulated $503K in recent transactions, a signal that smart money is hunting for outsized returns beyond standard ETH beta.

The appeal lies in the ecosystem design, which essentially gamifies the trading experience. By introducing holder-only competitions and a ‘Maxi Fund’ treasury, the project aligns community incentives with price performance.

It’s a pivot from memes as passive images to memes as active financial sports. The market data implies that traders are increasingly favoring tokens that reflect their own aggressive strategies, ‘lift, trade, repeat’, rather than those relying solely on cute aesthetics.

Explore the Maxi Doge ecosystem.

Presale Data Points to Strong Momentum for $MAXI Staking Model

The financial structuring of Maxi Doge focuses on liquidity retention through dynamic staking rewards. Unlike projects that flood the market with tokens immediately, the smart contract governs supply through a 5% staking allocation pool, offering daily automatic distribution for up to one year.

This mechanism encourages holders to lock assets, theoretically reducing sell pressure while earning yield. It’s a strategy that mirrors the institutional ‘hodl’ mentality, just with significantly higher risk-reward ratios.

According to the official presale page, Maxi Doge has raised over $4.5M, validating strong early interest. With tokens currently priced at $0.0002802, the valuation offers an entry point that stands in stark contrast to the multi-billion dollar market caps of established meme coins.

For retail investors, the math is simple: catching a 10x or 100x return is often more probable from a sub-penny price point than from assets already saturated with capital.

Current capital inflows suggest the market is hunting for an Ethereum-based contender to challenge the dominance of Solana memes. By using the security of the Ethereum Proof-of-Stake network while adopting the viral ‘gym bro’ humor that dominates crypto Twitter, the project creates a dual-threat value proposition.

It offers the technical reliability of ERC-20 with the viral velocity of a breakout meme, a counterbalance to the slow, steady accumulation seen in BitMine’s strategy.

Learn more about the Maxi Doge presale.

The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile, and meme tokens like $MAXI carry significant risk. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and never invest more than they can afford to lose.

The number stops you in your tracks: 89%.

According to a recent report from JP Morgan Private Bank, the vast majority of family offices, those quiet giants managing the fortunes of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, still have zero exposure to cryptocurrency. Given that the asset class has outperformed almost every traditional index over the last decade, this hesitation looks paradoxical.

Dig a little deeper, though. The reluctance isn’t just about volatility or fear of the dark. The ‘Global Family Office Report’ highlights that while 11% of these firms are active, the sidelined majority cite specific roadblocks: operational complexity and security risks.

The current market structure, fragmented across incompatible blockchains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, is a compliance nightmare for institutional capital. They aren’t waiting for higher prices. They’re waiting for better plumbing.

This data point matters. Not because it implies bearish sentiment, but because it predicts a massive capital rotation once those barriers fall. Smart money is watching the infrastructure layer right now, specifically projects that abstract away the chaotic user experience of cross-chain interaction. As the gap between institutional interest and execution capabilities widens, new Layer 3 (L3) solutions are stepping in.

This is where LiquidChain ($LIQUID) enters the picture, gaining traction for its promise to fuse the liquidity of the industry’s biggest chains into a single execution environment.

Buy $LIQUID here.

The ‘Uninvestable’ Nature of Fragmented Liquidity

JP Morgan’s report illuminates a critical disconnect. While retail traders might be comfortable bridging assets through sketchy protocols or juggling five seed phrases for five different chains, family offices can’t operate with that level of friction.

Right now, liquidity is trapped in silos. A billion dollars on Ethereum can’t easily talk to a billion dollars on Solana without complex bridging mechanisms that introduce ‘wrapped’ assets, derivative tokens that have historically been major failure points in DeFi hacks. Frankly, for a risk-averse family office, holding a ‘wrapped’ version of Bitcoin on a smart contract chain is a non-starter.

This suggests the next phase of the bull run won’t be driven by new assets, but by the unification of existing ones. The market is desperate for an interoperability standard that removes the technical debt of managing multi-chain portfolios. The 89% aren’t staying away because they hate returns; they’re staying away because the current infrastructure is too “noisy” for compliant, ten-figure execution.

Explore the LiquidChain ecosystem.

LiquidChain Unifies BTC, ETH, and SOL for Institutional Grade Execution

While legacy wealth waits for the dust to settle, LiquidChain is building the solution that directly addresses the fragmentation problem. Positioned as a Layer 3 infrastructure, LiquidChain does what previous bridging solutions couldn’t: it fuses Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity into a single, unified execution environment.

Here’s what most coverage misses about Layer 3 protocols: they aren’t just faster blockchains. They are application-specific environments designed to hide the messiness of the underlying layers. LiquidChain’s ‘Deploy-Once Architecture’ allows developers to build applications that access users and liquidity from all three major chains simultaneously.

For the user, whether a DeFi native or a family office execution desk, this means single-step execution. There’s no need to manually bridge funds or wrap assets. The protocol handles the settlement verification across chains in the background.

By mitigating the risks associated with wrapped assets and unifying liquidity, LiquidChain presents the kind of streamlined, verifiable settlement layer that institutional capital requires to finally make the jump from the 89% to the 11%.

Learn more about LiquidChain here.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments, including presales and early-stage infrastructure projects, carry high risks. Always perform your own due diligence.

The crypto market faced a sharp reality check this morning. Reports confirmed Donald Trump’s camp has officially denied rumors of a $500M investment from the United Arab Emirates into World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

Speculation had reached a fever pitch earlier in the week, traders were practically betting the house that sovereign wealth liquidity would back the former President’s decentralized finance project. But the denial has sent ripples through the governance token market, dampening expectations for a state-backed bailout of the platform’s sluggish token sales.

This matters less for politics than for capital flow. Liquidity isn’t blindly chasing celebrity-endorsed narratives anymore. The rejection exposes the fragility of projects reliant on ‘hype’ rather than technological infrastructure. While WLFI struggles to gain traction without a nine-figure injection, the market’s appetite for high-utility infrastructure remains ravenous.

Smart money is rotating out of speculative governance plays and into solutions that actually address the ecosystem’s technical bottlenecks. That rotation is obvious in the sudden surge of interest surrounding Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions.

As the narrative shifts from ‘who backs it’ to ‘what does it do,’ investors are aggressively positioning themselves in protocols that unlock Bitcoin’s dormant capital. The door is closing on the WLFI rumors. But a new liquidity corridor is opening for projects capable of bringing programmability to the world’s largest asset.

Leading this charge? Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER). It’s quietly absorbing the liquidity looking for a home in the wake of the World Liberty disappointment.

You can buy $HYPER here.

Bitcoin Hyper Brings Solana Speeds To The Bitcoin Network

The primary driver behind the rotation into Bitcoin Hyper is its architecture, which fundamentally alters the Bitcoin scalability thesis. While previous Layer 2s (like Stacks or Lightning) have offered partial solutions, $HYPER integrates the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) directly as a Layer 2 execution environment.

This allows the network to bypass Bitcoin’s inherent sluggishness (10-minute block times are painful) while retaining the security guarantees of the main chain.

Using a modular blockchain structure, Bitcoin Hyper separates the settlement layer (Bitcoin L1) from the execution layer (SVM L2). The result?

A high-performance environment where developers can build decentralized applications (dApps) using Rust, the same language powering Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. That matters for one big reason: it creates a Decentralized Canonical Bridge. Users can utilize wrapped $BTC for high-speed payments and complex DeFi maneuvers without the friction usually associated with the Bitcoin network.

The project operates via a single trusted sequencer with periodic L1 state anchoring. This technical nuance ensures that while transactions occur with the sub-second finality of the SVM, the ultimate source of truth remains the Bitcoin blockchain. For developers tired of Ethereum’s congestion or the centralization concerns of other L2s, this offers a new paradigm: the speed of Solana with the security of Bitcoin.

Explore the Bitcoin Hyper ecosystem.

Smart Money Rotates Into $HYPER Presale As Whales Accumulate

You can quantify the market’s hunger for a functional Bitcoin Layer 2 in the project’s early funding data. According to the official presale page, Bitcoin Hyper has raised over $31.2M, a figure that stands in stark contrast to the stalling momentum of purely speculative tokens.

With tokens currently priced at $0.013675, the valuation suggests investors see significant upside potential relative to established L2s trading at multi-billion dollar market caps.

On-chain analysis further corroborates this institutional interest. Etherscan records show that 3 whale wallets have accumulated over $1M.

The largest transaction ($500K) indicates that high-net-worth individuals are positioning themselves well ahead of the Token Generation Event (TGE).

This accumulation pattern often precedes wider retail discovery, as sophisticated actors secure allocations before the asset hits public exchanges.

Beyond the raw capital inflows, the project’s staking mechanics drive retention. Bitcoin Hyper offers high APY incentives with immediate staking available post-TGE. Plus, there’s a 7-day vesting period for presale stakers. That mechanism is designed to prevent immediate sell pressure and align investor incentives with the network’s long-term health.

For a market recovering from the volatility of celebrity coins, these tokenomics offer a structured, utility-driven alternative.

Check out the Bitcoin Hyper presale.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are high-risk assets. Always perform your own due diligence before investing. The dates and figures mentioned regarding future transactions are based on available projection data.

Nomura, Japan’s biggest brokerage and banking giant, said it will temporarily trim its cryptocurrency positions after a weak quarter that dented profits and tightened its short-term risk tolerance. The pullback looks aimed at smoothing swings to earnings while the firm keeps its longer-term plans for digital assets alive.

Bank Cuts Crypto Exposure After Profit Decline

According to earnings disclosures and company remarks, Nomura’s net income fell nearly 10 percent in the third quarter that ended December 31, leaving group profit lower than a year earlier and prompting management to curb some crypto trading positions to limit further hits.

Nomura’s European crypto arm, Laser Digital, had posted trading losses during the period, which management singled out as a key factor behind the move to tighten position limits.

Reports note that executives described the steps as temporary and targeted — not an exit from the market but a way to manage volatility while other parts of the business keep growing.

We’ve just announced our 3Q 2025-26 financial results. Here are some key figures from this quarter. View the full announcement here: https://t.co/mdYHgOnN5u pic.twitter.com/sosuQqihni

— Nomura (@Nomura) January 30, 2026

Short-Term Pullback, Long-Term Play

There is a split in the timeline. On one hand, Laser Digital has recently filed paperwork to expand its services abroad, including applying for a US national trust bank charter as it seeks to offer custody and trading to institutional clients.

On the other hand, trading desks that took losses are being put on a tighter leash so quarterly results don’t swing wildly. That two-track approach is what analysts say explains the seeming contradiction.

Investors reacted quickly. Nomura’s shares slipped after the earnings update, reflecting market concern about the hit to European operations and the extra costs tied to a large acquisition completed in the period.

Management has flagged that one-off charges played a role in the weaker profit line, alongside the trading losses.

Risk Controls Tightened, Growth Goals Kept

Reports say Nomura has tightened risk controls around digital-asset positions and is conducting stricter oversight of exposures that can swing with crypto price moves.

At the same time, executives stressed the firm’s broader commitment to building crypto infrastructure and services over the medium to long term, rather than abandoning the sector outright.

The immediate effect is clear: fewer large directional bets in the trading book and more cautious position sizing. That reduces profit volatility but can limit upside if crypto prices rebound sharply.

Featured image from The Exchange Asia, chart from TradingView

The cryptocurrency market is showing a fascinating divergence: institutional giants are building the floor while retail traders are aggressively testing the ceiling.

Reports that major banking institutions like ING are warming up to direct crypto services signal a critical shift in market structure.

That’s not just about accessibility, it’s about the legitimization of digital assets as a standard portfolio component for conservative European wealth. (Frankly, when a legacy bank moves, it validates the asset class for risk-averse capital that has remained on the sidelines for a decade).

Meanwhile, the retail sector is operating with a totally different risk profile. Just look at the parabolic moves in assets like $SUBBD. The surge in these niche, community-driven tokens suggests that despite macroeconomic headwinds, risk-on appetite remains voracious.

The dichotomy is stark: while bankers analyze Bitcoin ETFs, the ‘degen’ economy is hunting for 100x multipliers in the AI infrastructure sector. This barbell structure, stability on one end, high volatility on the other, implies liquidity is returning to the system, but it’s bifurcated.

But the most astute capital is looking beyond the safety of banks or the casino-like nature of memes. Smart money is positioning itself in the middle ground: utility-driven protocols that solve tangible Web2 problems using Web3 infrastructure.

Specifically, the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and the creator economy is emerging as the next major growth narrative. Investors are increasingly rotating profits from high-volatility plays into infrastructure projects like SUBBD Token that offer sustainable revenue models.

Visit SUBBD Token’s official page.

SUBBD Token Targets the $85 Billion Creator Economy

While the broader market debates regulatory frameworks, SUBBD Token is executing a targeted strike on the $85 billion content creation industry. The current Web2 model? It’s fundamentally broken for creators. Platforms often extract up to 70% of earnings in fees, impose arbitrary bans, and enforce strict geographical payment restrictions.

SUBBD uses Ethereum-based EVM-compatible smart contracts to dismantle these barriers, offering a decentralized alternative where creators actually retain control over their content and revenue.

The project differentiates itself by integrating proprietary AI models directly into its ecosystem. This isn’t merely about payment processing, it’s about workflow automation. The platform features an AI Personal Assistant for automated interactions and advanced AI Voice Cloning technology, allowing influencers to scale their presence without scaling their workload.

For fans, the utility is equally tangible: token-gated access creates an exclusive layer of interaction that fiat subscriptions can’t replicate.

From a portfolio standpoint, this represents a shift from speculative assets to productive ones. By merging Web3 transparency with AI-driven influencer tools, the project addresses the fragmentation of current software. Instead of subscribing to five different services for chatbots, voice generation, and payments, creators access a unified ecosystem. That consolidation of utility is precisely what transforms a token from a trading vehicle into a fundamental infrastructure play.

Explore the SUBBD ecosystem.

Early Capital Flows and Staking Metrics

The market’s appetite for this AI-Web3 hybrid model is reflected in the early capital inflows. According to official data, the project has already raised $1.4M, a figure that suggests significant conviction from early entrants despite the broader market’s volatility.

With tokens currently priced at $0.0574875, the entry point allows for position sizing that’s difficult to achieve in established large-cap assets.

Beyond the capital raise, the protocol’s retention mechanics are designed to mitigate the sell pressure often seen in new launches. The staking structure offers a fixed 20% APY for the first year, creating a compelling incentive for holders to lock supply. This isn’t just an inflationary reward; it’s a mechanism to align user behavior with long-term platform growth.

Stakers also gain access to XP multipliers and exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ content drops, gamifying the holding process. This approach, combining high-yield staking with functional platform benefits, creates a liquidity sink that stabilizes the token economy.

While ING clients are limited to market-beta returns, SUBBD offers a third path: early-stage exposure to a utility protocol with built-in yield generation.

As the presale advances, the window to acquire tokens at the $0.0002802 valuation tightens, placing a premium on early decision-making.

View the official SUBBD presale site.

The information provided in this article does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the article’s content as such. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always conduct your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.

The decentralized derivatives landscape isn’t just shifting; it’s mutating. Hyperliquid, currently the heavyweight champion of on-chain perps, has signaled a direct expansion into prediction markets.

The market’s reaction was immediate and violent: the HYPE token surged 20% following the revelation, proving there is an immense appetite for infrastructure that bridges traditional trading with event wagering.

Why does this matter? Liquidity consolidation. Until now, prediction markets like Polymarket lived in silos, isolated from high-frequency perp trading. Hyperliquid’s integration hints at a future where capital efficiency rules supreme—traders can hedge election outcomes and leverage long ETH positions from a single collateral pool.

That 20% surge wasn’t just speculation. It was a rapid repricing of the protocol’s total addressable market.

But look closer at the liquidity flowing into high-performance chains. There is a secondary trend brewing: a resurgence of ‘high-conviction’ trading culture.

The traders on Hyperliquid aren’t passive allocators; they’re hunting volatility, leverage, and competition. That specific mindset is exactly what’s now fueling Maxi Doge ($MAXI), a project built for the ‘degen’ trader who treats markets like a contact sport.

Buy $MAXI today.

Maxi Doge Targets the ‘Leverage King’ Demographic

While Hyperliquid builds the plumbing for risk, Maxi Doge captures the culture of the risk-taker. Forget the passive ‘hold and hope’ mechanics of yesterday’s meme coins. Maxi Doge positions itself as a 240-lb canine juggernaut, embodying the ‘1000x energy’ of the current bull cycle. Its ethos: ‘Never skip leg-day, never skip a pump’, resonates with retail traders who know the market is a grind requiring serious conviction.

Frankly, the utility goes deeper than just aesthetics. Maxi Doge (unexpectedly for a meme token) integrates Holder-Only Trading Competitions, gamifying the experience like the leaderboards on major perp DEXs. It rewards top ROI hunters, aligning tokenomics with active participation. Plus, the ‘Maxi Fund’ treasury backs this ecosystem, ensuring liquidity for partnerships and high-impact marketing.

Sound familiar? It’s the strategies of top DeFi protocols applied to meme culture.

That cultural alignment counts. In a market where attention is the scarcest asset, projects mirroring their holders’ psychology often cook the hardest. Maxi Doge isn’t trying to be a currency; it’s a badge of honor for the “Leverage King” demographic.

Learn more about the project’s tokenomics.

Whales Accumulate $503K as Presale Momentum Builds

Smart money seems to agree with this thesis. While retail chases green candles elsewhere, on-chain data from Etherscan shows two whale wallets accumulated $503K in recent transactions within the Maxi Doge ecosystem. The largest single clip, a massive $314K transaction, executed on Oct 11, 2025.

That suggests high-net-worth players are positioning themselves well before the token hits public trading venues.

Presale metrics show demand accelerating. According to the official site, Maxi Doge has already raised over $4.5M, with tokens priced at $0.0002802. In a landscape fragmented across L2s and Solana, that’s no small feat. For an Ethereum mainnet token to command this level of early-stage capital signals real confidence in the ‘meme-first, utility-second’ hybrid model.

And then there’s the staking architecture. It’s designed to lock up supply while rewarding conviction. The smart contract governs a dynamic APY with daily automatic distribution from a 5% staking allocation pool. This setup encourages the long-term holding behavior seen in blue-chip DeFi governance tokens, aiming to dampen volatility.

Visit the official site for presale details.

The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Crypto assets are highly volatile.

Bitcoin has managed to claw its way back to $78.5K, a psychological level that has bulls calling for a run to six figures. But pop the champagne just yet? Probably not.

A closer look at the order books reveals a troubling divergence: price is rising, but conviction is thinning.

The bounce looks driven largely by derivatives leverage rather than spot demand. Order block analysis suggests a massive liquidity gap between $72,000 and the current price. Meaning? Any sudden selling pressure could cascade rapidly without structural support to catch the falling knife. It’s a fragile setup where volatility is the only guarantee.

While price action remains choppy, the underlying ecosystem is shifting gears. Smart money is looking past the daily candles—often noise anyway, and focusing on the structural limitations plaguing the network. Every time Bitcoin rallies, fees spike and confirmation times drag.

That bottleneck has catalyzed a rotation of capital into infrastructure plays designed to solve these exact friction points. Investors are increasingly hedging their spot exposure by moving into high-performance Layer 2 protocols. The logic is sound: if Bitcoin succeeds, the network needs scaling; if it stalls, innovation happens on the layers above.

Leading this charge is Bitcoin Hyper, a project that’s becoming a focal point for institutional-grade interest by integrating Solana’s speed directly onto Bitcoin’s security layer.

Buy $HYPER today.

Bitcoin Hyper Merges SVM Speed With Bitcoin Security

The market has long debated whether Bitcoin should remain a store of value or evolve into a programmable platform. Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) renders that debate moot by offering both. As the first Bitcoin Layer 2 to integrate the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM), it delivers technical prowess that legacy sidechains just haven’t achieved.

That matters. Ethereum’s dominance in DeFi stemmed largely from Bitcoin’s inability to handle complex smart contracts. By using the SVM, Bitcoin Hyper introduces low-latency execution to the Bitcoin ecosystem. The architecture is modular: it uses Bitcoin L1 for final settlement and a real-time SVM L2 for execution. The result? Sub-second finality, a stark contrast to the main chain’s 10-minute crawl.

Developers (usually the first to spot technical breakouts) are eyeing the ‘Decentralized Canonical Bridge.’ This infrastructure unlocks high-speed payments in wrapped BTC and enables sophisticated DeFi applications, from lending protocols to NFT platforms, all built with Rust-based SDKs. It solves the “trilemma” by keeping the base layer secure while outsourcing the heavy lifting to a hyper-efficient execution layer.

Check out the Bitcoin Hyper ecosystem.

Smart Money Rotates Into $31M Presale Event

While the broader market stays tentative about short-term price action, capital allocators are aggressively positioning themselves in the $HYPER presale. The project has raised over $31.2M, a figure that underscores the demand for scalable Bitcoin infrastructure.

On-chain metrics back this up. According to Etherscan records, two whale wallets have accumulated over $1M in $HYPER tokens.

The largest single transaction ($500K) hit the chain on Jan 15, 2026, signaling that high-net-worth individuals are securing positions well before public trading starts. With tokens currently priced at $0.013675, these early entries suggest a belief that the asset is undervalued relative to its utility.

The tokenomics look designed to incentivize long-term holding. The protocol offers high APY staking immediately after the Token Generation Event (TGE), with a modest 7-day vesting period for presale stakers. That structure mitigates the risk of immediate post-launch dumping while rewarding governance participants. For investors weary of Bitcoin’s current chop at $78.5K, the $HYPER presale represents a calculated bet on the future of scalability.

Visit the official presale site.

Disclaimer This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry high risks, including the potential for total loss. Always verify presale details independently.

Bitcoin entered the weekend under heavy selling pressure, decisively losing the $80,000 support and sliding to the $74,000 area for the first time since April 2025. The move has intensified concerns that the market is no longer in a corrective pause but is instead transitioning into a broader bearish phase. Price weakness has coincided with fading demand signals, particularly from US-based investors, a dynamic now standing out clearly in on-chain data.

A recent CryptoQuant report highlights a structural shift when comparing the February–April 2025 period with market conditions from November 2025 to today. During the first half of 2025, the Coinbase Premium Index frequently dipped into negative territory, but only briefly. Discounts appeared, were absorbed relatively quickly, and did not persist. That behavior was consistent with tactical selling into strength, rather than a sustained absence of buyers.

The current environment looks materially different. Negative Coinbase Premium readings have become deeper and more persistent, suggesting that US spot demand is no longer stepping in to absorb downside moves. Even after significant price adjustments, discounts remain unresolved, pointing to buyers staying on the sidelines. As Bitcoin trades at levels not seen in nearly a year, this weakening spot demand raises the risk that further downside could unfold before a durable base is formed.

US Spot Demand Remains Absent

The report explains that the current behavior of the Coinbase Premium marks a clear departure from earlier phases of this cycle. Negative prints are no longer brief or episodic. Instead, they are deeper and persist for extended periods, with only short-lived and shallow recoveries. This pattern goes beyond simple selling pressure. It reflects a sustained absence of US spot demand, even as prices move lower.

Short-term discounts can emerge for many reasons, including macro shocks, liquidation events, or temporary risk aversion. However, when the premium remains negative after the price has already adjusted, it typically signals that buyers are not stepping in. In other words, the market is not finding support from US-based spot participants who have historically played a stabilizing role during drawdowns.

In practice, this shift is visible in several ways. Downside moves are not being absorbed by spot inflows on US venues. Rebounds occur, but they lack confirmation from spot demand and fade quickly. As a result, price action becomes increasingly driven by derivatives, leverage, and short-term positioning rather than sustained capital allocation.

Compared with spring 2025, US spot demand is now weaker both in magnitude and persistence. Until the Coinbase Premium turns positive and holds for a sustained period, upside momentum remains structurally fragile, leaving Bitcoin vulnerable to further downside pressure.

Weekly Structure Weakens as Bitcoin Breaks Key Support

Bitcoin’s weekly chart shows a clear structural deterioration following the loss of the $80,000 support zone. After topping above $120,000 in mid-2025, price has formed a sequence of lower highs and lower lows, signaling a transition from expansion to distribution. The recent breakdown toward the $74,000–$77,000 area marks the first visit to these levels since April 2025, confirming that prior demand has failed to hold.

From a trend perspective, Bitcoin is now trading below its 50-week moving average, which has started to roll over. This level previously acted as dynamic support throughout the bull phase, but the failure to reclaim it suggests weakening medium-term momentum. The 100-week moving average, currently near the mid-$80,000s, has also flipped into resistance, reinforcing the bearish structure. Meanwhile, the 200-week moving average remains well below price, near the low-$60,000 region, defining a potential downside magnet if selling pressure persists.

Volume dynamics add to the caution. Selling waves during the breakdown are accompanied by elevated volume compared to recent consolidation phases, indicating distribution rather than passive drift. Although the latest candle shows a modest rebound, it lacks follow-through and remains corrective in nature.

The chart suggests Bitcoin is in a transition phase toward a broader bearish regime. Unless price can decisively reclaim the $85,000–$90,000 zone, rallies are likely to be sold, with risk skewed toward a deeper test of long-term demand levels.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin’s price crash over the weekend pushed some big holders into the red for a short while, but a handful of major players signaled they were still buying into the dip.

Strategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor posted on X “More Orange” after the slide, hinting at fresh accumulation for a company that has been steadily adding to its stash for years.

Reports show Strategy’s holdings remain large, at roughly 712,647 BTC, which underlines why its moves draw so much attention from traders and investors.

Average ETF Cost Still Above Trading Levels

Reports say US spot Bitcoin ETFs manage about $113 billion and hold roughly 1.28 million BTC, putting an implied average buy price above current market rates.

This gap explains why many ETF positions are showing losses on paper even though some institutions keep buying.

The fact that passive products can be underwater at the same time a corporate buyer adds to its balance sheet creates an odd mix of market signals.

More Orange. pic.twitter.com/b5iYIMARJX

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) February 1, 2026

Exchange Balances Continue To Fall

One sign the sell-off may not be pure panic is the steady flow of coins off exchanges into private wallets. Reports note exchange reserves have slid to levels not seen in years, a trend that often points to long-term hoarding rather than immediate selling.

Lower exchange balances usually mean there are fewer coins ready to be sold quickly, which can make price swings more extreme when demand dries up.

Transaction Costs Remain Low

On the network side, average transaction fees stayed relatively modest during the crash, so ordinary activity did not choke the chain.

Data show the typical fee hovered around $0.7 per transfer in late January, which keeps small transfers practical and means the network was not under strain even as prices moved sharply. Low fees can encourage more on-chain movement without creating bottlenecks.

Network Security Saw A Brief Drop

Reports have highlighted a recent pullback in hashrate, as miners in some regions faced weather and operational disruptions, causing a near-term drop of roughly 12% from prior highs.

Strategy has acquired 22,305 BTC for ~$2.13 billion at ~$95,284 per bitcoin. As of 1/19/2026, we hodl 709,715 $BTC acquired for ~$53.92 billion at ~$75,979 per bitcoin. $MSTR $STRC $STRK $STRF $STRD $STRE https://t.co/6hpAeOxp2I

— Strategy (@Strategy) January 20, 2026

Optimism Is High

Strategy has ramped up its Bitcoin buying after a slower period in 2025, completing its largest purchase since February last year. The firm added 13,627 BTC worth about $1.3 billion, signaling a renewed push to grow its holdings.

Saylor’s latest post fits a familiar pattern that markets have learned to watch closely. Each time Bitcoin stumbles into fear-heavy territory, his brief messages tend to surface, often read as quiet confidence rather than noise.

While prices remain fragile and sentiment uneven, Strategy’s continued signaling suggests conviction has not faded at the corporate level.

Featured image from Alexander Spatari/Getty Images, chart from TradingView

Ripple and Stellar were pulled into a fresh round of social-media speculation this weekend after newly surfaced emails from the Epstein document release appeared to reference the two projects in a 2014 investor dispute. Former Ripple CTO David Schwartz pushed back publicly, saying he knows of no direct links between Epstein and either network, and framed the episode as another example of tribal politics bleeding into crypto.

Schwartz Reacts After Epstein Docs Mention Ripple, Stellar

The spark came from a screenshot circulating on X that shows an email chain in which Austin Hill (co-founder of Blockstream) complained to a group of high-profile recipients, including Epstein, about investors allocating capital across competing projects. According to Schwartz, the document “is an email from Austin Hill to Jeffrey Epstein explaining that Hill felt that support for Ripple or Stellar made someone an enemy/opponent,” adding that Hill likely shared similar views “to many other people.”

As the image spread, some posts characterized the mere inclusion of Ripple and Stellar in the email as evidence of deeper involvement. Schwartz responded with a message that tried to separate inflammatory framing from what the document actually shows.

“I don’t know of any connections between Jeffrey Epstein and Ripple, XRP, or Stellar. [I don’t know of] any evidence anyone at Ripple or Stellar ever met with Epstein or anyone closely connected to him,” he wrote. “There are some indirect ties between Epstein and people connected to Bitcoin in various ways, but that’s probably true of most very wealthy people.”

Schwartz’s first post on the thread captured the mood of the day, both suspicion and a reluctance to feed it. “I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is just the tip of a giant iceberg,” he wrote while linking to the DOJ-hosted file. He later argued the more corrosive issue was the “enemy/opponent” mindset, writing that “we really are all in this together and this kind of attitude hurts everyone in the space.”

In the underlying 2014 email described in the source material, Hill is portrayed as objecting to backers funding multiple “horses” at once, treating support for Ripple or Stellar as hostile to the bitcoin-centric “ecosystem” he was building at Blockstream. Reports summarizing the chain say it was sent to Joichi Ito, Epstein, and Reid Hoffman, and included language that investors in both camps were “backing two horses in the same race.”

The resurfaced email also revived an older fault line in how early projects structured themselves. In response to a user asking about Ripple versus Stellar’s nonprofit posture, Schwartz said the idea was debated early on and that he opposed it.

“We discussed it in the early days. I was strongly against it because it seemed dishonest and borderline illegal to have a non-profit whose success was so tied to the gains of private parties,” he wrote. “It felt, at least to me, like Walmart creating a non-profit to help educate people about how much money they could save by shopping at Walmart.”

At press time, XRP traded at $1.64.

On-chain data shows the Bitcoin spot price is now below the cost basis of nearly two-thirds of inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

62% Of US Bitcoin Spot ETF Inflows Now In Loss

In a new X post, on-chain analyst Checkmate has shared a chart discussing the latest situation related to the Bitcoin spot ETFs. Spot ETFs are investment vehicles that allow investors to gain indirect exposure to an underlying asset. Such funds are available for Bitcoin and other digital assets in many parts of the world, but the ones of interest here are those based in the United States. First approved back in January 2024, US BTC spot ETFs have been in operation for more than two years now, and in that time, they have witnessed significant growth.

Lately, however, the trend related to these funds has been one of net outflows as the wider cryptocurrency sector has gone through a bearish shift. Outflows in the last two weeks, in particular, have been quite intense.

Below is the chart posted by the analyst that shows the trend in the weekly netflow related to the Bitcoin spot ETFs, among other metrics:

From the graph, it’s visible that the Bitcoin spot ETFs have witnessed net outflow spikes of $1.33 billion and $1.49 billion during the last two weeks, representing the third and second largest outflow sprees in the history of these funds. Alongside the negative netflows, Bitcoin has plunged under the $80,000 level. The asset is now trading under the average cost basis of the spot ETFs (marked in the chart using the dashed line), meaning that the majority of capital stored in these funds is now being held at a loss.

In the netflow graph, Checkmate has highlighted which of the weekly inflow spikes are part of this loss of supply. It would appear that the last green inflows are now sitting all the way back in late 2024, with all spikes since then underwater. “If you assume a cost basis of inflows on the day they occurred, 62% of ETF inflows are now underwater,” noted the analyst.

So far in the history of BTC spot ETFs, holders haven’t been underwater to a significant degree as BTC has generally gone up since their launch. During a phase in mid-2024, the cryptocurrency did dip below the cost basis of these traders, but even then, it never went too far below the line.

Given this, the latest breach of the Bitcoin spot ETF break-even level could end up being the first time that these investors would have to deal with the pain of a bear phase. It now remains to be seen how the netflow related to these investment vehicles will develop in the coming weeks.

BTC Price

Bitcoin fell to $75,000 on Sunday, but the asset has rebounded a bit to start the new week as its price is now floating around $77,800.

Igor Runets, the entrepreneur behind one of Russia’s biggest Bitcoin farms, was taken into custody Friday as tax investigators moved in on his company.

The move shocked many in the mining world because BitRiver runs huge data halls in Siberia and has been a visible player since the early 2020s.

Runets Held As Tax Case Advances

Based on reports, Igor Runets was detained on January 30, 2026, and charged the next day with several counts tied to hiding income and assets from tax authorities.

A Moscow court later set conditions that would place him under house arrest starting February 4 unless his legal team overturns that order. The limits on his freedom are now expected to complicate how BitRiver manages day-to-day decisions.

BitRiver Under Strain

BitRiver contracts out space, power, and cooling to big mining clients. Those deals matter because mining runs on tight margins and steady power.

Reports note the firm has already dealt with sanctions from the US Treasury back in 2022 and lost some international partners after that.

In the past, partners in Asia pulled back. That exit, combined with legal pressure now, could make it harder for BitRiver to keep operations humming where margins are thin.

How This Could Ripple Through Mining

The arrest puts new legal risk squarely on a company that hosts a lot of third-party miners. If leadership is distracted or restricted, boards and clients may rethink contracts.

Industry Reaction And Financial Signals

Crypto markets tend to react to big headlines. But mining is also local and practical: refrigeration, power lines, and worker shifts.

BitRiver’s founder was estimated to hold roughly $230 million in wealth tied to the business as of 2024. That figure helps explain why the case drew attention.

Analysts are watching whether creditors, partners, or insurers change their stance. Some lenders may tighten terms. Suppliers might demand new assurances.

Legal Next Steps For Runets And BitRiver

Reports say Runets’ lawyers will file appeals and seek to limit restrictions. The court’s steps in late January and early February will set the tone for how much control he keeps.

Investigators are focusing on alleged tax concealment and transfers designed to mask assets. If the case widens, executives and board members elsewhere in the sector could see increased scrutiny.

A Moment Of Uncertainty For A Key Player

BitRiver has been one of the more visible mining hosts in Russia. Its future now depends on legal rulings, partner confidence, and how the company steadies operations while facing new constraints.

For miners that used BitRiver’s sites, the immediate concern is continuity—keeping rigs online and power contracts intact.

For the market, the story is a reminder that mining ventures don’t operate in a legal vacuum and that regulatory pressure can change business math fast.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Russia’s biggest crypto mining company is under renewed scrutiny after authorities detained BitRiver founder and CEO Igor Runets on multiple tax evasion charges, deepening the legal and financial pressure on a firm already constrained by sanctions and operational setbacks.

Related Reading: With Bitcoin Below $80K, ARK Reframes The Narrative Around Gold

The case, which is being handled by a Moscow court, has drawn attention to the risks facing large-scale crypto miners operating at the intersection of energy, regulation, and geopolitics.

According to reports from Russian outlets RBK and Kommersant, Runets was detained late last week and formally charged with three counts of alleged tax evasion.

Court filings indicate that the Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow ordered him placed under house arrest, a measure that restricts his movement while investigators proceed. His legal team has a limited window to appeal the ruling before it becomes fully enforceable.

Court Case Adds Pressure On Bitriver

Founded in 2017, BitRiver grew rapidly into Russia’s leading Bitcoin mining operator by building large data centers across Siberia.

The company used the region’s cold climate and relatively low electricity costs to support its mining operations and to provide infrastructure services to corporate clients. At its peak, BitRiver operated thousands of mining rigs across multiple sites and accounted for a significant share of Russia’s legal crypto-mining capacity.

Runets’ detention comes amid mounting challenges for BitRiver. The company was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in mid-2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, limiting its access to Western partners and financial systems.

In 2023, Japanese financial group SBI exited its mining arrangement with BitRiver following its withdrawal from Russia, dealing a blow to the firm’s international business.

Financial Strain And Legal Disputes

Reports suggest that BitRiver began cutting costs and scaling back parts of its operations toward the end of 2024, leading to salary payment delays affecting employees.

The pressure continued into early 2025, when regional electricity provider Infrastructure of Siberia filed two lawsuits, alleging that it had paid BitRiver for equipment that was never delivered.

Despite these issues, Russia’s industrial mining sector continued to generate significant revenue in 2024, with BitRiver remaining the market leader. Bloomberg estimated Runets’ net worth at around $230 million in late 2024, largely tied to his role in the crypto mining industry.

Wider Implications for The Crypto Sector

The case against Runets highlights the growing legal and regulatory risks facing crypto executives, both in Russia and abroad. While authorities investigate the alleged tax violations, BitRiver must also manage ongoing litigation, strained partnerships, and scrutiny linked to sanctions.

Related Reading: With Bitcoin Below $80K, ARK Reframes The Narrative Around Gold

As the market awaits the verdict, the case’s outcome could shape how Russian crypto mining firms approach compliance, financing, and governance in an increasingly restrictive environment.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

A viral post on the social media platform X recently claimed that Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, just sold 10,000 BTC. An attached screenshot purported to show on-chain data supporting the claim, and the rumor quickly garnered attention on the social media platform. 

The ramifications of such a sale are huge because Nakamoto’s stash is untouched going back to the earliest days of Bitcoin mining. However, a closer look into blockchain records tells a very different story.

Investigating The Rumor Of Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin Sale

According to a post on X by a crypto account with the username Discover, Satoshi Nakamoto recently moved 10,000 BTC from its long-dormant wallet. The report suggests that over $760 million worth of Bitcoin had been sold by its creator, a move that could cause further harm to its price action, which is already fragile and trading with prevailing bearish momentum.

The image shared with the rumor appears to be taken from Arkham Intelligence, a popular on-chain analytics platform. The screenshot, which is shown below, highlights the outflow of 10,000 BTC into account ‘bc1qcj,’ with the last transfer being 12 years ago.

However, the records in this screenshot do not align with the real ledger of Bitcoin transactions. Closer inspection of on-chain transactions on Arkham Intelligence shows there is no evidence of a single transfer of 10,000 BTC attributed to at least one known address linked to Nakamoto. 

The real data shows no outflow from Nakamoto’s wallets for over 12 years. Instead, small fractions of Bitcoin, almost negligible in the context of Satoshi’s holdings, have been flowing in. These tiny movements are likely dust or micro-transactions occurring as part of normal blockchain activity, with the last being an inflow of 0.0000329 six days ago.

Why The Rumor?

The identity and actions of Satoshi Nakamoto have always been a source of speculation among crypto investors. Nakamoto is the largest holder of Bitcoin, believed to have mined somewhere around 1 million Bitcoin in the early years of the network, but he has been quiet since April 2011. 

Therefore, any suggestion that those coins have suddenly started moving is enough to grab headlines and cause reactions. That context likely contributed to why this post attracted enough views quickly, even though the data was inaccurate. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows Nakamoto’s BTC wallets currently hold 1.096 million BTC, which are worth $84.3 billion.

Notably, Bitcoin’s price itself has been trending through significant volatility. Over the past few days, Bitcoin has dipped to levels near this cycle’s lows, trading around the mid-$70,000 range, close to the lowest levels since April 2025. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $76,872, having recently reached an intraday low of $74,591, according to data from CoinGecko.

Bitcoin’s (BTC) drop below $77,000 over the weekend did more than extend a sell-off, it stripped away lingering assumptions about stability in a market still driven by sentiment, leverage, and macro forces.

After briefly holding above $80,000, the world’s largest cryptocurrency slid as low as the mid-$74,000 range, marking its weakest level in around ten months and deepening a correction that has been unfolding since mid-January.

The move came amid broad risk-off conditions across global markets. Precious metals posted some of their sharpest declines in decades, equities opened lower across Asia, and the U.S. dollar strengthened following renewed focus on Federal Reserve policy and leadership.

$80,000 Bitcoin (BTC) Break Projects Fragile Support

The loss of the $80,000 level marked a psychological turning point.

CNBC host Jim Cramer, a longtime Bitcoin holder, described the breakdown as evidence of fragile support and narrative-driven price defense. He questioned why large holders and vocal advocates failed to step in around what he called a “line in the sand” between $80,000 and $82,000.

Bitcoin’s weekend volatility also revived doubts about its short-term reliability as a store of value. Prices swung sharply during thin trading hours, underscoring how quickly sentiment can shift when leveraged positions unwind.

Exchange margin hikes, particularly in futures markets, accelerated forced liquidations, creating a cascade that pushed prices lower across crypto assets.

Macro Pressure and Technical Weakness

Macroeconomic factors played a central role. Renewed concerns over a potential U.S. government shutdown, combined with the Federal Reserve’s pause on rate cuts and the nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair, backed expectations of tighter financial conditions.

Technically, Bitcoin remains under pressure. Indicators on daily and four-hour charts continue to favor bearish momentum, even as some oscillators suggest oversold conditions that could allow for short-lived rebounds.

The $76,000 area has emerged as near-term support, with a sustained break opening the door to deeper losses toward $74,000 or lower. On the upside, $80,000 remains the key resistance level that would need to be reclaimed to shift the short-term trend.

Bitcoin Still Sets the Market’s Direction

Despite years of talk about diversification within crypto, recent price action shows little has changed. Altcoins largely tracked Bitcoin’s decline, including tokens tied to revenue-generating protocols.

Data across multiple crypto indices show broad losses in line with BTC’s year-to-date drop, highlighting the market’s continued dependence on Bitcoin’s direction. Bitcoin’s slide below $77,000 serves as a reminder that the crypto market remains tightly linked to macro conditions, liquidity, and Bitcoin itself.

Cover image from ChatGPT, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

White House officials met on Monday with leaders from the crypto industry and major banking trade groups in an effort to ease a key regulatory dispute that has slowed progress on the long‑anticipated crypto market structure legislation, known as the CLARITY Act. 

The meeting focused on one of the most contentious issues holding up the bill: whether stablecoin issuers and related third parties should be allowed to offer yield or rewards on stablecoin holdings.

Stablecoin Rewards Debate

The discussion comes against the backdrop of intense lobbying from the banking sector. Banks have been pushing lawmakers to insert language into the CLARITY Act that would prohibit not only issuers, but also third parties, from providing rewards tied to stablecoins. 

The cryptocurrency industry, however, argues that such restrictions would tilt the playing field in favor of traditional financial institutions, which they say are increasingly concerned about competition from digital asset firms.

Additional details about the meeting were shared by Eleanor Terrett of Crypto In America, who cited sources familiar with the discussion. According to Terrett, the session lasted two hours and was described as constructive, with a balanced exchange around both the risks and potential benefits of stablecoin yield.

The meeting brought together a broad range of stakeholders. Representatives from major banking organizations, including the American Bankers Association, Bank Policy Institute, Financial Services Forum, Consumer Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Attendees also included Fidelity, PayPal, Paradigm, SoFi, Coinbase, Paxos, Crypto.com, Kraken, Ripple, and Tether, as well as advocacy groups like the Blockchain Association, Digital Chamber, and Crypto Council. Additional participants included Stripe, Galaxy Digital, Multicoin, Circle, and Cantor. 

Crypto And Banking Leaders Signal Progress 

Following the meeting, Cody Carbone, who heads the Digital Chamber and leads its crypto policy efforts, described the talks as a meaningful step forward. 

Carbone said the meeting represented “exactly the kind of progress needed to find a resolution to one of the biggest issues blocking next steps in market structure legislative progress.” 

The White House’s Crypto Council Executive Director, Patrick Witt, echoed that sentiment, thanking participants from both the crypto and banking industries for engaging in what he described as a fact‑based and solutions‑oriented conversation. 

Witt noted that policymakers and industry leaders have made progress in recent months on several policy challenges once thought to be unsolvable, and expressed confidence that the stablecoin rewards issue could also be resolved through continued dialogue.

The banking groups involved in the meeting also released a joint statement reinforcing their position. They stressed that any final legislation should continue to support local lending to families and small businesses, safeguard the stability of the financial system, and promote sustainable economic growth. 

Despite the apparent progress, the legislative path forward remains uncertain. It is still unclear whether the Senate Banking Committee will follow the lead of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which cleared a significant procedural hurdle last Thursday by approving its portion of the CLARITY Act during a scheduled markup.

Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com 

The debate regarding XRP and Bitcoin across the space has intensified after recent findings that disclose that the altcoin could rival BTC and its impact on the crypto and financial sector. Bitcoin may be the leading digital asset, but with the findings and analysts choosing XRP over BTC, the token might be set to surpass the flagship asset.

A Call For A Bitcoin To XRP Swap

A bold and controversial claim is making the headlines across the crypto community concerning XRP and Bitcoin, the largest digital asset. This new debate between the two leading assets stemmed from Crypto Dyl News after unveiling a compelling document about XRP rivaling BTC on the X platform.

The document contains emails from Jeffrey Epstein, one of the early founders of Bitcoin, confirming that the altcoin is a threat to BTC and its market reach. Due to the content of this document, the pundit has declared that this may be the “last chance” for investors to sell all of their Bitcoin while it’s worth anything and rotate into XRP. 

Even though these demands are far from unanimous and frequently provoke intense discussion, they typically emerge during periods of market transition, when uncertainty is high, and narratives fight for supremacy. Meanwhile, this bold has rekindled discussion about relative value, cycle timing, and potential future capital flows, regardless of whether it turns out to be prescient.

According to the pundit, Epstein’s emails confirmed that Jeffery Epstein felt threatened by the competition level from Ripple XRP and Stellar XLM. Ripple and Stellar, based on the document, are bad for the ecosystem they are building, and did their company (Bitcoin) damage to have investors who are backing two horses in the same race.

In the email, Epstein acknowledges that he is aware that Stellar and Ripple are fundamentally superior to BTC. “Bitcoin will never truly recover from this,” Crypto Dyl News stated. 

The company also went on to throw shade at Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the biggest BTC holder in the crypto space. Epstein literally called Saylor “a zombie on drugs with no personality.” This makes Stellar and Ripple look absolutely amazing compared to Bitcoin. Thus, Crypto Dyl News expresses pleasure in investing in the altcoin and believes BTC is not good.

Furthermore, Crypto Dyl News stressed that all of the Bitcoin maxis are spreading false information about the asset in the crypto community, as they were uneducated and followed speculations. The pundit has reiterated his warnings to investors, highlighted that BTC is not what XRP is, and this is their last chance to position themselves for the future shift.

More Gains Than BTC

On Sunday, XRP and Bitcoin saw a brief bounce, but the altcoin recorded higher gains than BTC. In a period of 24 hours, the altcoin’s price moved up by over 3.49%, while BTC witnessed a mere +33% rise.

Crypto Dyl News stated that players are starting to wake up and realize BTC was a fraud all along. As a result, the XRP is becoming the leader in providing the most real-world utility value.

According to a crypto analyst, the XRP price is currently trading at a critical support level that could determine its next move if it fails to hold it. The analyst has forecasted that XRP could extend its decline to new lows after its recent crash below $1.60. This prediction comes amid a widespread market downturn, with XRP and other major cryptocurrencies showing signs of weakness as prices continue to decline.

XRP Price Faces Another Crash If Key Support Breaks

Crypto market expert Scott Melker, also known as ‘The Wolf Of All Streets’ on X, has shared a bearish outlook for XRP’s price. The analyst stated that XRP is currently trading at a critical inflection point after an extended selloff that erased a large portion of its previous gains. He said this point was the last meaningful support on XRP’s weekly chart before a much deeper drop becomes likely. 

Melker called XRP’s current chart setup “crazy,” noting that the cryptocurrency is hovering right above a major air pocket around the $1.60 support area. According to him, a failure to hold this level could lead to an aggressive move lower as demand thins out below current prices.

The chart shows XRP losing momentum after rolling over from its post-breakout highs earlier in 2025, with the price slipping back below levels that had previously acted as dynamic support. Volume has also cooled compared to the explosive rally phase, suggesting that buyers are becoming more cautious as uncertainty grows and prices plummet. 

For traders, Melker noted that the support level offers one of the cleanest risk-to-reward setups currently available for XRP. If support holds, he believes that a bounce could develop quickly. However, if XRP breaks below $1.60, the downside could open up fast, making it easy for traders to cut losses and step aside. In essence, unless bulls can defend this key support level convincingly, the XRP price crash may not be over yet. 

Analyst Predicts XRP Price Top And Bottom

Pseudonymous crypto analyst ‘BRUH’ has also shared a bold prediction for XRP on X. According to his technical analysis, XRP could reach a price bottom between $1 and $1.20, signaling a prolonged period of subdued price action. With the cryptocurrency currently trading above $1.50, a drop to these levels would represent a decline of approximately 20%-35%. 

The analyst further noted that XRP is unlikely to experience a significant rally until 2028, the year of the next Bitcoin halving. When that upward momentum arrives, BRUH predicts that XRP could reach a price top between $8 and $10, offering substantial potential gains for long-term holders. Given recent price declines, this projected price top suggests investors may need to be patient and take a long-term approach to capitalize on XRP. 

XRP’s price action in recent days has been characterized by sustained downside pressure. At the time of writing, XRP is dangerously close to losing $1.5, after falling from higher levels in early January and failing to hold $1.6 as support. 

This poor price action coincides with discussions inside the XRP community. One of those discussions is a comment from crypto expert Jake Claver, who outlined why understanding what is happening beneath the surface could offer a meaningful advantage in XRP.

Most Are Still Missing The Bigger Picture

In a recent statement, Jake Claver noted that much of the traditional financial world is still unaware of the structural shift that’s quietly taking place among banks and financial institutions. According to him, Ripple’s technology should not be viewed as just another blockchain project. Instead, Ripple’s technology is an infrastructure that is being positioned to unlock trillions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen or operationally constrained. 

His view is that this disconnect between perception and reality is exactly where early advantage tends to form, especially before price fully reflects long-term utility. Claver went further by pointing directly to the adoption of XRP and XRPL by major banks and financial institutions. Systems are already being implemented around the XRP Ledger, which will eventually support the movement of real-world value at scale. 

The change will be massive when those assets begin flowing through these rails. This goes back to the prevailing sentiment among XRP enthusiasts that real-world adoption will send the cryptocurrency’s price trading above double and triple digits. As noted by Claver, everything will change permanently when these assets start flowing, and those who understand this now have an advantage for better gains.

XRP’s Bear Phase Is Nearing Its End

XRP is currently trading at $1.58, having recently reached an intraday low of $1.54. The outlook is now looking bearish. However, in a recent post on X, Bird, a DropCoin developer and prominent XRP community figure, noted that the XRP bear market is approaching its final stages. According to him, the next pump is close and will finally send the XRP price up and right.

Bird pointed to a cluster of macro and sentiment indicators that he believes offer an advantage to those paying attention early. He highlighted the Russell 2000 pushing into all-time-high territory, Bitcoin dominance showing signs of topping out, and precious metals like gold and silver losing upside momentum. 

XRP Price Chart. Source: @Bird_XRPL on X

On the sentiment side, he also referenced optimism from Ripple leadership (Chris Larsen and David Schwartz) on social media. These subtle shifts are lining up beneath the surface to create conditions where XRP could stabilize around $1.60 before attempting a larger recovery move. If that rotation materializes as expected, then a broader rally could eventually carry XRP back above the $3 level once momentum fully flips.