While Bitcoin remained relatively flat in the cryptocurrency market, some altcoins saw strong gains, prompting Santiment analysts to highlight the market’s capital rotation. Brian from Santiment stated that the failure of the Clarity Act to pass the US Senate and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike increased fear among investors, but the crypto market responded with greater resilience than expected.
According to Brian, a significant portion of the negative market sentiment revolves around the Clarity Act and the interest rate decision. Despite investors viewing these two developments as extremely negative for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin’s recovery after a limited pullback indicates that the market has largely absorbed the negative news flow.
Santiment analyst Brian noted that Bitcoin has shown greater resilience compared to traditional markets, particularly following the Fed’s decision. He pointed out that while the S&P 500 fell to its lowest levels in a month after the interest rate decision, Bitcoin did not experience a similarly strong sell-off.
However, Santiment’s on-chain data is giving a significant risk signal for Bitcoin. According to the data shared by Brian, large investor wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC have sold a total of approximately 57,600 BTC since August 5th. The increase in Bitcoin holdings by small investors during the same period suggests that large investors are selling during the price increase, while individual investors are entering the market after the price has risen.
Brian stated that this outlook warrants caution in the short to medium term, adding that a renewed accumulation by large wallets, described as whales and “sharks,” would create a more positive signal for the market. According to Santiment, the continued reduction in Bitcoin holdings by large investors and increased purchases by small investors makes the possibility of a pullback higher than usual.
In contrast to this picture on the Bitcoin side, the altcoin market is showing signs of capital rotation. According to Santiment data, some altcoins such as Zcash, Uniswap, and Hyperliquid have significantly outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum in the last week. Brian stated that the strong gains seen in many cryptocurrencies with mid- and low market caps, in contrast to the limited losses in Bitcoin and Ethereum, are a significant signal that capital is shifting towards altcoins.
Santiment also reported a significant increase in trading volumes for AI and big data-focused cryptocurrencies recently. Noting the strengthening of both trading volume and price movements in NEAR and some other AI-themed projects, Brian stated that if the altcoin rally continues in the second half of September, the AI and big data sector should be closely monitored.
Santiment interprets the activity in the Memecoin market differently. According to Brian, periods of peak Memecoin trading volume and speculative interest have often coincided with short-term market peaks in the past. Conversely, sharp declines in Memecoin interest have occasionally been observed near market lows. Therefore, Santiment tracks Memecoin activity as an inverse market indicator to gauge investor appetite.
Overall market sentiment has reportedly declined from strong optimism at the beginning of September to neutral levels. Brian stated that investor sentiment was quite positive during the period when expectations for the Clarity Act were high, but this optimism gradually diminished following developments in the Senate and the Fed’s interest rate decision.
According to a Santiment analyst, while it’s possible for Bitcoin to rise above $80,000 again and head towards the $85,000 level, the market may need new positive catalysts for this to happen.
*This is not investment advice.
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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) broke above $80,000 Friday, surging 6%, even as CoinShares warned of a difficult setup heading into year-end.
Why CoinShares Sees Two Headwinds Stacking UpCoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill wrote in a Friday note that two developments now weigh on Bitcoin into year-end.
Hawkish Fed Removing expected easing through 2027 from the dot plot matters more than the hike itself Supports the dollar and delays the liquidity conditions Bitcoin typically feeds on Iran’s ongoing conflict keeps energy prices elevated, raising odds of another hike this year Clarity Act failure Not a multi-year delay, in Butterfill’s view Stablecoin issuers now buy meaningful US government debt at elevated yields, keeping the bill bipartisan-relevant A revised version could return as early as next year The impact also lands unevenly. Bitcoin stays relatively insulated given its clearer regulatory footing, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and other altcoins carry more exposure since much of the stablecoin payment infrastructure runs on those networks.
Why Rate Policy Alone May Not Matter This MuchAs Benzinga reported Thursday, Grayscale’s Head of Research Zach Pandl offered a more measured read on the same rate hike, calling it a mid-cycle adjustment rather than a policy shift.
He compared it to the Greenspan Fed’s 1997 mid-cycle hike, after which the Nasdaq bull market kept running, and expects one or two more hikes in 2026 to have limited effect on capital allocation into digital assets.
Pandl also flagged that stablecoin issuers like Circle (NYSE:CRCL) and Tether (CRYPTO: USDT) actually benefit from higher rates through their Treasury and money market reserves, showing rate policy hits different corners of crypto differently rather than uniformly.
BTC Price Prediction: Key Levels to WatchBTC breaks sharply out of its descending triangle Friday, climbing to $80,804 in a move that clears both the falling trendline and the EMA cluster in one candle.
The MACD just turned bullish, crossing back above its signal line after weeks of fading momentum. The 20-day EMA at $77,217 has been reclaimed as support.
Key levels for BTC: $82,000 — September high and triangle origin, next major test $77,217 — 20-day EMA, must hold to keep momentum intact Read Next
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Bitcoin still commands strong institutional investor interest despite price tanking 50% during the multi-month crypto winter.
According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, the lifetime or cumulative, spot U.S. BTC ETF flows were currently at $55B, down from its peak of $62.8B (11% drop).
Incredible intestinal fortitude from the Boomers, given they saw a 50% drawdown. The reason this is the most important chart is that it excludes price appreciation, so it’s a pure measure of investor interest.
Source: Bloomberg The products debuted in early 2024; hence, the resilient cumulative flows two years later underscore long-term investor conviction.
However, prevalent macro and geopolitical factors have influenced the Spot BTC ETFs’ demand in the short and mid-term.
Will Bitcoin survive Fed, BoJ rate-hike cycle? Notably, the explosive 30% BTC recovery in Q3 was triggered by U.S. intervention to address rising bond yields. This further deepened the fiscal debt crisis, forcing a renewed debasement trade as Bitcoin and gold prices exploded.
But the persistent U.S-Iran tensions and oil-driven inflation fears emboldened the Fed to begin interest rate hikes again. As the market expected, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) also increased its interest rate to 1.25%, making a 31-year high.
Initially, this dampened risk appetite and stalled the BTC rally below $80K. Alongside the CLARITY Act setback, the asset briefly slipped below $75K mid-week. Overall, over the past two weeks, spot BTC ETFs bled close to $1B amid geopolitically driven inflation fears.
Source: SoSo Value However, as of writing, the asset was back to $78K, up over 4% from weekly lows of $74.9K. Notably, the Japanese Yen weakened after the BoJ hike, and crude oil prices also slipped by 1.6% to $100 from Tuesday’s $105 reading. This boosted the rebound.
Still, the Fed is expected to hike rates again with no cuts in 2027, further raising fears that it could derail BTC’s sustained recovery.
However, Grayscale’s Zach Pandl downplayed these rate hike fears, citing historical data (1997) and Nasdaq’s gains.
25 basis points hike and crypto is still green. Grayscale Research views this as a mid-cycle adjustment, not a cyclical shift, and expects little impact on crypto markets.
Source: Grayscale
For his part, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan projects that Bitcoin will extend its rally provided U.S. fiscal debt keeps rising. In other words, the asset price appreciation will be driven by the debasement trade.
That said, institutional players were expecting a sideways structure to the end of Q3, with top calls (bullish bets) concentrated at $80K and $82K levels. Also, there were puts (hedging) against a price decline to $73K and $75K (red bars).
Source: Arkham/Deribit Final Summary U.S. Spot BTC ETFs cumulative flows were at $55B, down slightly 11% from a peak of $62B Grayscale downplayed the Fed rate hike cycle fears, noting that it’s an adjustment, not a ‘cycle shift’
Bitcoin ripped 6% higher on September 18, crossing $81,000 after spending most of the week stuck in the $77,000-$78,000 range. The move came on the back of two catalysts that, individually, would have been notable. Together, they turned a sluggish week into something that felt a lot more like a breakout.
The first catalyst: the SEC announced a new exemption allowing certain platforms to facilitate on-chain trading of tokenized stocks. The second: West Texas Intermediate crude oil, which had been hovering above $106 per barrel, finally started pulling back, easing inflation anxiety that had been weighing on risk assets for weeks.
The SEC giveth, the Senate taketh away The SEC’s tokenized securities exemption landed on September 17, and the market wasted almost no time pricing it in. The decision opens a pathway for regulated platforms to offer traditional equities as blockchain-based tokens.
The timing is particularly interesting given what happened earlier in the week. The Senate’s Clarity Act, which would have established a broader regulatory framework for digital assets, failed to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to advance.
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So the scorecard for the week: Congress couldn’t get its act together on comprehensive crypto rules, but the SEC moved independently to open a significant new market. Investors apparently decided the latter mattered more than the former.
Oil prices and the inflation trade WTI had pushed above $106 per barrel in recent weeks, which kept inflation expectations elevated and gave the Fed cover for its recent rate hike. Higher energy costs feed into everything from transportation to manufacturing, making it harder for the central bank to justify easing policy.
When oil prices started retreating, it sent a signal that one of the most persistent sources of inflationary pressure might be loosening. For Bitcoin traders, that translates to a simple bet: if energy-driven inflation cools, the Fed has less reason to keep squeezing, and risk assets get more room to run.
ETF inflows and the liquidation cascade Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows of $154-$160 million on September 17, the day before the surge. That’s not an all-time record by any stretch, but it represents meaningful institutional demand flowing in at exactly the moment retail sentiment was tepid.
The real accelerant, though, was the derivatives market. Short liquidations during the rally exceeded $200-$250 million, meaning traders who had bet against Bitcoin got forced out of their positions as prices climbed. Each liquidation creates additional buying pressure, which pushes the price higher, which triggers more liquidations.
That level of short liquidation suggests a lot of traders were positioned for further downside after the Clarity Act failed. The Senate vote had created a bearish narrative, and plenty of derivatives traders leaned into it. The SEC exemption and oil price relief flipped the script faster than those positions could adjust.
What comes next The gap between Bitcoin’s mid-week price around $77,000-$78,000 and its surge past $81,000 represents roughly a $4,000 move in under 48 hours.
The ETF flow data over the next week will be telling. If the $154-$160 million inflow on September 17 was the start of a trend rather than a one-day blip, the rally has a structural foundation. If inflows dry up, the move above $81,000 starts looking more like a short squeeze than a genuine shift in positioning.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
The crypto market has just gone through a busy week, between American inflation, the Fed’s decision, and the vote on CLARITY. Bitcoin has nevertheless returned to levels it hadn’t reached for two weeks. After several sharp movements, buyers gradually took control again. The Senate’s rejection of the bill and the rate hikes by the Fed and then the BOJ did not prevent the market from restarting. The journey remains marked by high volatility and several rapid reversals.
In brief Bitcoin went through a week marked by American inflation and several sharp movements. The Senate’s rejection of the CLARITY bill caused a new market setback. The Fed’s 25 basis point hike did not prevent the price from quickly recovering. Bitcoin finally returned to its levels from two weeks ago despite the BOJ rate hike. A week opened under high tension Seven days earlier, the American CPI figures confirmed the persistence of inflation. The Federal Reserve then had the necessary elements to prepare its monetary decision of September 16. Expectations thus focused on a rate hike, while Bitcoin reacted strongly to the new economic data.
After the CPI publication, its price fell from $77,000 to $76,000. It then jumped sharply to $79,800 before suffering a marked rejection. One hour was enough to concentrate these opposing movements before calm returned over the weekend.
The market then traded around $77,000. However, this calm did not last long. On Monday, the price fell to $76,400, then buyers took control again, allowing Bitcoin to rise back to $79,600 before the vote on CLARITY.
The rejection of CLARITY causes a new setback The day before the vote, the market was closely following the evolution of the bill. The price had already left its highs when the Senate officially rejected the motion intended to advance the text. This announcement intensified the selling pressure.
Bitcoin then fell to $75,000, its lowest level in three weeks. Despite this new drop, buyers managed to defend this zone. The market maintained a base before the conclusion of the FOMC meeting.
The next day, the Fed raised its rates by 25 basis points. This decision came after more than three years without a hike, but Bitcoin did not experience a lasting negative reaction. Its price first slid to $75,000, then rose above $76,000 within minutes.
The BOJ rate hike does not prevent Bitcoin’s rebound Thursday, then especially Friday, the Bitcoin price continued its rise. The Bank of Japan nevertheless raised its rates by 25 basis points, bringing its level to a 31-year high. Despite this new monetary pressure, Bitcoin surpassed $78,000 during the session.
The movement accelerated with the opening of the American markets. The price reached $81,000, its highest level in two weeks. After this rise, the market stabilized Bitcoin around this peak.
Thus, BTC ends in the green after a succession of unfavorable events. This development occurs while altcoins are also experiencing strong fluctuations. ZEC continues its rise, while NEAR gains 35%. UNI advances more than 30%, notably followed by HYPE and BCH, while RAIN falls 22%.
In the short term, BTC thus approaches the next market phase after having resisted several major announcements. Its evolution will now depend on how operators digest these events and on the price’s ability to maintain the recently regained levels.
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Ghiles A.
Journaliste et rédacteur web passionné par l’univers des cryptomonnaies et des technologies Web3. J’y traite les dernières tendances et actualités afin de proposer un contenu de haute qualité à un large public du secteur.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
After the CLARITY Act's failure, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said that the Bitcoin rally can continue without congressional approval.
The failure of the CLARITY Act in the US Senate has been a major setback for the crypto industry. The outcome raised new questions about the future of regulation in the country and whether the setback could hurt Bitcoin and other digital assets.
But Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan believes the vote may not be enough to derail the broader crypto market rally.
Wall Street Isn’t Waiting Hougan said the CLARITY Act would have been useful for the industry. The legislation was designed to provide a clearer regulatory framework for digital assets. It also aimed to strengthen investor protections and create rules that could remain in place beyond the current administration. Despite this, the exec said Bitcoin’s latest rally did not depend on the bill’s chances of passing.
According to Hougan, Bitcoin bottomed at about $57,950 on July 1. It then climbed above $80,000 by September 4. During the same period, Polymarket odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law this year fell from 39% to 18%. The two trends moved in opposite directions. For Hougan, that suggests crypto investors were not waiting for Congress to provide regulatory clarity.
Wall Street has also continued moving into the sector. For instance, Robinhood has launched its own blockchain. Morgan Stanley has launched a Solana ETF. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, or DTCC, has also completed its first batch of tokenized stock settlements.
At the same time, US regulators have been working on rules outside Congress. In August, the SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets. This does not mean the loss of the CLARITY Act is unimportant. Agency rules can be changed by a future administration. Congress is also needed to give the CFTC broader authority over spot crypto markets.
Bitcoin fell after the Senate vote, which added short-term market pressure. But Hougan believes the setback is more of a speed bump than a roadblock.
You may also like: Could XRP Actually Flip Bitcoin? Former Ripple CTO Says Yes – But the Math Is Brutal Bitcoin Price Suddenly Rockets Past $80K Leaving $180M in Shorts Liquidated Seven Democrats Refuse to Give Up on CLARITY Act After Senate Setback “Crypto spent its first 17 years without core market legislation. Without Clarity, it has managed to go from a fringe idea to a $2.5 trillion asset class that’s reshaped everything from global payments to capital markets.”
Shift Back to Buying US-based Bitcoin ETFs returned to net inflows after two days of heavy withdrawals. The funds attracted more than $159 million on Thursday. BlackRock’s IBIT was the only ETF to report a net inflow. Interestingly, HYPE also recorded $4.25 million in inflows.
Ethereum ETFs, on the other hand, moved in the opposite direction after posting $39.2 million in net outflows. These investment vehicles extended their losing streak to three days. Market analyst Darkfost said the end of the week appears “calmer” for the ETF market.
TLDR: Bitcoin rebounded above $80K after regulatory, rate, and security fears pressured market sentiment. The Fed raised rates 25 bps to 3.75%-4.00%, adding fresh pressure to crypto risk assets. BTC faces key resistance at $82K-$84K, while $75K remains a critical support zone. A sustained move above $85K-$86K could shift attention toward the $88K-$95K range. Bitcoin has rebounded above $80,000 after three major fear narratives dominated crypto markets this week.
BTC now trades at $81,137.97, up 6.05% over 24 hours and 4.30% over seven days. Its 24-hour trading volume stands at $42.20 billion, according to the latest CoinGecko data.
The rebound follows heavy market pressure around U.S. crypto legislation, interest rates, and security incidents. Santiment Intelligence said these themes dominated crypto-related social discussions as Bitcoin fell toward the mid-$75,000 region.
BTC price on CoinGecko Bitcoin Price Rebound Follows a Wave of Market Fears The first major catalyst was the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15. The procedural vote on H.R. 3633 failed 49-50, leaving the legislation unable to move forward at that stage.
The setback added regulatory uncertainty for the crypto industry. However, Bitcoin’s subsequent recovery suggests traders absorbed the news without extending the sell-off indefinitely.
😨 Crypto spent the week digesting three dominant fear narratives.
📌 CLARITY Act disappointment, higher interest rates, and fresh hack/security concerns all surged across social channels while Bitcoin slid toward the mid-$75K area.
🏛️ The policy shocks were real. The Senate… pic.twitter.com/5vuy4iFkqq
— Santiment Intelligence (@SantimentData) September 18, 2026
Interest rates added another source of pressure one day later. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%-4.00% on September 16. The move marked a return to rate hikes after the previous increase in July 2023.
Higher rates can tighten financial conditions by increasing borrowing costs across markets. They can also reduce the appeal of riskier assets when safer yields become more attractive.
Security concerns further weighed on sentiment. Santiment pointed to the Symbiosis Bitcoin Bridge exploit and the Revolut breach involving personal information from crypto customers.
Despite those narratives, Bitcoin moved back above $80,000. Santiment suggested that larger buyers may have entered as fear became widespread.
That interpretation remains market analysis rather than confirmed evidence of specific buying activity.
What Bitcoin Price Action Suggests Around $80K? Bitcoin’s current structure remains closely tied to several technical levels identified by market analysts.
Crypto Patel described an 8-hour bullish flag, with $80,000 serving as the key breakout trigger. The analyst identified $82,250 and $98,000 as potential upside levels after confirmation.
The bearish setup begins below $75,000, according to Patel. A breakdown could expose Bitcoin to $71,000 and then $68,000.
Bitcoin Bullish Flag Pattern: Could $BTC Rally Toward $98,000 Next?
8H TECHNICAL STRUCTURE: #BTC Is Currently Trading Inside A Bullish Flag, A Classic Continuation Pattern Following The Previous Impulsive Move.
🟢 BULLISH SCENARIO: Break + 8H Close + Hold Above $80,000 → Flag… pic.twitter.com/8HVDDAWlLQ
— Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) September 18, 2026
KillaXBT presented a different risk-management approach around the same range. The analyst said a move toward $82,000-$84,000 could trigger a 50% hedge against a continuation long.
Killa also identified $85,000-$86,000 as an important area. A sustained reclaim could leave the $88,000-$95,000 region as the next area under consideration.
These levels represent individual trading frameworks rather than established market outcomes. Bitcoin’s next move, therefore, depends on whether price confirms a breakout or returns toward range support.
The broader mechanism is straightforward: negative headlines can accelerate selling, but that pressure can weaken once sellers become exhausted. Bitcoin’s move above $80,000 shows that sentiment can shift quickly when price absorbs adverse news without breaking key support.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday sent a proposal to the White House to regulate crypto transactions and markets.
It isn’t clear what the regulations will look like from the post on the Office of Management and Budget’s website. The proposal is titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets.”
The CFTC’s move comes after lawmakers blocked the long-awaited crypto legislation Clarity Act on Tuesday. Despite the law not advancing, both the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission have said they would go ahead with crypto rulemaking anyway.
CFTC Chair Mike Selig said on Wednesday that while the Clarity Act didn’t move forward, the watchdog would still help U.S. President Trump “get the job done” in regulating the crypto space.
“The outcome of yesterday’s Senate vote was unfortunate,” Selig wrote on X, adding that the CFTC was “locked in and ready to ship its rules for the new frontier of finance.”
Before the procedural vote on the legislation this week, Selig had said would proceed with rulemaking whether or not the Clarity Act is enacted — with the aim of finalizing rules before the administration’s term is out.
Senators last year approved Selig as the regulator’s chair. Formerly chief counsel at the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, Selig was described by White House’s Crypto and AI Tsar, David Sacks, as “instrumental in driving forward the President’s crypto agenda”
President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto space after regulators under the previous administration hit digital asset businesses with lawsuits — mostly for allegedly selling unregistered securities.
Since Trump became president, the SEC and CFTC have taken a much friendlier approach to watchdogging the space.
The CFTC isn’t the only regulator going ahead with rulemaking: the SEC earlier this week approved tokenized stocks trading. In August, it also proposed its own framework for crypto asset offerings, pressing ahead while the landmark legislation stalled.
President Trump last month urged lawmakers to pass the Clarity Act, calling the legislation “very powerful” — but Republicans said that Democrats were deliberately holding it back.
Democrats mainly took issue with the ethics side of the bill. Trump received backing from major industry players while campaigning and since becoming president, his family has made money from digital asset ventures.
Some lawmakers have alleged conflicts of interest. The White House has always denied any wrongdoing.
A new draft of the bill started circulating in July tackling the issue of ethics and banning officials from making money from crypto. But some Democrats said it didn’t go far enough.
The Clarity Act wants to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins.
Mathew Di Salvo
Mathew is a reporter who's covered the space since 2019, reporting on everything from Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele's Bitcoin bet to crypto exchange FTX's bankruptcy.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) faces a potential long-term threat from quantum computing, but the developer community already recognizes the risk and has potential solutions, according to VanEck digital assets research head Matthew Sigel.
Can Bitcoin Beat Quantum Risk?Sigel told CNBC in an interview on Thursday that concerns about increasingly powerful computing systems breaking existing cryptography represent a legitimate risk for Bitcoin.
"Yes, it’s a risk," Sigel said, adding that the Bitcoin community has already "recognized the scope of the issue."
Developers and researchers are working toward a framework for upgrading the network, but the challenge is that Bitcoin’s decentralized governance can make major upgrades slower than changes at a conventional technology company.
Sigel said Bitcoin upgrades move slowly because its decentralized governance lacks a CEO directing developers.
Still, he noted that technological paths do exist to make Bitcoin quantum resistant.
Why BTC Leverage Looks DifferentSigel also pushed back against concerns that the crypto market currently faces the same hidden leverage risks that contributed to the failures of FTX, Genesis, BlockFi and Celsius during the previous cycle.
He said much of today’s leverage is more visible, including futures exposure through the CME and debt issued by public companies through regulated U.S. capital markets.
Current leverage doesn’t present a systemic risk, Sigel said.
Image: Shutterstock
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Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, stated that Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could eventually grow to three times the size of the gold ETF market. Specifically, he projected that Bitcoin ETF assets under management (AUM) could hit $300 billion to $400 billion in the long term, citing demographic shifts, increasing institutional interest, and the asset’s continued maturity.
Comparison with Gold ETFsGold ETFs have long been a preferred vehicle for investors seeking exposure to gold as a store of value, with significant backing from institutional investors. Balchunas argued that Bitcoin is beginning to fulfill a similar role, particularly among younger generations, who increasingly view Bitcoin as a store of value much like older investors have viewed gold.
He explained that while gold has thousands of years of history and significant acceptance, Bitcoin’s younger investor base and higher enthusiasm levels could drive the digital asset’s ETF market far beyond that of gold.
Balchunas commented, “I think as the younger investors get more money and grow up with Bitcoin as their quote-unquote store of value, I do believe the Bitcoin ETFs will triple gold in assets.”
Currently, gold is less volatile and remains deeply entrenched among institutional investors. Despite these advantages, Balchunas sees strong momentum for Bitcoin ETFs due to broader participation and a powerful marketing advantage.
AssetCurrent AgeHistorical UseVolatilityPotential AUM (Longterm)Gold~5,000 yearsEstablished store of valueLowEstimated $100-130 billionBitcoin17 yearsEmerging digital assetHigh (declining over time)$300-400 billion (projected)Market Dynamics and Institutional AdoptionBalchunas identified several drivers that could support this large-scale shift in investment. First, he pointed out that Bitcoin’s investor base skews much younger than gold’s. Second, he expressed confidence that as volatility and the correlation with technology stocks decreases, larger financial institutions would be more likely to make significant allocations to the asset. Third, he described the marketing momentum and community enthusiasm surrounding Bitcoin as outpacing that of gold ETFs.
On this point, Balchunas noted, “There’s way more enthusiasm and sales firepower,” highlighting the advantage Bitcoin ETFs have in attracting new capital.
Despite his bullish outlook, Balchunas admitted that Bitcoin still faces major hurdles. Gold’s millennia-long history and reputation as a stable, valuable commodity continue to favor it among traditional players. Bitcoin’s relatively high price swings make it less appealing to cautious institutional investors at present.
He likened Bitcoin’s current phase to adolescence when compared with gold, explaining, “Bitcoin is like gold as a teenager. Gold is 5,000 years old. It was mentioned 450 times in the Bible, for Christ’s sake. I mean, that’s old. And Bitcoin is 17 years old.”
He emphasized that volatility remains the primary concern for most institutional portfolio managers, referencing industry surveys from ETF issuers that consistently indicate this hesitancy.
Balchunas explained that most major investors consider volatility as the main obstacle preventing larger Bitcoin allocations, but he argued that as the asset matures and more institutions become involved, a major shift in attitude may follow.
In his view, a major turning point could arrive when large-scale institutions begin to see Bitcoin as a reliable store of value or a viable portfolio diversifier, further boosting ETF assets under management.
Mini dictionary: Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, specializes in exchange-traded funds and frequently provides insights on ETF trends, market flows, and institutional adoption in both traditional and digital asset markets.
Strive, Inc. has added 469 Bitcoin to its treasury over a four-day stretch, spending approximately $36.6 million at an average price of $77,954 per coin. The purchase, executed between September 8 and 11, pushes the Nasdaq-listed asset management firm’s total Bitcoin stash to a clean 25,000 BTC, worth roughly $1.95 billion at current prices.
The entire acquisition was funded through issuances of the company’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock, trading under the ticker SATA. No common shares were diluted in the process.
How the SATA mechanism works Investors buy preferred stock at $100 per share, and Strive takes those proceeds straight to the Bitcoin market. In return, SATA holders receive a roughly 13% annualized variable dividend, paid out daily on business days.
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There has been enough demand to push the total notional value of outstanding SATA shares past $1.04 billion. The latest round alone brought in approximately $40.3 million in new preferred stock capital.
One metric worth watching: Strive’s amplification ratio, which measures the notional preferred equity and debt relative to Bitcoin net asset value, now sits at 53.5%.
From asset manager to Bitcoin powerhouse Strive’s transformation into a Bitcoin treasury company has been remarkably fast. The firm, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, was originally known for its asset management business. The pivot toward Bitcoin accumulation accelerated dramatically after Strive completed its merger with Semler Scientific in January 2026.
That merger brought 5,048 BTC onto Strive’s balance sheet in one stroke. Since then, the company has been steadily stacking through preferred stock issuances.
With 25,000 BTC now in the vault, Strive has climbed to become the fifth-largest public Bitcoin holder globally. The company trails only the handful of firms that have been in the accumulation game far longer, most notably MicroStrategy (now Strategy), which pioneered the corporate Bitcoin treasury playbook back in 2020.
For context, 25,000 BTC represents roughly 0.119% of Bitcoin’s total 21 million coin supply.
What this signals for corporate Bitcoin strategies For investors in Strive’s common stock (ASST), the math is relatively straightforward. Every Bitcoin purchased with preferred stock proceeds adds to the net asset value backing their shares, while the dividend obligation on SATA reduces future cash flows. As long as Bitcoin’s price appreciation outpaces the 13% annual dividend cost, common shareholders benefit.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Saudi Aramco has notified at least two European refining customers that they will not receive crude oil shipments in October, following significant damage to Saudi Arabia’s main East-West pipeline. The development comes as gold prices advanced and oil prices retreated, with investors focusing on the latest geopolitical and financial shifts in the Middle East and beyond.
Saudi crude shipments disruptedAramco’s decision to suspend October deliveries for some European refiners marks a break from its usual supply contracts, which typically allocate Saudi crude on a monthly basis. The move follows a drone attack on September 10 that damaged pumping infrastructure on the kingdom’s 1,200-kilometre East-West pipeline, which has the capacity to transport up to 7 million barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia’s eastern fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Reuters reported that three pumping stations on the pipeline were damaged, one more than previously assessed. Saudi officials are aiming to restore around half of the pipeline’s capacity within days, but full repairs could take several weeks or more.
European refiners are now seeking alternative supplies, including increased volumes from the North Sea. Poland’s Orlen, which sources approximately 40% of its crude feedstock for its three refineries from Saudi Arabia, has issued over 10 tenders for replacement cargoes since last Friday.
European buyers relying on Aramco contracts will not receive Saudi oil shipments in October, with refiners accelerating efforts to secure crude from other sources due to the pipeline outage.
Commodities market reactsBrent crude prices fell 1.56% to $103.19 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate declined 2.17% to $99.7, as concerns about supply disruption eased for the time being. Saudi Arabia has rerouted some exports through the Strait of Hormuz, though that route remains disrupted, with only four commodities vessels passing through on Thursday compared to a recent 10-day average of about 16, according to shipping data.
Meanwhile, the physical market for oil remains under pressure. Some European cargoes are reportedly trading above $130 per barrel, with North Sea Forties crude reaching $136.75.
Gold prices rose to a one-week peak, with spot gold at $4,378.49 an ounce, up 0.88%. US gold futures settled 0.45% higher at $4,419.40. Other precious metals also advanced, with silver gaining 2.3%, platinum up 2.2%, and palladium rising 1.5%.
Despite a stronger dollar and higher US interest rates, which generally make precious metals less attractive, gold and other metals held firm amid investor uncertainty and adjustments to inflation expectations.
Bitcoin surges as regulatory landscape shiftsBitcoin registered a 6% jump on September 18, briefly reaching $81,000 after trading near $77,000 most of the week. The rally aligned with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s announcement of a five-year exemption that enables specific platforms to offer on-chain trading for tokenized stocks under certain conditions. These tokenized securities must provide the same rights as traditional shares to their holders, and the decision offers a clearer regulatory framework for platforms targeting this emerging market.
The recent Senate failure to move forward with the CLARITY Act had left digital asset regulation in limbo, making the SEC’s action particularly relevant for market participants. Bitcoin’s upward move was also supported by the decline in oil prices, which tempered inflation risks and improved investor sentiment towards risk assets.
In fast-moving markets where policy changes and asset listings can instantly reshape trading conditions, the complexity and fragmentation of platforms for tracking portfolios, news, and technical data present operational risks for traders. Many market participants now seek to consolidate their data sources for improved decision-making. Privacy-focused tools such as CryptoAppsy enable investors to access live charts, price alerts, news, and macroeconomic data all in one place, without the requirement to register or create an account.
Investors who hopped into last year’s crypto boom are now turning up the pressure on digital-asset treasury (DAT) firms. In fact, both retail and institutional shareholders are now demanding greater accountability after losses across the sector reached roughly $50 billion.
According to Bloomberg, investors initially bought their shares because they expected the companies’ crypto holdings to rise in value. Along with this, they also expected that the stocks could sometimes trade at a premium to the value of the crypto they owned.
However, now that crypto prices and these stocks have fallen sharply, shareholders are questioning whether management is using their money effectively.
How an year changed the course of things? In this shift, retail investors are becoming more vocal online, while institutional investors are pushing for changes through shareholder votes, takeover proposals, and challenges to compensation plans.
Here it’s important to note that the roughly $50 billion in cumulative losses mentioned is actually the decline in the value of these publicly traded treasury companies. And not $50 billion that shareholders necessarily lost in one particular event.
In this, the concerning part according to Artemis is that publicly listed DATs whose main treasury strategy focused on Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] have a combined fully diluted market value of around $90 billion. In other words, it’s now about 40% below the sector’s previous peak.
Shockingly, this figure excludes companies whose main treasury strategy revolves around smaller altcoins such as Solana [SOL].
Solana DAT’s downfall Yet despite the exclusion, Sky AI, formerly Sharps Technology, is a key example of the growing scrutiny around crypto treasury firms. After raising more than $400 million to build a Solana treasury, its stock has now fallen nearly 90% since August 2025.
Forward Industries, another Solana DAT, previously attempted to acquire SkyAI and is now opposing its proposed 7.2% equity allocation for about 30 employees, worth roughly $4 million at current prices.
Additionally, Investors are also questioning Sky AI’s warrants, including those granted to a strategic advisor with an estimated $101.3 million accounting fair value.
Bitcoin: Strategy’s good luck That said, Metaplanet faced similar backlash after its stock fell about 84% from its June 2025 peak, with retail investors criticizing its incentive structure and potential dilution from warrants. This comes after the company subsequently canceled certain warrants reportedly worth around $220 million.
While all this was happening, Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which also lost its momentum a while back, saw a completely different ball game. Recently, the largest BTC DAT repurchased $139 million of STRC preferred stock. This pushed its Bitcoin holdings to reach 845,050 BTC, worth $65.83 billion, alongside $6.4 billion in USD assets, strengthening its liquidity position.
Final Summary $50 billion in cumulative losses is actually the decline in the value of these publicly traded treasury companies. Companies whose main treasury strategy did not revolve just around Bitcoin and Ethereum also faced similar downfalls.
Bitcoin regained momentum above $80,000, trading at $81,138 after a turbulent week marked by rising regulatory uncertainties, higher interest rates, and fresh security incidents impacting market confidence.
Senate setback leaves crypto regulation in limboLast week, the United States Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to provide clearer guidelines for the cryptocurrency industry. The procedural vote on H.R. 3633 ended with a split decision, 49-50, preventing the bill from moving forward.
This outcome reintroduced regulatory uncertainty for digital asset markets amid growing calls for comprehensive oversight. Market participants watched closely to assess whether the setback would trigger broader selling across major coins. While Bitcoin initially slid toward the mid-$75,000 range, selling pressure later faded as uncertainty was gradually absorbed by the market.
Crypto observers identified three central themes: the setback in regulatory clarity, expectations of rising interest rates, and ongoing worries about security. These factors combined to dominate market sentiment and social media discussions as Bitcoin retreated to mid-$75,000, yet a sharp rebound above $80,000 indicated resilience among buyers.
Federal Reserve rate hike adds new pressureThe Federal Reserve raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75% to 4.00%. This was the first incremental increase since July 2023 and signaled a renewed focus on tackling inflation. Analysts said higher rates could pressure crypto and other risk assets by tightening liquidity and offering investors more attractive yields in traditional instruments.
Market data from CoinGecko showed daily trading volume for Bitcoin at $42.20 billion. Bitcoin notched a 6.05% gain over 24 hours and a 4.3% rise for the week, underlining the asset’s volatile reaction to macroeconomic developments.
Santiment Intelligence, a cryptocurrency analytics firm, reported that the convergence of rate hikes and policy setbacks drove substantial social chatter in trading communities.
Beyond regulatory uncertainty and macroeconomic shifts, several security-related incidents further clouded sentiment. The Symbiosis Bitcoin Bridge exploit allowed attackers to generate $46 billion in fake syBTC tokens, resulting in losses totaling $336,000. Separately, digital bank Revolut experienced a breach exposing sensitive customer information linked to their crypto services.
Mini dictionary: Symbiosis Bitcoin Bridge, a decentralized protocol that enables the transfer of Bitcoin and other assets across blockchains. Exploits on such bridges can result in the creation of fraudulent tokens and substantial financial losses for protocol users.
After a sharp drop, market analysts noted that large traders may have stepped in as prevailing fear reached extreme levels, contributing to Bitcoin’s recovery above $80,000. However, these inferences are based on market analysis rather than confirmed evidence of institutional buying.
Analysts highlight Bitcoin’s key technical levelsTechnical analysts pointed to several critical price areas shaping Bitcoin’s short-term outlook. Crypto Patel highlighted an 8-hour bullish flag chart pattern, noting that a breakout and close above $80,000 could pave the way for a run toward $82,250 and potentially $98,000. Conversely, Patel warned that a failure to maintain support above $75,000 could send Bitcoin to $71,000 or lower.
Another prominent trader, KillaXBT, suggested hedging exposure around $82,000 to $84,000, expressing caution toward further upside without consolidation. KillaXBT identified $85,000 to $86,000 as a pivotal resistance area; a sustained move above this could trigger a shift in focus to the $88,000–$95,000 range.
Key levelEvent/ActionTarget/Range$75,000Support breakdown$71,000–$68,000$80,000Bullish flag breakout$82,250–$98,000$82,000–$84,000Potential hedge/ResistanceIntermediate range$85,000–$86,000Sustained move required$88,000–$95,000Analysts agreed that these levels reflect individual trading strategies rather than fixed paths for the market. Bitcoin’s direction likely depends on whether price stabilizes above $80,000 or faces renewed selling driven by adverse headlines and economic risks. The recent price action suggests that negative news can accelerate declines, but a positive reversal may follow when sellers diminish and capital flows shift back into the market.
This illustration photograph taken on November 22, 2024 in Istanbul shows a coin imitation of the Bitcoin crypto currency arranged beside a screen displaying a trading chart. Most markets gained Friday after a bounce on Wall Street, while bitcoin continued its march higher to move within touching distance of the $100,000 mark. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
“The industry doesn’t need Congress,” Dan Morehead, founder and managing partner of Pantera Capital, said on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning, with bitcoin trading just under $78,000. By the time Wall Street opened it was above $80,000 for the first time since Sept. 7, up 5% on the day and 7% from the low it printed on Tuesday night after the Senate refused to advance the Clarity Act.
The sequence matters. On Tuesday the Senate rejected cloture on the market-structure bill 49-50. On Wednesday the Federal Reserve raised rates a quarter point to 3.75% to 4%, its first hike since July 2023, and $746 million left the spot bitcoin ETFs in two sessions. On Thursday the Securities and Exchange Commission published its innovation exemption for tokenized stock trading and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sent a rulemaking titled “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets” to the White House for review. On Friday bitcoin traded at $80,860 at 17:19 UTC, according to CoinGecko, Solana was up 10% and Hyperliquid’s HYPE token set a record at $92.56.
‘Enacting all of the things’The CFTC filing is the fresh piece. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the White House unit that reviews federal rules before publication, lists it as received on Sept. 17 under RIN 3038-AF80 at the “prerule” stage, which means the document the public will see first is a step before a formal proposal, such as an advance notice or a request for comment. The CFTC declined to comment on the details to The Block.
Morehead’s argument is that the agencies are doing what the Senate would not. “The SEC and the CFTC are enacting all of the things that would have been in Clarity anyway,” he said. “And so on a practical level, it shouldn’t make a big difference.”
Alex Cutler, co-founder of the decentralized exchange Aerodrome, described the same shift in an interview on Thursday. “Until we get something like Clarity, it is the job of the regulators at the SEC and CFTC to look at the existing laws on the books and try to interpret them and apply them to an emergent new technology,” Cutler said. What changed was the people running those agencies: “in a shift in guard at the CFTC and SEC they are now using their interpretation of existing laws I think to ensure that these types of things can happen and can happen on chain.”
Kevin O’Leary, the O’Leary Ventures chairman, told The Block at the Avalanche Summit in New York this week that he does not expect the Clarity Act to pass before the midterms, but that lawmakers writing tax rules for digital assets will bring regulation back to the agenda. “If you’re going to provide a tax policy on this asset, you want more regulation, not less,” he said. Polymarket traders put the odds of the act being signed this year at 8% on Friday, up from 4.6% in the hour after the vote.
‘Back into a bullish regime’The on-chain read turned before the price did. At 10:11 UTC on Friday, with bitcoin near $78,000, Glassnode posted that the coin had reclaimed its True Market Mean, the average price paid for coins bought on secondary markets, which put it “back into a bullish regime,” the firm wrote. “Next major overhead is the corporate treasury cost basis around $80k and finally the ETF cost basis at $85k.” Four hours later the first of those was gone, with about $250 million of shorts liquidated across crypto, according to Coinglass data cited by Cointelegraph.
The fund flows had already flipped. Spot bitcoin ETFs took in a net $159.5 million on Thursday, with BlackRock’s IBIT alone adding $183.7 million, according to Farside Investors data cited by Coinpaper. The three days since the vote still net out at $586.8 million of outflows, but the direction changed on the day the agencies moved.
JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote this week that short interest in IBIT sits close to its highest level of the year, and that a reduction in that hedging “could create more support for bitcoin vs gold from here,” The Block reported. Those shorts are what a 5% day runs over.
‘The Fed is still way behind’The rally came with the odds of another hike rising, not falling. Polymarket’s October contract priced a quarter-point increase at 55.5% on Friday, up from 46.5% on Thursday. Morehead reads that as the point: “I think people are bullish on Bitcoin because the Fed is still way behind. The Fed has created 30% inflation in this decade already,” he said. “They’re still accommodative and that’s great for Bitcoin. Rates should be much higher than they are today.”
Crypto skeptics remain skeptical. “If something moves 8% in an afternoon on one sentence from a central banker, it isn’t hedging inflation. It’s taking a position on it” commented Mike Law, a property broker at Coulee Land Company.
Others are less sure the week adds up. “Markets are trading suspiciously well after the double whammy of Clarity Act failure and Warsh’s hawkish hike on Wednesday,” Jeff Anderson, head of U.S. at STS Digital, wrote in a note on Thursday, according to The Block.
Zach Pandl, Grayscale’s head of research, described the pattern a week before the vote. “When price in an asset class, whether it’s crypto or anything else, stops going down on bad news, that’s usually a sign that it’s oversold,” he said on Cointelegraph’s Trade Secrets show, published Sept. 11, arguing that the $58,000 low in June was the bottom. In August Glassnode had warned that a break of $58,500 would open a deeper fall, and Polymarket traders were pricing $80,000 as a year-end target.
Glassnode’s next line sits at $85,000, the average price the ETF buyers paid. O’Leary is positioning for the attempt. “I’m back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle,” he said.
In brief XRP jumped 6.93% on the day, opening at $1.2964 and topping out at $1.4028 before settling near $1.3863—one of its sharpest single-day moves in weeks. The gap between XRP's 50-day and 200-day EMAs on the daily chart has narrowed to its tightest point since August 2024, and a golden cross could form as soon as mid-October if the current pace holds. That same crossover already happened on the noisier 4-hour chart back on August 21—but the gap has been closing instead of widening since then, a warning sign the daily golden cross isn't a lock. Crypto traders are breathing a little easier today. After a rough stretch defined by a Federal Reserve rate hike, the Senate's 49-50 vote against advancing the Clarity Act, and a surprise rate hike from the Bank of Japan, Bitcoin has clawed its way back above $80,000.
That recovery is showing up clearest in the altcoin space: Bitcoin's dominance, or its share of total crypto market value, slipped from 64% to 59%, a sign that traders are rotating profits into smaller tokens.
Myriad: Where does XRP go next? Click to make your prediction.XRP, the cryptocurrency created by the co-founders of payments company Ripple, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of that rotation.
XRP opened the day at $1.2964 and pushed as high as $1.4028 before settling near $1.3863, a gain of 6.93% on the daily candle and one of its sharpest single-day moves in weeks.
The bigger story is what's happening under the hood. XRP's daily chart still shows its 50-day exponential moving average, or EMA, trading below its 200-day EMA—the bearish setup chart watchers call a "death cross" structure. The pattern is considered bearish because it signals to traders that holding the asset in the short-term is worse than trading it.
But the gap between the averages has narrowed sharply. So much that it’s the tightest gap since XRP's last golden cross in August 2024.
A golden cross, the opposite of a death cross, happens when the shorter-term average crosses above the longer-term one, and traders widely read it as a signal that bullish momentum has real staying power rather than being just a short-term squeeze. If today's pace of gains holds, that crossover could show up on the daily chart as soon as mid-October.
There's a wrinkle, though. On the noisier 4-hour chart, XRP's EMAs already flipped into a golden cross back on August 21. But instead of that gap widening the way a healthy breakout usually plays out, it's been closing again.
A crossover that fails to hold on a shorter timeframe doesn't guarantee the same setup confirms on the daily chart. Even if usually shorter timeframes set the pace for what analysis will see on longer time frames, some experts believe this is not something that should be taken into consideration and each time frame should be studied independently.
The rest of the indicator board in the daily charts is more encouraging. The Average Directional Index, or ADX, measures how strong a trend is regardless of direction. For XRP, it’s currently at 35.2—comfortably above the 25 level traders use as the line between a real trend and aimless chop, with the positive directional line (DI+) currently running above the negative one (DI-), meaning that strength is pointing higher.
The Relative Strength Index, or RSI, sits at 54.6, squarely in neutral territory—a healthy reading for a coin that just posted a near-7% daily gain, since it means XRP isn't flashing overbought yet and still has room to run before profit-taking becomes a real risk.
XRP's Squeeze Momentum Indicator has also been flashing "on" for 11 straight bars, a sign volatility has been compressing, which traders generally read as a setup for a bigger move once it releases.
The momentum reading inside that squeeze has been climbing back toward positive territory, hinting the next move is more likely up than down, but its not guaranteed considering the longer timeframe.
The macro backdrop has helped too. Even with the Clarity Act stalling out in the Senate this week, Bitcoin absorbed the news without giving up ground, holding its range and dragging sentiment across the board higher as the week wraps up.
That kind of resilience from Bitcoin, combined with capital rotating into altcoins, is exactly the kind of tailwind XRP needs if it's going to keep closing the gap between its moving averages.
Traders will be watching two things over the coming weeks: whether Bitcoin's rebound holds up enough for the altcoin rotation to keep going, and whether XRP's 50-day EMA can actually climb above its 200-day counterpart on the daily chart.
A confirmed golden cross around mid-October, paired with ADX holding above 25, would go a long way toward validating the current bounce. A failure to hold the $1.38 golden zone, on the other hand, would raise the odds that this is just another squeeze that fizzles out before the crossover ever confirms.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
In brief XRP jumped 6.93% on the day, opening at $1.2964 and topping out at $1.4028 before settling near $1.3863—one of its sharpest single-day moves in weeks. The gap between XRP's 50-day and 200-day EMAs on the daily chart has narrowed to its tightest point since August 2024, and a golden cross could form as soon as mid-October if the current pace holds. That same crossover already happened on the noisier 4-hour chart back on August 21—but the gap has been closing instead of widening since then, a warning sign the daily golden cross isn't a lock. Crypto traders are breathing a little easier today. After a rough stretch defined by a Federal Reserve rate hike, the Senate's 49-50 vote against advancing the Clarity Act, and a surprise rate hike from the Bank of Japan, Bitcoin has clawed its way back above $80,000.
That recovery is showing up clearest in the altcoin space: Bitcoin's dominance, or its share of total crypto market value, slipped from 64% to 59%, a sign that traders are rotating profits into smaller tokens.
Myriad: Where does XRP go next? Click to make your prediction.XRP, the cryptocurrency created by the co-founders of payments company Ripple, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of that rotation.
XRP opened the day at $1.2964 and pushed as high as $1.4028 before settling near $1.3863, a gain of 6.93% on the daily candle and one of its sharpest single-day moves in weeks.
The bigger story is what's happening under the hood. XRP's daily chart still shows its 50-day exponential moving average, or EMA, trading below its 200-day EMA—the bearish setup chart watchers call a "death cross" structure. The pattern is considered bearish because it signals to traders that holding the asset in the short-term is worse than trading it.
But the gap between the averages has narrowed sharply. So much that it’s the tightest gap since XRP's last golden cross in August 2024.
A golden cross, the opposite of a death cross, happens when the shorter-term average crosses above the longer-term one, and traders widely read it as a signal that bullish momentum has real staying power rather than being just a short-term squeeze. If today's pace of gains holds, that crossover could show up on the daily chart as soon as mid-October.
There's a wrinkle, though. On the noisier 4-hour chart, XRP's EMAs already flipped into a golden cross back on August 21. But instead of that gap widening the way a healthy breakout usually plays out, it's been closing again.
A crossover that fails to hold on a shorter timeframe doesn't guarantee the same setup confirms on the daily chart. Even if usually shorter timeframes set the pace for what analysis will see on longer time frames, some experts believe this is not something that should be taken into consideration and each time frame should be studied independently.
The rest of the indicator board in the daily charts is more encouraging. The Average Directional Index, or ADX, measures how strong a trend is regardless of direction. For XRP, it’s currently at 35.2—comfortably above the 25 level traders use as the line between a real trend and aimless chop, with the positive directional line (DI+) currently running above the negative one (DI-), meaning that strength is pointing higher.
The Relative Strength Index, or RSI, sits at 54.6, squarely in neutral territory—a healthy reading for a coin that just posted a near-7% daily gain, since it means XRP isn't flashing overbought yet and still has room to run before profit-taking becomes a real risk.
XRP's Squeeze Momentum Indicator has also been flashing "on" for 11 straight bars, a sign volatility has been compressing, which traders generally read as a setup for a bigger move once it releases.
The momentum reading inside that squeeze has been climbing back toward positive territory, hinting the next move is more likely up than down, but its not guaranteed considering the longer timeframe.
The macro backdrop has helped too. Even with the Clarity Act stalling out in the Senate this week, Bitcoin absorbed the news without giving up ground, holding its range and dragging sentiment across the board higher as the week wraps up.
That kind of resilience from Bitcoin, combined with capital rotating into altcoins, is exactly the kind of tailwind XRP needs if it's going to keep closing the gap between its moving averages.
Traders will be watching two things over the coming weeks: whether Bitcoin's rebound holds up enough for the altcoin rotation to keep going, and whether XRP's 50-day EMA can actually climb above its 200-day counterpart on the daily chart.
A confirmed golden cross around mid-October, paired with ADX holding above 25, would go a long way toward validating the current bounce. A failure to hold the $1.38 golden zone, on the other hand, would raise the odds that this is just another squeeze that fizzles out before the crossover ever confirms.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has reclaimed $80,000 as Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) and XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) shot up 4%
Market commentator Bull Theory posted on X that over $170 million in shorts were liquidated in just 60 minutes and $130 billion added to the total crypto market cap in 24 hours.
The Wolf of All Streets podcast host Scott Melker said Bitcoin holding at $78,000 through a rate hike and the CLARITY Act’s defeat was itself the signal to watch.
“Bitcoin’s up 32% this quarter and nobody’s even paying attention,” Melker wrote, pointing to exchange collapses and heavy selling that failed to move price lower.
“I told you in my opinion that we had likely bottomed because bad news stopped mattering,” he added.
Meanwhile, popular market commentator Ash Crypto pointed out that the Fed will inject $16.5 billion into the economy starting Friday, with liquidity hitting markets over three consecutive weeks.
Under the New York Fed’s schedule, the central bank plans roughly $15.6 billion in Treasury bill purchases between Sept. 15 and Oct. 14, split across five operations.
The first settled Sept. 18, with the rest continuing through mid-October.
It is worth noting these are reinvestment purchases, not new quantitative easing. The buys replace principal payments from maturing agency debt and mortgage-backed securities rather than expanding the Fed’s balance sheet outright.
BTC, ETH, XRP Price Analysis: Key Levels to WatchBitcoin broke decisively above its descending triangle resistance Friday, with the 20-day EMA reclaimed as support and the path now open toward a retest of the $82,000 September high.
XRP bounces sharply off the support zone that has held since the late-August breakout from $1. The SAR sitting above price means the trend needs a clean break above $1.47 to confirm a full flip back to bullish.
Meanwhile, Ethereum pushes into the 0.5 to 0.618 Fibonacci retracement zone from its October 2025 to January 2026 decline. A weekly close above $2,672 opens the path toward $2,950 to $3,000.
Photo via Shutterstock
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The Crypto prices jumped sharply on Friday as Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000 and forced heavily leveraged bearish positions to close. Total market capitalization rose 4.49% to $2.75 trillion within 24 hours. Enhanced regulatory hopes, robust Bitcoin ETF demand, and a new risk appetite contributed to increased gains in major digital assets and altcoins.
Crypto Prices Surge as BTC Hits $80K And ETH Rallies Above $2,500 Bitcoin price gained 5% in 24 hours, to above $80,000, having surmounted macroeconomic and regulatory pressure early this week. The breakout reinstated a significant level of psychology and enhanced momentum throughout the digital asset market.
Ethereum was up 5.00% and remained over the $2,500 level, an indicator of the more optimistic mood in large-cap cryptocurrencies. BNB increased 4.02% above $750, and the XRP price increased 6.23% and was holding at above $1.35. Solana price posted the biggest increase among the listed majors, climbing 10.25% and surpassing the $110 mark.
Coin 360 Increased Crypto Prices boosted the mood of the market, and the Fear and Greed Index increased to 73. That reading is an indicator of greed, indicating that traders have become more certain following the uncertainty in the past.
Crypto-related equities followed the rally as investors increased exposure to companies tied to digital assets. Strategy shares gained 13%, Coinbase rose 11.5%, Circle added 8%, and BitMine advanced 7%. Bitcoin later traded above $81,000, extending its three-day gain to roughly 8%. Those gains came despite rate increases from the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan.
CFTC Sends Proposed Crypto Market Rules to White House The Commodity Futures Trading Commission submitted a cryptocurrency framework to the White House for regulatory review. The filing reached the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on September 17. It carries the title “Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets.” The submission followed the Senate’s 49-50 rejection of the CLARITY Act’s advancement two days earlier. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig had said the agency was prepared to issue rules after lawmakers failed to advance legislation.
Details of the proposal remain undisclosed, and White House review does not represent final approval.
CFTC Submits Crypto Market Rule Proposal for White House Review as CLARITY Act Stalls
A regulatory filing on the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website indicates that the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted a proposal to regulate… pic.twitter.com/XJSzJ9k1MK
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 18, 2026
However, the action signals regulators may use existing authority while Congress continues negotiations. Clearer federal oversight could support sector companies by reducing uncertainty surrounding trading, compliance, and market supervision.
Bitcoin ETF Inflows and Short Liquidations Fuel Rally Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $159 million in net inflows on September 17, providing another source of market support.
BlackRock’s IBIT was the only fund reporting positive net flows during the session. Ethereum ETFs moved differently, posting $39.2445 million in outflows and extending their outflow streak to three days.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record $159 Million in Net Inflows on Sept. 17
On Sept. 17 (ET), spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of $159 million, with BlackRock’s IBIT being the only fund to report net inflows. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw total net outflows of $39.2445 million,… pic.twitter.com/EWHuy3NIHR
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) September 18, 2026
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s breakout forced traders holding leveraged short positions to close rapidly. Reported estimates placed one-hour short liquidations between $170 million and $230 million as prices accelerated. Those closures created additional purchases, intensifying the rally and pushing Bitcoin through nearby resistance.
Short liquidations About $130 billion entered total cryptocurrency capitalization during the latest 24-hour period across major exchanges. Crypto Prices also benefited from easing policy concerns, despite the Senate setback and the Bank of Japan’s hawkish guidance.
Crypto markets roared back on September 18, 2026, adding roughly $150 billion in a single session. The total market capitalisation climbed from $2.6 trillion on Thursday to $2.76 trillion, according to @CoinMarketCap data, as a broad rally swept across major digital assets.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Lead the Charge $BTC gained 5.6% to reach $80,882, $ETH climbed 6% to $2,606, while $SOL outperformed both, adding more than 10% to hit $112. The moves reflect a pattern consistent with broader September strength:
The rally also arrived against a constructive macro backdrop.
Short Sellers Hit Hard as Sentiment Turns Greedy Bears absorbed the heaviest losses. Of $682.5 million in total liquidations, $443.7 million came from short positions, underlining how swiftly sentiment shifted against those betting on a continued decline.
The mood shift is also visible in the Fear and Greed Index. A reading in the low 70s signals that market participants are positioning aggressively rather than defensively, though analysts note elevated greed readings can also precede short-term pullbacks.
For now, the data points in one direction. A $150 billion single-day gain, double-digit moves from major altcoins, and a sentiment gauge firmly in greed territory suggest that, at least for the moment, the bears are on the back foot.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Bitcoin Price, September 18, 2026
CoinStats: Crypto Fear and Greed Index
Bitcoin Ethereum News: Crypto Market Cap Hits $2.7 Trillion After Bitcoin Rally
In brief Kevin O'Leary thinks Bitcoin could hit $1 million if the industry resolves the quantum computing threat known as "Q-Day." O'Leary said his old thesis that Bitcoin and Ethereum alone capture crypto's upside was wrong, and now bets industries will standardize on whichever blockchain their exchanges pick first. Instead of betting on individual AI models, O'Leary is investing in the power grid behind them, including a first-ever position in uranium to back next-generation nuclear reactors. We’re back in ultra bullish mode again, and "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary just put a number on Bitcoin’s endgame: $1 million. Then he laid out exactly what has to happen first.
Speaking with The Rollup podcast at Avalanche Summit in New York, the famed investor said Bitcoin’s path to seven figures rungs through a risk nobody’s solved yet: Quantum computers powerful enough to break the encryption behind the whole technology. Until that is resolved, he said, institutions will keep treating Bitcoin more like a novelty than a core holding.
Myriad: Where does Bitcoin go next? Click to make your prediction.O'Leary showed up to the summit wearing an $11 million baseball card around his neck. That's not a figure of speech.
The investor and media personality was draped in a Shohei Ohtani 1-of-1 collectible, sealed inside a Tiffany-made holder with 110 carats of diamonds and 2.2 pounds of white gold. His collecting group bought the card for a record sum this year. It also happened to be the perfect prop for the argument he spent the next few minutes making to The Rollup podcast.
"This asset class should be on-chain," O'Leary said, holding the piece up to the camera. "And it is on a chain right now. But it should be on blockchain."
He wasn't just talking about cardboard. This very same week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued its "Innovation Exemption," a new rule letting approved platforms trade tokenized stocks—digital tokens that represent shares of public companies and trade on a blockchain instead of a traditional stock exchange. To O'Leary, that news and the necklace are the same story.
"This sector, if you want to call crypto or digitization a sector, will become the 12th sector of the S&P," he said, "because it services all 11 other sectors." He has a rule that no more than 5% of his portfolio in any one stock, no more than 20% in any one sector. Crypto has run as high as 23% of his book over the past seven years.
Eighteen months ago, O'Leary's thesis was simple. Buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, and you've captured 97% of the industry's volatility, because everyone would eventually standardize on Ethereum. That didn't happen.
"People aren't happy," he said. "Who's next? What other chain is going to get adopted?" His new bet is that whole industries, not individual investors, will each pick their own blockchain, the way sports memorabilia might settle on Avalanche while stock exchanges land somewhere else entirely.
"I don't think it's going to be Ethereum anymore," he said. "I don't think it's fast enough. I don't think it's secure enough. That's an opinion, my own opinion."
His logic seems to be that whichever blockchain the first major exchange adopts for tokenization will see that token's value "go through the roof," because it becomes the plumbing every trade runs through afterward. Everyone else loses out.
Betting on the grid, not the modelsO'Leary's other big theme is AI, and he says he's avoiding the mistake he made with Ethereum by not guessing the winner. Instead of betting on individual models, he's investing in the power grid underneath them.
"You can't do AI without power," he said. His holdings include BitZero, a former Bitcoin miner turned Nasdaq-listed power company with land, fiber and permits in Norway and Finland, plus private power projects in Alberta and Utah. For the first time in his investing career, he's also long uranium, the actual commodity.
The “Shark Tank” star explains that small modular reactors—compact nuclear plants that can be built faster and smaller than a traditional power station—are headed for U.S. data centers, and none of them run without uranium fuel. "You might as well buy the picks and shovels of that strategy," he said.
He also seems to be an e/acc himself. "There's no way there's going to be an AI slowdown," he said. "You let the Chinese beat everybody? Are you kidding? It's never going to happen." Asked to pick a side between AI doom and AI utopia, he didn't hesitate. "I'm in the cure cancer camp," he said.
Bitcoin's Quantum CatchThen came the trillion-dollar question: Will Bitcoin ever hit $1 million? And yeah, he’s pretty bullish.
"It will," O'Leary said, "if it can resolve the doubt creeping in around quantum computing, you know, breaking the algorithms and the chain and the encryption"—the theoretical risk that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could one day forge the digital signatures that secure every Bitcoin wallet, a moment the industry has nicknamed "Q-Day."
"Some people are putting on a counter bet by investing in some of these nascent companies that are developing quantum computing software. It's a security play and that's also on the chain."
No quantum computer capable of that attack exists today, and estimates for when one might range from the early 2030s to never.
But the fear is already shaping how institutions invest: O'Leary has said elsewhere that it's why big funds cap Bitcoin exposure around 3% of a portfolio, treating it more like a sliver of gold than a core holding, a timeline a Google research paper earlier this year argued could arrive sooner than the industry expects.
On regulation, O'Leary doesn't expect the Clarity Act—the bill meant to settle which U.S. agency actually oversees crypto trading—to move before the midterm elections. He thinks Congress won't hand the current administration a partisan win on the issue now, but that a bipartisan version gets revisited once the midterms are behind them.
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Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) on Friday picked up momentum to reclaim $78,000 for the first time in three days, while Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) followed higher to touch $2,500.
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty said politics took precedence over crypto policy this week, but argued that the roughly 67 million Americans who own or use crypto "are not going anywhere."
Why the Long-Term Outlook Remains StrongIndustry expert Scott Melker predicted about a month ago that "crypto is about to explode."
Speaking to the "When Shift Happens" podcast in August, Melker had reiterated his conviction even as near-term sentiment was subdued before Bitcoin’s surge above $75,000.
Unlike 2021–2022, when the industry faced aggressive U.S. enforcement and existential concerns, Bitcoin now has spot ETFs, governments discussing strategic reserves, Bitcoin mining, and growing adoption of blockchain infrastructure.
Melker’s thesis is to focus on Bitcoin’s long-term adoption rather than trying to predict the exact catalyst for the next rally.
ETH, XRP, DOGE Predicted To Move HigherCrypto chart analyst Ali Martinez on Friday said Ethereum remains inside its four-hour channel despite recent volatility. With ETH testing the lower boundary, he sees potential for a rebound toward $2,570.
A strong four-hour close above $2,570 with volume could confirm a breakout, putting $2,700 and potentially $3,000 in focus.
Martinez sees XRP forming the right shoulder of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, with $1.55 as the key neckline.
A confirmed breakout above could complete the bullish pattern and trigger a 35% rally toward $2, with potential for further upside.
Trader Tardigrade highlighted Dogecoin has touched its long-term weekly support trendline for the third time, which he views as confirmation of a potential bottom.
He said the setup mirrors previous DOGE cycles, when tests of the same trendline preceded rallies to new peaks, suggesting another major rebound could follow.
Bitcoin reclaimed $80,000 for the first time since early September as spot BTC ETF flows turned positive, adding momentum to a broader risk-on rally.
Notable Statistics:
Coinglass data shows 111,660 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $547.80 million. SoSoValue data shows net inflows of $159.5 million from spot Bitcoin ETFs on Thursday. Spot Ethereum ETFs saw net outflows of $39.2 million. In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Akedo, NEAR Protocol and Arbitrum. Notable Developments:
XRP Skyrockets 6% as Whale Binance Inflows Hit 6-Month HighStrategy CEO Says ‘We’re Never Going To Stop’ Buying Bitcoin as MSTR Surges 11%Grayscale Says Rate Hike Is ‘Unlikely to Drive Major Shifts’ In BitcoinBitcoin Breaks Above $80,000 as CoinShares Warns Of a ‘Difficult Setup’ Into Year-EndCLARITY Act Failure ‘Begins and Ends With Trump,’ Industry Leader FumesBitcoin’s Much Less Volatile Than It Used to Be. BlackRock Says It Played a Part in That.Bitcoin Cracks $78,000 and Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin May Be ‘About To Explode’Trader Notes:
Altcoin Sherpa predicts Bitcoin needs a strong break above $82,000 to open the door toward the $100,000 region.
Minor pullbacks could occur, but a breakout from its nearly month-long range is key.
KillaXBT plans to hedge 50% of his Bitcoin long exposure around $82,000-$84,000, with invalidation at $86,700. He remains heavily long but sees continued range-bound trading as the most likely near-term scenario.
Wick sees Bitcoin is attempting a Phase 2 continuation breakout but needs to reclaim stronger market structure to confirm further upside.
He emphasized managing risk amid heightened crypto volatility while turning daily setups into longer-term positions.
Image: Shutterstock
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Per HTX market data, ETH briefly broke through $2,600, now trading at $2,596.1, with a 5.11% gain in the past 24 hours.
The Zcash network is preparing for its NU7 upgrade, setting an official timeline that targets testnet activation on October 6, followed by a final decision on the mainnet rollout scheduled for October 20, and full activation planned for November 5. This significant upgrade is designed to reduce Zcash’s target block spacing from 75 seconds to just 25 seconds, aiming to accelerate transaction confirmation across the network.
Momentum builds on price rally and Paradigm investmentInterest in Zcash continues to climb as the NU7 launch approaches. ZEC, the native token for the network, witnessed a sharp price rally after Paradigm, a digital asset investment firm, disclosed its investment in the project. At its peak, ZEC surged toward $1,400, significantly outperforming Bitcoin during that period.
In recent trading, ZEC reached a high of approximately $1,527 before a brief pullback to around $1,465. Market observers attribute the heightened activity to both growing confidence in Zcash’s development roadmap and strategic investor interest.
Technical upgrades: Faster blocks and higher throughputThe NU7 upgrade aims for a major technical leap by reducing block spacing, enabling transactions to be confirmed roughly three times faster than before. Alongside this acceleration, the protocol will boost potential throughput for Orchard transactions, all while maintaining the current daily ZEC issuance rate. This approach aligns with community priorities by ensuring the network’s efficiency is enhanced without diluting the supply schedule.
Moving from 75-second to 25-second blocks is designed to cut confirmation latency by roughly three times. The proposal also increases potential Orchard transaction throughput while keeping daily ZEC issuance on the existing schedule.
Sustainability and market infrastructure shiftsNU7 also proposes a new sustainability mechanism for the Zcash ecosystem. Under the planned model, at least 60% of transaction fees will be temporarily removed from circulation, with these funds intended for reintroduction through future block subsidies starting in 2031. This structure intends to balance network incentives and long-term viability without altering the protocol’s underlying scarcity.
Community sentiment has strongly favored retaining the current halving schedule, ensuring ZEC continues to follow a Bitcoin-style supply model that emphasizes scarcity and predictability.
As these technical adjustments are implemented, the sector is witnessing rapid transformation in how assets are managed. While traditional markets rely on complex brokers, a significant movement toward Web3 is underway. Investors now have the ability to hold shares of leading US companies, gold, and silver directly in their crypto wallets using platforms such as 1stepSwap. By tokenizing real-world assets and leveraging technology to secure the best pricing instantly, these platforms streamline the process and eliminate intermediaries.
Zcash holders overwhelmingly supported preserving the existing halving schedule, meaning NU7 isn’t abandoning the Bitcoin-style scarcity model behind ZEC.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has entered the discussion regarding the cautious stance of major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, toward listing Bitcoin BLAKE2b, a new asset forked from Bitcoin but operating on a distinct blockchain.
Debate over exchange support for Bitcoin forksThe debate was triggered when an X user questioned why leading exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, and wallet provider Trezor have declined to list Bitcoin BLAKE2b, despite previously supporting other Bitcoin forks like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. In earlier fork events, these platforms had provided users the ability to claim and trade forked coins, leading to broad adoption and trading activity.
Bitcoin BLAKE2b operates on a separate blockchain and distinguishes itself by utilizing the BLAKE2b mining algorithm, as opposed to Bitcoin’s conventional SHA-256. By forking the network, it formed a new coin on its independent chain, similar to past forks but with different technical foundations.
Despite sharing some origins with Bitcoin, the response from exchanges and wallet providers to this fork has starkly differed from previous episodes. Many in the cryptocurrency community have called this stance inconsistent, particularly noting the support given to Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, which also launched as separate chains.
This divergence has raised concerns among users, with some perceiving the exchanges’ refusal to support Bitcoin BLAKE2b as unfair or at odds with their historical approach.
Schwartz points to security and engineering risksDavid Schwartz responded to these concerns by emphasizing the technical risks involved with integrating newly forked assets. Schwartz, who played a key role in the development of Ripple, suggested that exchanges may be prioritizing user protection and taking time to evaluate potential vulnerabilities.
One major point highlighted by Schwartz is the importance of replay protection—a mechanism that prevents transactions intended for one blockchain from being valid on another after a network split. Without robust replay protection, traders could inadvertently lose funds or face transaction failures.
Platforms that choose not to list a new forked coin may be implementing replay protection to mitigate vulnerabilities, especially given the complexity of a new chain and the risk that users could lose their assets due to flawed engineering or insufficient security measures.
Schwartz noted that Bitcoin BLAKE2b, given its recent emergence and the technical transition from SHA-256 to BLAKE2b, could present engineering challenges that exchanges must assess before moving forward with listings.
Replay protection is considered essential when a blockchain split occurs, as it helps ensure that transactions performed on one chain cannot unintentionally affect another, thereby avoiding accidental fund transfers or security breaches.
Mini dictionary: Replay protection, a technique used in blockchain systems to stop a transaction broadcast on one chain from being valid on another, thereby protecting users from unintended duplicate transactions after a fork.
By comparison, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV had implemented such protective measures early after their splits, making it easier for major exchanges to support them from launch.
ForkMining AlgorithmReplay Protection at LaunchMajor Exchange SupportBitcoin CashSHA-256YesYesBitcoin SVSHA-256YesYesBitcoin BLAKE2bBLAKE2bUncertainNoAs exchanges and wallet providers continue to monitor Bitcoin BLAKE2b, users remain cautious about the asset’s future listing prospects and potential risks involved in trading across multiple forks.
Near Protocol price jumped 30% within 24 hours, reaching $3.54 during a sharp September 18 rally as trading activity intensified.
Near price briefly touched $3.53 earlier, marking its highest level in nearly one year.
The NEAR has now gained more than 100% during its recent advance, strongly outperforming other major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin price rose about 18% over the comparable period, while Ethereum recorded a gain near 28%.
Near Protocol Price Surges as Confidential Intents TVL Tops $70 Million The biggest push behind the most recent actions was growth throughout NEAR’s confidential finance ecosystem. TVL’s (total value locked) inside Confidential Intents surpassed $70 million, with the likelihood of greater adoption and market liquidity.
This milestone triggered the reward launch, [email protected], which rewards qualifying ecosystem participants with tokens. The project successfully accomplished first Drop 1 account snapshot on 15 September.
🚨ZCASH PUMPED SO HARD THE ETF IS ALREADY SPLITTING!$ZCSH only listed on NYSE Arca on Aug. 25 and Grayscale is already doing a 3-for-1 split.
One share becomes three after Sept. 28. Value stays the same.
The cheaper share makes $ZCSH easier to buy. More buying forces the fund… pic.twitter.com/gbmoyJGR0M
— Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) September 18, 2026
A total of 333,333 milestone tokens will be distributed among eligible users but will be locked upon distribution. For the unlock to occur it will need for the three day period, the volume weighted average Near Protocol price to be at or above $3.33.
Free Wi-Fi drove more people to wait or “freeze” their Wi-Fi tokens at the necessary price. This activity decreased supply and directly impelled demand in spot markets.
Hyperliquid-Powered Private Perpetual Trading Strengthens NEAR Demand NEAR also launched confidential perpetual trading with Hyperliquid, providing even another use case. Traders can buy and sell leveraged positions without showing their position sizes, entry positions, or trading activity publicly.
The service leverages the use of NEAR Intents and a private shard, protecting sensitive transaction data. Users can access over 50 perpetual markets without losing control of their funds.
The deposits are available from more than 35 blockchains, without requiring the use of multiple wallets or manual bridging. The assets are moved from network-to-network by NEAR Intents, while Hyperliquid take care of the actual execution of derivatives.
The leverage at the interface is up to 40 times, making it useful for more active derivatives traders. Hyperliquid handled around $240 billion in perpetual volume over the past 30 days.
NEAR Targets $4 as Trading Volume and Market Momentum Accelerate Near Protocol price advanced from $2.34 to around $3.45 within three days before extending its rally. Upward volume growth of more than 120% witnessed continued participation of retail and large market players.
Moreover, there are signs of increased demand as evidenced by an inflow of around $5.01 million in fee income from recent operations.
The other element was the further improvement in market conditions after the September Federal Reserve policy decision, which removed some of the uncertainties. As Bitcoin price was nearing $77k, and the broader altcoin market rose, risk appetite returned.
The interest in tokenization also grew with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission innovation exemption statement.
The Near price surged above $3.50 on Friday, extending its rally inside a steep four-hour ascending channel.
Resistance is present at the channel high around $3.60, where the token finds resistance to more up-side movement. If the future NEAR outlook confirmed, a breakout could be an opportunity to $4.00 and a further extension to $4.50
The MACD was bullish with the main line above the signal line at 0.270 and 0.163 respectively. The positive histogram also indicates that momentum is expected to continue.
Source: TradingView The RSI trended at 89, pushing Near Protocol price further into the overbought zone with a higher risk of short-term pullbacks.
Failing to clear $3.60 could usher in profit-taking near the channel’s bottom boundary near $3.20. The current bullish setup is supported by the $3.00 region, which is the highest level of support currently on the chart.
Amid ongoing consolidation across the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has decisively outpaced Ethereum and Solana over the past five years, highlighting the divergent performance of the three major digital assets over the period.
Bitcoin has risen from $48,306 on September 18, 2021, to $78,131, representing a gain of approximately 61.7%. Ethereum, by comparison, has fallen from $3,396 to $2,507, a decline of about 26.2%. Solana has also moved lower, slipping from $147 to $106, down roughly 27.9%. The figures are based on data from Binance.
The gap is also evident when measured against each asset's all-time high. Bitcoin's record high of $126,198.07, reached on October 7, 2025, puts its current price approximately 38.1% below its peak. Ethereum is around 49.4% below its all-time high of $4,953.73, recorded on August 25, 2025. Solana remains the furthest from its record, trading roughly 64% below its $294.33 peak reached on January 19, 2025.
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While these figures capture how the three assets have performed through the current market cycle, the longer-term picture extends beyond historical returns. For investors looking toward the next phase of the cryptocurrency market, attention will increasingly turn to the factors that could shape the relative performance of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana in the cycle ahead.
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Why Bitcoin has outperformed Ethereum and Solana
Ryan Lee, Chief Analyst at Bitget, attributed Bitcoin's relative outperformance to its increasingly established role as a macro and institutional asset.
"Bitcoin’s relative outperformance shows that BTC is a well-established macro and institutional asset." He said Bitcoin's price is supported by greater ETF access and its limited-supply narrative.
"Bitcoin’s price direction is strongly supported by greater ETF access and narrative around its limited supply."
Ethereum and Solana, meanwhile, remain more closely tied to their respective ecosystems and real-world use cases, according to Lee.
"Ethereum and Solana remain closely associated with their ecosystem dynamics and real-word use cases. This makes their valuations more sensitive towards market sentiment."
Lee also pointed to ETF flows as evidence that institutional demand remains concentrated in Bitcoin, while noting that other assets are beginning to attract capital.
"The latest ETF inflows also prove that institutional demand is largely concentrated in Bitcoin, although, Ethereum and other assets are beginning to attract capital as well."
Binance Research cautioned that comparisons of outperformance can vary depending on the timeframe used, pointing instead to Bitcoin dominance as a broader measure.
"For outperformance, it actually depends on what time period you're looking at as that can change the comparison so the better metric would be BTC dominance (which has risen to 60% today)."
The research team said Bitcoin has benefited from a broader buyer base, deeper liquidity and an investment case centered on scarcity.
"Generally, BTC has benefited from a broader buyer base, deeper liquidity and a broader investment case around scarcity."
Binance Research also pointed to spot Bitcoin ETF flows, saying Bitcoin has typically been the first digital asset adopted by institutions entering a market that was previously dominated by retail investors.
"Spot BTC ETF flows being the largest also shows how it is typically the first digital asset to be adopted by institutions entering a market that was previously dominated by retail."
Ethereum and Solana, in contrast, remain more sensitive to developments in their networks and shifts in crypto narratives.
"ETH and SOL remain more sensitive to network fundamentals and changing crypto narratives."
Different catalysts for the next phase
The three assets also have distinct potential catalysts for further gains.
Lee said Bitcoin's outlook is supported by continued institutional adoption, ETF accumulation and integration into traditional portfolios.
"Bitcoin is currently governed by a strong set of catalyst, especially continued institutional adoption, accumulation by ETFs and integration into traditional portfolios."
For Ethereum and Solana, he highlighted tokenisation, stablecoin adoption, new on-chain projects and broader blockchain adoption.
"Simultaneously, Ethereum and Solana derive their gains from tokenisation, stablecoin adoption, new on-chain projects and larger blockchain adoption."
Lee also highlighted the potential impact of macroeconomic and regulatory developments on crypto valuations.
"It is important to note that tighter global liquidity, further interest rate hike by the Fed, regulatory uncertainty, the recent Federal Reserve hike and setback for the U.S. CLARITY Act highlight how quickly macro and policy developments can influence crypto valuations."
Binance Research said the catalysts for each asset depend on the prevailing market environment, with each having its own sources of demand.
"It would depend on each market context as all 3 have their own demand drivers that can serve as an unique catalyst for them."
The research team said Bitcoin has typically led when fresh liquidity enters the crypto market, while Ethereum and Solana could benefit later if capital moves further along the risk curve.
"But we can say that BTC has shown to typically lead when fresh liquidity enters crypto, with ETH and SOL potentially benefiting later if capital rotates further out the risk curve."
Risks to watch
The analysts also highlighted different risks for the three assets. For Bitcoin, Binance Research identified tighter liquidity and weaker institutional flows as the main near-term risks.
"The main near term risk for BTC is tighter liquidity (e.g., further hawkish guidance by the Fed) and weaker institutional flows."
For Ethereum and Solana, the risks are more closely tied to network fundamentals, fee capture, issuance dynamics and speculative activity.
"For ETH + SOL, anything impacting network fundamentals, weak fee capture and net issuance when burn is low, and greater sensitivity to speculative activity."
As the market enters its next phase, the three assets, analysts said, will remain exposed to different catalysts and risks, ranging from institutional flows and liquidity conditions for Bitcoin to network fundamentals, ecosystem activity and adoption dynamics for Ethereum and Solana.
Disclosure: This article has been written by Kumar Gaurav, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an investment advisor. Gaurav does not hold any financial interest in the company as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of the EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.
The crypto market has shifted into a broad recovery, with Bitcoin reclaiming $80,000 and several altcoins posting double-digit gains. Solana has emerged as one of the strongest major assets, while several Solana ecosystem tokens have significantly outperformed the wider market.
Solana Hits $110 Solana hit $110 on Friday after climbing more than 14% in 2 days, rising from roughly $96 to above $110.
The move also extended beyond $SOL itself. Several Solana ecosystem tokens recorded substantial gains over the past 24 hours. Geodnet's $GEOD rose 27.5%, while Collector Crypt's $CARDS gained 29.3%. Backpack's $BP climbed 23.3%, Stonk.fun's $STONK advanced 14.1%, and Raydium's $RAY added 14.5%.
The performance shows how quickly capital can move through an ecosystem when traders begin taking on more risk. These tokens have also outpaced many larger cryptocurrencies during the current rebound.
Bitcoin Reclaims $80,000 Bitcoin has gained more than 5% over the past 24 hours and currently trades above $80,000 after briefly falling toward $75,000 following the Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act.
Bitcoin's resilience stands out because September has historically been one of its weakest months. Since 2013, Bitcoin has recorded an average September loss of roughly 3%. Despite that history, $BTC has gained about 2% this month.
Bitcoin also gained roughly 25% in August, reaching around $81,000. With less than 2 weeks remaining in the quarter, $BTC has gained about 36%, putting it on course for its first positive quarterly close since Q3 2025.
The market also absorbed the Federal Reserve's first rate hike in more than 3 years, another development that could have pressured risk assets. Yet Bitcoin quickly recovered.
Altcoins Join the Pump The broader market has followed Bitcoin higher. Most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization currently trade in the green over the past 24 hours.
Hyperliquid's $HYPE has gained more than 11% to reach an all-time high of $92, making it one of the strongest performers among major cryptocurrencies. Zcash's $ZEC also jumped 8% to above $1,500 for the first time in 10 years.
Other major altcoins have posted even larger gains. Arbitrum's $ARB has risen more than 28%, while Uniswap's $UNI has gained almost 20%.
The total crypto market capitalization has increased more than 2% to roughly $2.78 trillion.
Solana Rally Gets Fuel From Liquidations, Faster Slots and ETF Inflows Solana's surge has also pressured leveraged traders, with about $146 million in short positions wiped out within 60 minutes as BTC reclaimed $80,000 and SOL reached $109. Forced liquidations can amplify market moves because traders who bet against an asset must close their positions as prices rise.
The price move comes as Solana reaches another technical milestone. Its slot time has fallen to 250 milliseconds for the first time after the latest reduction under SIMD-0525 went live at epoch 1037. The network previously targeted 400ms slots and now targets 200ms, representing the final target under the current reduction plan.
Meanwhile, U.S. spot Solana ETFs have recorded $13.19 million in net inflows so far this week, providing another source of demand for $SOL.
In his weekly memo on Wednesday, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan stated that it was a “shame” that the Clarity Act failed to pass but maintained that “Clarity’s failure may matter far less than today’s headlines suggest.” The price action since Tuesday’s vote in the Senate may have well justified his thesis.
Read More on SolanaFloor SEC Opens the Door to Tokenized Stocks With a 5-Year “Innovation Exemption”
$USDC Dominance on Solana Falls to 44% as Rival Stablecoins Surge
The crypto market is closing the week on a high note, with assets jumping across the board as federal agencies continue to innovate through regulation after the Clarity Act hit a roadblock in the Senate.
Bitcoin's price reclaimed the $80,000 level on Friday morning, jumping more than 5%. The apex cryptocurrency (BTC) had been consolidating around $78,000-$75,000 in recent weeks.
Earlier today, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed its crypto asset rulemaking to the White House for review. This comes one day after the Securities and Exchange Commission released its long-awaited innovation exemption to "bring America's capital markets into the digital age by allowing onchain trading of tokenized stocks.
Meanwhile, a House panel voted earlier this week to move forward with the American Reserve Modernization Act, which would direct the Treasury Department to maintain a "secure Bitcoin storage facility."
"The industry doesn't need Congress," Dan Morehead, Pantera Capital founder and managing partner, told CNBC on Friday. "The SEC and CFTC are enacting all of the things that would have been in Clarity anyway."
Morehead said people remain bullish on bitcoin because the U.S. Federal Reserve is "still way behind on inflation... rates should be much higher than they are today."
Among the top 10 biggest cryptocurrencies, Solana (SOL) and Hyperliquid (HYPE) led the way, jumping about 10%. Morehead said Pantera is "much more bullish" on Solana than Ethereum (ETH), but believes both are "valid" and that dozens of important blockchains will emerge in the long term.
For its part, (HYPE) hit a new all-time high above the $90 level, trading around $91.60 at publication time. Hyperliquid also launched manual borrows, which allow users to supply HYPE and BTC as collateral to borrow stablecoins like USDC and USDT.
For his part, entrepeneur and investor Kevin O'Leary told The Starting Block he's buying new crypto positions and watching for a major stock exchange to adopt a blockchain. "I'm back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle," he said.
On Thursday, JPMorgan analysts said high short interest and hedging around BlackRock's IBIT ETF show investors are still more cautious on bitcoin than gold. If this hedging eases, however, it could give bitcoin more support relative to gold.
"Markets are trading suspiciously well after the double whammy of Clarity Act failure and Warsh's hawkish hike on Wednesday," Jeff Anderson, Head of US, STS Digital, said Thursday. USD yields are lower, BTC is marginally higher while altcoins outperform, and the Nasdaq rips back to recent highs. Warsh is now perceived to be a bump in the road, so traders are happy to see the back of him without too much damage being done."
Chainalysis says North Korean operators use Tron, Aptos and BNB Smart Chain as redundant command paths, while suspected Iranian actors encode routing data in Bitcoin transactions.
Blockchain dead drop attacks — campaigns that use public chains to hide malware instructions — increased 420% over the past 12 months, Chainalysis said, as state-linked groups came to account for roughly two-thirds of new activity in the second quarter of 2026.
Chainalysis described the 420% figure as a year-over-year increase in attacks. Separately, it measured malicious blockchain writes rising from 2.06 per day before the arrival of high-capacity, open-weight Chinese AI models in mid-2025 to 11.1 per day, a 440% increase in less than a year.
The firm calls the technique a blockchain dead drop, or BDD. Attackers place malware payloads or pointers to their current command-and-control infrastructure in transaction data or smart contracts. Infected devices read the entry and then connect to the attackers’ offchain systems, where credential theft, remote access or data exfiltration occurs.
Redundant Chains Raise Takedown CostsIn one North Korea-linked campaign, Chainalysis said operators placed encoded pointers on Tron and Aptos that both led infected devices to the same transaction on BNB Smart Chain. The malware checks Tron first and uses Aptos as a fallback; the BNB Smart Chain transaction contains encrypted configuration data and command-and-control server addresses.
The setup lets operators rotate their offchain servers by publishing a new transaction while leaving infected devices programmed to retrieve the latest instructions. Chainalysis said disrupting that campaign would require coordinated action across all three chains.
Google Threat Intelligence Group independently documented North Korea-linked group UNC5342 using a related technique since February 2025. Google said the group embedded malicious code in public-chain smart contracts during fake-job-interview campaigns targeting cryptocurrency developers.
Chainalysis also attributed a transaction-based technique to operators it suspects are linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence. Those actors sent small Bitcoin payments while encoding command-and-control routing data in the transactions for malware to retrieve. The firm said the Iran assessment rests on the malware family, decoding logic, timing and infrastructure rather than the blockchain activity alone.
Russian-language criminal groups used Polygon smart contracts to store and update infrastructure locations for malware-as-a-service customers, according to the report. Chainalysis said the actors were not necessarily state-sponsored and classified them as Russian-language based on linguistic analysis and external reporting.
Persistence, Not More Destructive MalwareThe blockchain records do not make malware more destructive, but they remove the central server that defenders would normally seize or take offline. As long as the underlying chain remains operational, the stored code or pointer remains available.
Access routes can still be pressured. Google said centralized API providers used by UNC5342 were quick to act when its researchers contacted them, although several other platforms remained unresponsive.
Chainalysis said cybercriminals accounted for nearly all blockchain dead-drop activity through early 2024. By the second quarter of 2026, state-linked groups generated roughly two-thirds of new activity each quarter and represented half of all activity tracked by the firm.
Bitcoin breaking above $79,000 has set off a wide-ranging rally across the crypto market, with a clutch of major altcoins posting sharp double-digit gains in a single trading session.
ARB, UNI, and NEAR Lead the Charge @Arbitrum's $ARB, @Uniswap's $UNI, and @NEARProtocol's $NEAR have each surged more than 25% in the past 24 hours, making them some of the standout performers in the current move. They are not alone. @Aptos' $APT, @worldnetwork's $WLD, @Ondo's $ONDO, and @Injective's $INJ have all recorded significant gains in the same window.
The $BTC breakout itself has been notable for its composition. The move to $79,100 was described by analysts as largely spot-driven rather than leverage-fuelled, with perpetual funding rates printing near zero throughout the advance. A major force behind Bitcoin's rally has been sustained demand for U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. BTC spot ETFs took in roughly $1.92 billion in the week of the breakout, a 2026 weekly record.
Robinhood Chain Adds Fuel for ARB and UNI For $ARB and $UNI specifically, the rally has a more concrete on-chain narrative behind it. Robinhood Chain, which went live around two months ago, has become the biggest fee-generating chain across crypto. Robinhood Chain is built with Arbitrum technology, and under the Arbitrum Expansion Program the chain sends back 10% of its net protocol revenue, split 8% to the Arbitrum DAO treasury and 2% to the developer guild.
On the Uniswap side, more Robinhood users generate more trading volume, more volume generates more fees, and more fees burn more UNI. UNI surged 28.8% to $8.74, leading a strong rally in altcoins including NEAR and ARB.
The ArbOS Elara upgrade has also strengthened Arbitrum's fundamentals and could sustain September momentum for DeFi activity, though a scheduled token unlock poses a near-term risk for $ARB. Analysts note that macro conditions remain a key variable for the broader market, with Bitcoin's upward trajectory still heavily dependent on macro signals, and the rally potentially losing momentum if concerns around U.S. Treasury policy are reassessed.
For now, sentiment remains broadly constructive, and the current wave of gains underscores how quickly capital can rotate from Bitcoin into higher-beta altcoins once a key price level is cleared.
Sources:
CoinDesk: Bitcoin near $78,000 as Arbitrum surges on Robinhood Chain revenue
CoinReporter: UNI up 39%, ARB doubles in a week as Robinhood Chain breaks volume records
Bitcoin.com News: Bitcoin storms past $79K before hitting resistance near $80K
Altcoin holders saw significant gains Friday as a surge across the cryptocurrency market lifted major tokens over the past 24 hours. Bitcoin also reclaimed the $78,000 mark, bouncing back after concerns over the stalled CLARITY Act and the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate increase.
Market overview and top performersBitcoin’s return above $78,000 sealed a three-day stretch of positive momentum. Most tokens among the top 100 by market capitalization traded in the green during the same period, reflecting a widespread recovery.
The overall market capitalization of the crypto sector rose 2.55% to approximately $2.68 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap’s latest data.
A number of tokens recorded standout performances, with Starknet (STRK), Arbitrum (ARB), Uniswap (UNI), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Zcash (ZEC), Solana (SOL), and NEAR among the biggest gainers over the previous 24 hours.
Evaluating weekly performance, Lisk (LSK), Arbitrum, GEODNET, NEAR, Zcash, and Uniswap emerged as the top gainers tracked by CoinMarketCap.
Token24h GainWeekly GainArbitrum (ARB)Significant167%Zcash (ZEC)StrongAmong topLisk (LSK)–HighestUniswap (UNI)NotableAmong topArbitrum’s ARB token posted a 167% increase over the last month, driven by a surge in tokenized real-world asset flows. Meanwhile, Zcash approached the $1,500 level after a major September 17 short squeeze eliminated $56.35 million in bearish positions.
Mini dictionary: Short squeeze, a market event where a rapid price increase forces traders betting against the asset to buy back into it, further accelerating the price movement and causing substantial losses for those holding short positions.
Rising activity in crypto derivatives further supported spot prices, with cumulative open interest climbing nearly 5% to reach $141.2 billion.
Macro environment and market sentimentThis broad rally came amid considerable macroeconomic pressure. The failure of the CLARITY Act to secure enough votes in Congress on Tuesday sent Bitcoin’s price briefly below $75,000.
The Federal Reserve intensified the challenges by implementing its first interest rate hike in over three years, while the Bank of Japan set its own benchmark rate at its highest level since 1993.
Despite these developments and the historical trend of September being Bitcoin’s weakest month, BTC managed to limit its monthly loss to 1.5% and remained up about 32% for the quarter.
Trader outlook and institutional sentimentAnalysts now generally agree that sellers have lost momentum and that Bitcoin has likely found its bottom for this cycle.
Kevin O’Leary, a businessman and investor known for his role on the TV program Shark Tank, shared at the Avalanche Summit that he has started acquiring new positions for the upcoming market cycle. He does not, however, expect the CLARITY Act to advance before the midterm elections.
Market participants observe that the return of large buyers like Kevin O’Leary, along with exhausted sellers and rising open interest, point to renewed bullish momentum despite ongoing political and macroeconomic uncertainty.
Crypto rallied through the Asia and Europe sessions and extended at the U.S. open, and 111 of the 125 largest non-stablecoin tokens are higher. Bitcoin is up 5.8% at $80,829 after touching $81,000, its best level since Sept. 4. NEAR Protocol added 32%, Starknet 27% and Arbitrum 26%, a day after the Securities and Exchange Commission cleared tokenized stocks to trade onchain. The S&P 500 is 0.1% lower.
Bitcoin reached $81,000 on Friday and NEAR Protocol gained 32% over 24 hours, as DeFi and tokenization tokens led a rally that started in the Asia session and extended through the first 90 minutes of U.S. trading.
Equities did not follow. The S&P 500 was at 7,630, 0.1% below Thursday's 7,638 close, and the Nasdaq Composite at 26,434, 0.1% above Thursday's. The CBOE 10-year Treasury yield index rose to 4.99% from 4.95%, and Polymarket traders raised the odds of a second consecutive quarter-point Federal Reserve increase at the Oct. 27-28 meeting to 56.5% from 46.5% on Thursday.
The tokens that ran hardest are the ones tied to trading securities onchain, a day after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a five-year conditional exemption letting tokenized National Market System (NMS) stock trade through liquidity pools.
Bitcoin last changed hands at $80,829, up 5.8% over 24 hours and 2.1% over seven days, CoinGecko data shows. It opened the UTC day at $76,349 on Coinbase and traded as high as $81,000, a 5.6% gain and the biggest single session on that series since Aug. 21. Ether was at $2,580, up 5% on the day and down 1.8% on the week.
NEAR Protocol rose 32%, Starknet 27%, Arbitrum 26% and Uniswap 20%. Among the 15 biggest tokens, Hyperliquid added 12% to $92.20, Solana 9.6% to $110, Dogecoin 7.7% to $0.088, XRP 7.6% to $1.40, Monero 6.1% to $540 and BNB 4.7% to $759. Cardano gained 9.3% and Chainlink 8%.
Total crypto market value stood at $2.8 trillion on $110 billion of volume, with bitcoin dominance at 59% against 57% on Thursday, CoinGecko data shows. Weighted by market value, the 500 largest tokens rose 5.3% over 24 hours and 3.7% over seven days. Of the 125 largest non-stablecoin tokens, 111 rose, 13 fell and one was unchanged.
The Exemption TradeThe SEC's order, Release No. 34-106402, exempts a category it calls a Tokenized Securities Venue from the exchange definition in Section 3(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act. A venue may list 75 Tier 1 symbols and trade up to 0.25% of each stock's prior-month average daily volume, and tokenized shares must carry the same dividend rights, voting rights and claim on residual assets as the underlying stock. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in a statement accompanying it that the Commission is "taking a significant step forward, within its statutory authority, to bring America's capital markets into the digital age," and that "this interim measure must be followed by durable rulemaking to ensure that onchain markets remain a viable pathway."
Andrew Yang, an analyst at Kaiko, put tokenized equity volume on Uniswap at about $800 million a day in commentary sent to reporters on Friday morning. "The SEC's condition is rights parity with the underlying stock, and it's not obvious how much of that volume would clear it," he said.
Uniswap listed tokenized equities on its web app, wallet and API on June 12, when it said more than $9.1 billion had been swapped in real-world asset pools on the protocol across 2.6 million transactions and 140,000 wallets. That post carries a disclaimer that tokenized securities reached through Uniswap products "may not represent direct ownership of the underlying securities they reference." Uniswap Labs launched Permissioned Pools on v4 in July and published the architecture on Aug. 24, writing that assets like tokenized funds "can now tap AMM liquidity."
UNI's high came in the hour beginning 10 a.m. UTC, 21% above the UTC-day open on Coinbase, before it eased back. Thursday closed 16% above its own open. The token turned over $2.2 billion against a $5.4 billion market value, and its seven-day gain of 35% is the second largest among the 25 biggest non-stablecoin tokens, behind NEAR's.
Arbitrum ran earlier. ARB's high came in the hour beginning 4 a.m. UTC, 29% above the UTC-day open, inside the Asia session. The chain holds $1.4 billion of total value locked, DefiLlama data shows. The Defiant reported on Friday that Morpho opened borrowing against Coinbase's tokenized stocks and that WisdomTree opened its tokenized Treasury fund to MoonPay's 35 million accounts.
NEAR Takes The DayToken24h7dNEAR Protocol (NEAR)+32%+39%Starknet (STRK)+27%+20%Arbitrum (ARB)+26%+39%Pieverse (PIEVERSE)+25%+11%Akedo (AKE)+22%+78%Uniswap (UNI)+20%+35%Ether.fi (ETHFI)+19%+8.8%Injective (INJ)+18%+8.4%Aptos (APT)+18%+8.5%Jupiter (JUP)+17%+6.6%NEAR was the largest gainer among the 150 biggest tokens and has risen in each of the past four sessions on Coinbase, 61% since its Sept. 15 close. Its high of the day came in the hour beginning 3 p.m. UTC. The token turned over $2 billion against a $4.9 billion market value, a ratio of 40%, matched only by Uniswap among the 25 biggest non-stablecoin tokens.
No dated NEAR announcement accompanied the move. near.com, the account product built on NEAR Intents, lists perpetual futures, tokenized stocks, bonds and precious metals alongside crypto, and states that "balances and transactions stay confidential when you want them to, with control over what you reveal." The site puts all-time volume at $29 billion across 118 assets and 34 chains. NEAR's blog carries a post headlined "Announcing General Availability of Confidential Intents" that publishes no date in its page source.
Akedo holds the largest seven-day gain in either table at 78%. It led the decliners on Wednesday at 29% and the gainers on Tuesday at 79%. MemeCore's M rose 17% on $1.8 million of 24-hour volume against a $3 billion market value, a turnover ratio of 0.06%, and is left out of the table.
Tokyo Moves FirstThe Bank of Japan raised its guideline for the uncollateralized overnight call rate to around 1.25% on Friday, effective Sept. 24, on a 7-2 vote, according to the bank's statement. Board members Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissented. The yen was at 157.04 to the dollar against 156.01 at its last published close, on Sept. 16.
Andrew Melville, head of research at Block Scholes, set the two central banks side by side in a note dated Friday. "While the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections indicated further hikes before year end, BoJ chief Ueda described the move as 'preemptive,'" he wrote. "The yen has sold off against the dollar over the past 5 days, returning to early-September levels and making a stronger case for continued intervention in the yen."
Melville tied the crypto tape to the passing of the week's scheduled events. "Short-dated implied volatility levels for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have fallen strongly after the passing of this week's macro event risks, indicating that calm has temporarily returned to the markets," he wrote. On positioning: "crypto derivatives markets are pricing strongly for short-term upside despite the failure of the CLARITY Act and Fed hawkishness, with 7-day volatility smiles skewed strongly towards bullish positioning in call options."
Polymarket priced a quarter-point increase at the Oct. 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee meeting at 56.5% and no change at 43.5%, against 46.5% and 52.5% at the same point on Thursday. The event has carried $7.2 million of volume, up from $6 million. The FOMC lifted its target range a quarter point to 3.75%-4% on Wednesday on a 12-0 vote, according to the Fed's statement.
The Senate voted 49-50 on Tuesday against taking up the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, 11 votes short of the 60 needed for cloture. The Defiant reported the tally on Tuesday and the SEC and CFTC chairmen's response on Wednesday.
Front-month Comex gold futures were at $4,397 an ounce against Thursday's $4,400 settle. Brent crude was at $99.76 a barrel, down 4.8% from Thursday's $104.82 close and below $100 for the first time since Sept. 9. Most of the decline came in the half hour from 7:30 a.m. UTC, six hours before the move in bitcoin.
Flows Turn PositiveU.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in $159.5 million on Thursday, their first daily inflow since Monday, according to Farside Investors. BlackRock's IBIT accounted for $183.7 million, against outflows of $16.6 million at Fidelity's FBTC and $7.6 million at VanEck's HODL. The four sessions of this week produced a net outflow of $426.9 million. Spot ether ETFs lost $39.3 million on Thursday against $224.1 million on Wednesday, with BlackRock's ETHA at $42.9 million of the outflow. Friday's rows had not published as of 11:05 a.m. ET.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index read 56, or greed, on Friday, against 50 on Thursday and 51 on Wednesday, according to Alternative.me. The index publishes once a day at 00:00 UTC, so Friday's rally is not in the reading.
DeFi total value locked stood at $89.9 billion, up 3.2% from Thursday's close and 3.9% over seven days, DefiLlama data shows. Stablecoin supply was $311 billion, down 0.2% over seven days and up 1% over 30 days, net redemptions of $618 million since Sept. 11 against net issuance of $3.2 billion since Aug. 19.
Bitway Gives It BackToken24h7dBitway (BTW)-9.3%+33%Unibase (UB)-2.9%+2.5%Rain (RAIN)-1.0%-21%LEO Token (LEO)-0.6%-3.0%JUST (JST)-0.3%+13%Falcon Finance (FF)-0.3%-23%Beldex (BDX)-0.1%-0.8%Bitway fell 9.3% for the second consecutive session and holds a 33% seven-day gain. It ranks 53rd by market value at $1.8 billion on $5 million of 24-hour volume, a turnover ratio of 0.28%.
Rain and LEO Token are the only two of the 20 biggest non-stablecoin tokens that fell. Rain holds the largest seven-day decline among them at 21% and ranks sixteenth by market value at $9.1 billion on $29.5 million of volume. Falcon Finance holds the largest seven-day decline in the table at 23%.
Hyperliquid's 12% gain is the largest among the 15 biggest non-stablecoin tokens. The Defiant reported on Wednesday that Kraken's parent plans permissioned Hyperliquid perpetuals for U.S. traders. Zcash rose 3.1% to $1,470 and reached $1,530 on Coinbase, above Thursday's $1,510 high, and holds a 23% seven-day gain.
Prices and market data as of 11:05 a.m. ET on Sept. 18, 2026.
Bitcoin, in its recovery that began from $62,000 last August, rose as high as over $82,000. However, BTC has been unable to maintain this level and continues to fluctuate between $76,000 and $80,000.
At this point, market analysts see $80,000 as a critical resistance point for BTC, while one analyst stated that it is unlikely for Bitcoin to surpass $80,000 without changes in inflation data or Fed policy.
Breaking the $80,000 Threshold for Bitcoin is Becoming More Difficult! In his latest report published today, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill stated that Bitcoin’s ability to sustain a rise above $80,000 is becoming more difficult due to the Fed’s more hawkish monetary policy and recent negative developments regarding the Clarity Act.
At this point, Butterfill notes that Bitcoin faces two major obstacles in the short term: “A more hawkish Fed and setbacks in the Clarity Act.” The analyst states that these two developments have pushed back the timing of a strong recovery in Bitcoin.
Therefore, CoinShares and Butterfill believe that unless there is a significant improvement in the inflation outlook or a major shift in expectations regarding Fed monetary policy, a definitive breakout above the $80,000 level for Bitcoin is unlikely.
Bitcoin and Altcoins May Diverge! According to Butterfill, the impact of regulatory uncertainty may not be felt equally across all cryptocurrencies. The analyst notes that Bitcoin is relatively more protected due to its clearer current regulatory status, whereas Ethereum and other altcoins are more exposed to negative regulatory developments.
According to Glassnode, $80,000 is the First Critical Threshold for Bitcoin! According to on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, Bitcoin may have re-entered an upward trend, surpassing the actual market average, which is the average cost base for actively trading investors.
In its latest analysis on account X, Glassnode stated that the next price level BTC needs to surpass is approximately $80,421, which is the average purchase price of institutional Bitcoin treasury companies.
According to Glassnode, the next key area is around $85,000, which is the cost floor of a US spot Bitcoin ETF. Therefore, in the current structure of BTC, $80,000 and then $85,000 stand out as the main cost floor areas closely monitored by investors.
*This is not investment advice.
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After the $320 million hack, which shook the crypto community, Liquid Network has largely returned to normal operations. However, one of the main functions, which involved converting LBTC back into Bitcoin [BTC] through peg-outs, is still suspended.
But the good news here is that block production and regular transactions have been running normally since 10th September. This recovery has given users the second chance to move LBTC across the network.
With the step-by-step recovery process, users can now use exchanges, wallets, and other ecosystem services for their liquid-related functions. However, the caution bubble still remains, as not all the Bitcoin involved in the incident has been recovered.
Services resumed after the recovey processes According to the 17th September update, several liquid ecosystem services have resumed activity. Mifiel, for example, has resumed issuing and processing its digital promissory notes, with its batches giving normal confirmation.
Aqua has also restored liquid asset transfers and peg-ins. Moreover, Aqua’s new Indra swap feature is now allowing users to swap between LBTC and Bitcoin on the Lightning Network, although liquidity is currently limited.
This along with other wallet providers are also making a comeback, but LBTC-related services that ultimately require a peg-out remain restricted. This makes sense because those routes require users to eventually move BTC out of Liquid.
Bitcoin recovery is slow but not weak In other words, everything boils down to Bitcoin recovery. So, for those unaware, during the the 6th September incident, roughly 4,000 BTC was withdrawn.
Of that, around 3,400 BTC has since been returned to the Federation reserve, leaving approximately 600 BTC still unreturned.
What’s notable in this recovery milestone is that the technical root cause of the exploit has now been identified. The exploit path has been decoded, and an immediate fix has already been released through Elements v23.3.4, the software underlying Liquid.
All in all, it can be said that for a full recovery, Liquid will ultimately need to restore bridge functions, peg-outs, and exchange support so users can move LBTC and BTC normally again.
Final Summary The exploit resulted in 95% of its Federation peg wallet being withdrawn in a single transaction. Block production and regular transactions have been running normally since 10th September.
The market would reserve an unexpected paradox for bitcoin. Indeed, the distrust that still surrounds it would become a supporting factor if investors reduce their hedges. In a note, JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou compared the recent dynamics of bitcoin to those of gold. Their interpretation relies on three elements: flows to ETFs, institutional positioning in futures markets, and the level of hedging around the main listed funds. Thus, gold appears more advanced in its recovery, while bitcoin retains more catching-up potential.
In Brief Gold ETFs have erased their 2026 outflows, while Bitcoin ETFs have recovered only about half. Bitcoin remains more shorted and hedged than gold, according to JPMorgan’s analysis. IBIT’s short interest remains near its annual high, while GLD’s trades below its historical average. JPMorgan believes this caution could support Bitcoin if demand for hedging decreases. The scenario remains conditional and depends on the evolution of investor positioning and market context. Flows to ETFs show an advantage for gold Following the Federal Reserve meeting in late July, bitcoin-backed ETFs and gold ETFs recorded inflows, accompanying the return of the “debasement trade”, according to JPMorgan. Such momentum slowed during the week leading up to the publication of this note. Analysts link this decline to the rise in inflation-adjusted mandatory yields and inflation, and the Senate’s failure to advance the CLARITY Act.
This gap appears in flow recovery. Gold ETFs have offset all outflows recorded earlier this year. Regarding Bitcoin ETFs, they have recovered only about half. Also, JPMorgan notes a recent decline in demand for Bitcoin ETFs.
Analysts believe this lag leaves more room for a rebound if flows become more favorable. At this stage, gold therefore shows a more complete recovery, while bitcoin remains more dependent on a change in sentiment.
Three elements summarize the gap observed by JPMorgan between the two markets :
Gold ETFs have recovered all their outflows recorded earlier in 2026 ; Bitcoin ETFs have recovered only about half ; Recent demand for Bitcoin ETFs has weakened again. Positioning on IBIT shows stronger caution This picture changes when looking at futures markets and short positions. JPMorgan specifies that positioning on futures remains high for both bitcoin and gold, revealing institutional support for both assets.
The clearest difference is at the ETF level. Thus, the short interest of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBIT, remains near its highest level of the year, while that of SPDR Gold Shares, GLD, trades below its historical average.
JPMorgan thus describes “an initially more skeptical positioning than on gold”, which it links to higher hedging demand around bitcoin. The put/call open interest ratio is also higher for IBIT than for GLD.
These statistics reinforce the idea of a more defensive market toward bitcoin, despite recent inflows into ETFs and the accumulation of futures positions. Caution is therefore more visible on bitcoin than on gold.
The decrease in hedges could shift the balance of power This difference fuels the scenario put forward by JPMorgan. Analysts write that the higher short interest on IBIT compared to GLD “could strengthen bitcoin’s appeal relative to gold from here if hedging demand weakens”.
The wording remains conditional. Thus, the reasoning is not to announce that bitcoin will surpass gold, but to identify a market mechanism. If investors reduce their protections, the retreat of certain defensive positions could offer more support to BTC.
Analysts also indicate that other factors may influence the respective trajectories of bitcoin and gold. Above all, their comparison focuses on positioning. Gold arrives with ETF flows already restored and a relatively contained short interest level. However, bitcoin retains more short positions and stronger hedging demand. This asymmetry can become an advantage if it subsides.
The JPMorgan interpretation remains nuanced. Thus, bitcoin still lags in recovering ETF flows compared to gold, but this lag is accompanied by a more skeptical positioning that could, under certain conditions, turn in its favor. Everything will depend on the evolution of hedging demand and the market context. The potential identified by the bank relies less on directional conviction than on the possibility of a catch-up if current caution starts to ease.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
DISCLAIMER
The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.
Shares of The Smarter Web Company rose nearly 36% from around $33 to $45 after the company outlined a potential IPO of a new class of perpetual preferred shares on the London Stock Exchange.
The offering, announced on Sept. 11, is expected to target £15 million to £25 million in gross proceeds and would use the reserved “MORE” ticker, subject to Financial Conduct Authority approval and shareholder approval.
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The proposed securities would be sterling-denominated and include a preferential cumulative variable-rate weekly dividend, liquidation preference and redemption rights, while carrying no voting rights.
The company said the IPO would be conditional on raising at least £10 million, securing three or more market makers and meeting the requirement for at least 50% of shares to remain in public hands.
The Smarter Web Company expects the capital to support acquisitions, working capital, long-term capital needs and its Bitcoin treasury strategy. The company, which serves more than 500 clients, identifies Bitcoin as its primary treasury reserve asset.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
US officials have added an Iranian digital asset platform to the sanctions list, saying it helped move large bitcoin payments tied to Tehran’s security apparatus.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the designations on September 17, 2026, as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a broader campaign aimed at cutting off financial channels used by the Iranian government and its affiliates.
OFAC named BitBank as a priority digital-asset venture controlled by Babak Zanjani, an Iranian financier already on the US sanctions list.
Officials said Zanjani used the platform between June and July to arrange bitcoin transfers worth hundreds of millions of dollars that ultimately reached the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The same announcement said Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority, which OFAC had already designated, has used BitBank since June to pass along payments it collected to Iranian authorities.
The package did not stop with the exchange.
Treasury also designated Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, which it identified as the developer of BitBank’s software and a subsidiary of Dot One Value Creation Group, another previously sanctioned firm.
Three people linked to Zanjani were listed as well: Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein, Mohammad Mahdi Zaker Hossein, and Seyed Adel Heidari.
OFAC described them as central figures in Zanjani’s commercial and digital asset network.
Treasury framed the move as an attempt to dismantle infrastructure built to hide money flows and keep sanctioned actors connected to global markets.
Officials said Zanjani’s companies have operated as both visible commercial projects and quieter financial tools.
According to the department, Hossein Ali Zaker Hossein has been involved in much of that activity, including oil-related work and digital-asset deals that later reached the IRGC.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the designations show that cryptocurrency platforms used to finance the Iranian government are not beyond OFAC’s reach.
“If you support the Iranian regime, the Department of the Treasury will sanction you,” he said.
The State Department issued a companion statement, arguing that digital asset exchanges have given Iranian institutions a path into the international financial system and urging other governments and private firms to keep their platforms from being used that way.
The legal basis cited for the action is Executive Order 13902, which Treasury has used to target Iran’s digital-asset sector.
Designation typically requires US persons to block any property of the listed parties that comes under US jurisdiction.
Foreign firms that continue to deal with those parties can face secondary-sanctions risk.
BitBank itself has been identified as an Iran-based financial business launched in 2024 and associated with websites including bitbank.com and bitbank3.com.
The latest step follows earlier US actions against other Iranian exchanges and against Zanjani’s wider group of companies.
Washington presents the campaign as an effort to starve the IRGC and related institutions of hard-to-trace funds.
Critics of broad crypto sanctions argue that designations can also sweep in ordinary users and make it harder for Iranians to move money outside official banks. Treasury, for its part, says the focus is on platforms that allegedly served as pipelines for sanctioned payments rather than on digital assets as a technology.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway chairman on Friday and handed the seat to his son, Howard Buffett. The board named him chairman emeritus, a title that keeps him on the board without running it.
Greg Abel remains chief executive. He continues to make the day-to-day calls and decide where Berkshire’s money goes.
Buffett Steps Down as Berkshire Chairman After 56 YearsHoward Buffett has sat on the board since 1993, longer than his father spent in business before taking over Berkshire at 34. Susan Decker stays lead independent director. Chairman emeritus is an honorary title. It carries no command over the company.
The elder Buffett, who turned 96 last month, framed the change as a formality in a letter to shareholders.
“He has been making the decisions that matter for some time now, and I have not had to think twice about any of them,” the announcement stated, citing Warren Buffet, now Berkshire Hathaway chairman emeritus.
Class A shares closed Thursday at $763,936, down 2.10%. The Class B shares finished at $509.20, a 2.04% drop. That selling ran ahead of the announcement, and in Friday pre-market trade the B shares sat at $509.24, barely moved.
Berkshire Hathaway Class A Shares (BRK-A) Performance. Source: Yahoo FinanceBeInCrypto flagged the fading Buffett premium last October, well before this year’s slide.
What Howard Buffett Has Said About BitcoinNothing on the record. The new chairman built his public profile around farming, food security, and landmine clearance in Ukraine, not markets.
He has run the Howard G. Buffett Foundation since 1999 and served nearly a decade as a United Nations goodwill ambassador against hunger.
Fortune reported last year that he was on track to send about $1 billion in aid to Ukraine. He has never stated a position on Bitcoin or digital assets.
His father did, repeatedly, calling Bitcoin “rat poison squared” and later a gambling token.
The job Howard inherits is non-executive anyway. He guards culture. Abel writes the checks, and already kept the anti-Bitcoin stance when Berkshire’s cash pile hit a record $397 billion.
Whether Abel ever embraces Bitcoin remains the open question for crypto investors watching that balance sheet.
Friday’s opening bell will show whether shareholders read the handover as closure or as loss.
Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has joined an ongoing debate about why major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Coinbase, are reluctant to list a new Bitcoin-based asset built on a separate chain.
The discussion started after an X user raised concerns on the matter, asking why platforms such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Trezor that had previously shown support for several Bitcoin forked assets are now ignoring Bitcoin BLAKE2b.
What is Bitcoin BLAKE2b?It is important to note that Bitcoin BLAKE2b is a separate chain that emerged from Bitcoin and uses the BLAKE2b mining algorithm instead of Bitcoin's traditional SHA-256.
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Just like Bitcoin BLAKE2b, there have been multiple Bitcoin forks that were also launched on separate chains in the past, which include Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV.
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Notably, the concern seems to have perceived the judgment of these exchanges as unfair, as they had offered access to older Bitcoin forks like Bitcoin Cash, allowing users to trade the assets as they continued to gain traction.
Nonetheless, the BLAKE2b-based chain has witnessed a different reception among exchanges and wallet providers, which has raised concerns among crypto users.
David Schwartz spotlights possible engineering issuesIn response to the question raised, David Schwartz suggested that the exchanges might be adopting replay protection mechanisms to hedge against possible vulnerabilities, especially when dealing with a newly split asset.
While Bitcoin and a newly forked network can share the same transaction history before the split, he explained that Bitcoin BLAKE2b is prone to engineering flaws that could cause traders to lose their funds.
To ensure security, exchanges need to adopt adequate protection measures like replay protection to ensure that a transaction made on one chain cannot unintentionally be processed on another chain after a fork.
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Bloomberg Intelligence senior macro strategist Mike McGlone has identified what may now give investors a reason to sell Bitcoin and gold. According to the analyst, the main beneficiary of capital flows will be U.S. Treasuries offering yields around 5%.
The statement came after the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points on Sept. 16, 2026, to a range of 3.75%–4%. At the same time, the yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds moved close to the psychological 5% level, while global markets were hit by another wave of rising energy prices.
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According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the ratio of the Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index (BCOM) to long-term bonds is now at extremes last seen in 1990. Historically, such peaks have always preceded a severe recession and lower interest rates.
Bloomberg Commodity Spot Index vs. T-Bonds ratio tracking market extremes and Fed rate cycles, Source: Mike McGlone / Bloomberg IntelligenceHowever, the current cycle is unique: the Fed is not easing but continues to tighten financial conditions, sharply increasing the risks of a "break" in the global economy and equity markets.
What is wrong with alternative assets right nowMcGlone considers the current macroeconomic environment an "endgame" for risk assets. He emphasizes that when the U.S. government is prepared to pay a fixed 5% annual return in dollars on government-backed securities, the logic of holding alternative assets changes completely, explaining why investors may want to move away from them:
Gold loses investment appeal because it does not generate coupon income and is guaranteed to lose out to the real yield offered by government bonds.Bitcoin, amid scarce liquidity, trades as a high-risk asset rather than a store of value. As major investors protect capital from falling equity markets, they will take profits in crypto in favor of a safe haven. You Might Also Like
McGlone expects an inevitable portfolio rotation. His thesis on why investors should sell Bitcoin and gold points to an obvious choice for large capital: the final stage of the current monetary tightening cycle will trigger a mass exodus into U.S. government bonds and a prolonged return of overheated markets toward their historical averages.
HYPE hit a record $90.92 after Hyperliquid opened manual borrowing, letting users borrow stablecoins against HYPE and Bitcoin collateral.
HYPE, the native cryptocurrency of the Hyperliquid layer-1 blockchain and decentralized trading platform, set a fresh all-time high above $90 on Friday as the protocol rolled out manual borrowing.
HYPE surged as high as $90.92 shortly after Hyperliquid announced users can now supply HYPE and Bitcoin as collateral to borrow the stablecoins USDC and Tether’s USDt (USDT).
“Manual borrows are live on Hyperliquid,” the protocol said, adding that the feature and its portfolio-margin system use the same underlying HyperCore infrastructure. Hyperliquid co-founder Jeff Yan said the design means every borrowed asset comes from a supplier rather than being created through platform-level margin accounting.
Hyperliquid (HYPE) all-time price chart. Source: CoinGeckoThe new feature lets users borrow USDC or USDT directly against HYPE or Bitcoin collateral, extending direct access to borrowing beyond Hyperliquid’s portfolio margin system. Hyperliquid reported $269 million in assets borrowed across the underlying infrastructure on Friday.
The rollout comes two days after Payward, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, on Wednesday announced plans to deploy onchain perpetual futures markets for US clients, starting with Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 markets.
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph's Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research.
Kevin O’Leary, the man who once called Bitcoin “garbage,” has completed what might be the most telegraphed pivot in crypto history. Speaking at the Avalanche Summit in New York on September 18, the O’Leary Ventures chairman announced he’s actively buying new digital-asset positions and expects Bitcoin to eventually capture a meaningful slice of institutional portfolios.
The $750,000 price target floating around crypto circles represents the upper bound of where Bitcoin could land if institutions treat it the way they treat gold. O’Leary himself is more measured in the near term, projecting a peak of $150,000 as regulatory clarity takes shape. But his broader thesis, that Bitcoin could command 1% to 3% of alternative-asset allocations, implies a market cap expansion that would dwarf today’s figures.
From skeptic to evangelist, again He pointed to what he considers the key inflection point: a major stock exchange adopting blockchain technology for settlement or trading infrastructure. That kind of institutional endorsement, he argued, would pull the rest of the financial industry along like gravity.
He also noted that CEO interest in multiple blockchain platforms is growing, suggesting the future won’t be a winner-take-all scenario for any single chain. That said, O’Leary still maintains that Bitcoin and Ethereum together account for roughly 97% of the digital-asset market’s total value.
The regulatory bottleneck For all his enthusiasm, O’Leary kept circling back to one constraint: regulation. He described regulatory clarity as the single most important catalyst for unlocking large-scale institutional capital flows into crypto.
The legislative landscape has been mixed. O’Leary referenced the Senate’s obstruction of the CLARITY Act as a setback, though he noted more encouraging progress on related tax legislation.
His 1% to 3% portfolio allocation thesis depends entirely on this bottleneck clearing. Gold has long occupied a similar slice of institutional alternative-asset portfolios, and O’Leary sees Bitcoin following the same playbook once fund managers have clear rules to operate under.
Following the energy, not just the tokens Perhaps the most telling signal from O’Leary’s Avalanche Summit appearance was where he’s actually putting money. Rather than loading up exclusively on tokens, he’s focused on energy infrastructure and mining support services.
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