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Arthur Hayes, the BitMEX co-founder now serving as co-founder and chief investment officer of crypto-focused venture capital firm Maelstrom, says Hyperliquid’s HYPE token could soar more than 100-fold.

Hayes is best known for inventing the perpetual swap at BitMEX, the derivatives contract that changed crypto trading. At Maelstrom, he invests in early-stage infrastructure projects. In his latest blog post, Hayes argued Hyperliquid’s token could rise 126 times, a claim backed by a valuation model produced by Maelstrom.

Hyperliquid is a decentralized exchange built on its own blockchain. Unlike Coinbase or Binance, which are companies running private servers, Hyperliquid lives fully on-chain. Traders use it mainly for perpetual futures — contracts that let them bet on crypto prices without an expiry date.

Its native token, HYPE, acts as both a governance tool and an economic stake. Holders can vote on upgrades, stake tokens for rewards and benefit from the way trading fees link to the token’s value. In short, Hyperliquid is the venue and HYPE is how users share in its growth.

'Decentralized Binance'

Hayes begins his case with the big picture.

He says when governments print too much money, currencies lose value and ordinary savers are forced to speculate just to maintain their standard of living. Those who don’t already own houses or stocks see their savings eroded.

For many, especially in emerging markets, the easiest way to save today is with stablecoins such as USDT and USDC — digital dollars that sit natively on blockchains. Once you’re holding stablecoins, Hayes argues, the most obvious place to put them to work is crypto itself, since that’s the system where those tokens function most easily.

That funnel, according to the Maelstrom CIO, leads straight to Hyperliquid. Hayes says it already dominates decentralized perpetual futures trading, controlling around two-thirds of the market and is starting to grow against centralized giants like Binance.

He points to execution as the difference. He believes that Hyperliquid’s small team, led by founder Jeff Yan, ships features faster than rivals with hundreds of employees. The platform feels as fast as Binance, Hayes says, but every step — trading, settlement, collateral management — happens transparently on-chain.

He calls Hyperliquid a “decentralized Binance.” Like Binance, it relies on stablecoins instead of banks for deposits. Unlike Binance, everything is recorded on its blockchain. Hyperliquid’s HIP-3 upgrade also lets outside developers create entirely new markets that plug directly into its order book, turning it into a permissionless trading hub.

The 126x upside

Then comes the math. Maelstrom’s model starts with a bold forecast: by 2028, the total value of stablecoins could reach $10 trillion.

Next, Hayes borrows a ratio from Binance’s history. On that exchange, daily trading volume has often equaled about 26.4% of the total stablecoin supply. Apply that ratio to $10 trillion, and Hyperliquid could see about $2.6 trillion in trades every day.

Now add fees. Hyperliquid charges around 0.03% per trade. On $2.6 trillion in daily activity, that works out to roughly $258 billion in annual revenues once you roll it up across the year.

Investors then discount those future revenues into today’s money to reflect risk and the time value of money. Hayes uses a 5% rate, which produces a present value of about $5.16 trillion.

Finally, stack that against HYPE’s current fully diluted valuation of around $41 billion. Divide the two, and you get Hayes’s headline number: a potential 126x upside.

He ties the calculation back to his broader thesis—that weak money forces people into stablecoins, and stablecoins push them into crypto speculation, with Hyperliquid as the rails for that activity and HYPE as the token that captures the economics.

'The king is dead'

Hayes closes out his thesis with a bold prediction. “The King is dead. Long live the King,” he wrote, arguing Hyperliquid could surpass Binance as the world’s largest exchange and that Jeff Yan could one day rival CZ’s wealth.

The model depends on big assumptions: a $10 trillion stablecoin market, Hyperliquid holding a Binance-level share, fees holding at 0.03% and discount rates staying low. If those conditions break, so does the outcome.

But Hayes’s through-line is simple. If the world saves in stablecoins, the speculation that follows will happen on-chain — and in his view, Hyperliquid is already in the lead.

A deluge of crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could hit U.S. markets as early as this fall, potentially changing how both institutional and retail investors access the digital asset space. But while some see it as a turning point for mainstream adoption, others are already bracing for inevitable casualties.

“The crypto ETF floodgates are set to open this fall, and investors will soon be swimming in these products,” said Nate Geraci, president of NovaDius Wealth Management. He believes most of the 90-plus crypto ETF applications currently filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be approved — assuming they meet the final listing requirements.

Ultimately, though, said Geraci, investors — not regulators — will decide which products thrive.

“The beautiful aspect of the ETF market is that it’s a meritocracy, where investors vote with their hard-earned money. The market naturally sorts out the winners from the losers, so I’m not overly concerned about there being too many crypto ETFs floating around.”

To Geraci, the demand for more diverse and accessible investment options is already there — and underappreciated.

“Given the initial response to futures-based and 1940 Act-structured Solana and XRP ETFs, I believe demand for 1933 Act spot products in these crypto assets is being severely underestimated – much like we saw with spot bitcoin and ether ETFs,” he said.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), managed and issued by BlackRock, became the most successful ETF launch in the history of those vehicles, now holding nearly $85 billion worth of bitcoin on behalf of investors.

While the ether ETFs initially saw much smaller demand than their bitcoin counterparts, a recent surge in interest in the Ethereum blockchain’s native token has seen inflows for the group well surpass those for bitcoin ETFs.

Ether ETFs have taken in nearly $10 billion since the start of July, which represents the bulk of total inflows of $14 billion since their launch last year, according to James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

Geraci also anticipates strong uptake for index-based crypto ETFs, which he says will give investors and advisors “a straightforward way to gain exposure to the broader digital asset ecosystem.” For smaller, less-known tokens, he admits demand will depend heavily on the strength of each project’s fundamentals.

“As you move further down the crypto market cap spectrum, I expect demand for spot ETFs will be more closely tied to the success of individual projects and the performance of their underlying assets — factors that are difficult to forecast at this stage,” he said.

Seyffart agrees that the pipeline of crypto-related products is about to burst — but he’s more skeptical about how many will stick.

“If all of those filings ultimately launch, there will undoubtedly be some closures within the next few years,” Seyffart said. He expects “decent demand for plenty of these products,” but believes expectations need to be calibrated—especially for altcoins.

“I’m not sure that some of these longer tail altcoins will be able to have 5+ successful ETFs,” he said. “If people are gauging their success on the level of bitcoin ETFs — they will be severely disappointed. But if others are expecting all of them to fail — they will also be severely disappointed.”

In his view, the market is entering a test phase where issuers will throw many products at the wall to see what sticks. “These issuers are gonna launch a lot of products and try to find something that sticks,” Seyffart said. He predicts the next 12 to 18 months will see “hundreds of crypto-related ETP launches.”

Both analysts agree on a central point: the ETF format creates a highly competitive landscape where investor interest is the ultimate arbiter of success. While SEC approval might open the gates, it’s asset flows that will determine who stays afloat.

In the ETF world, product closures are a feature — not a flaw. Just like in the stock market, low demand or poor performance can lead funds to shut down. For investors, that means not every new crypto ETF will be worth betting on, even if it carries the name of a popular blockchain project.

For example, a Solana ETF might find buyers if the underlying token continues to attract developers and users. But five separate ETFs based on the same coin? That’s where both Seyffart and Geraci say the market will likely intervene.

“If demand doesn’t show up, those products will close,” Seyffart said.

Behind this boom is the broader institutional acceptance of crypto. Since the SEC approved spot bitcoin and ether ETFs last year, asset managers have rushed to file new offerings tied to Solana (SOL), XRP, dogecoin (DOGE) and many others and even basket funds tracking multiple coins. These products give traditional investors a regulated way to access crypto markets without setting up wallets or managing private keys.

But with that access comes the responsibility to be discerning.

“In the end, investors will decide which products make sense and which don’t,” Geraci said. “That’s how the ETF market has always worked.”

And with hundreds of crypto funds potentially hitting the market soon, that decision may need to come quickly.

Reddit's shift in royalties to artists may enhance creator incentives but could limit platform-driven NFT innovation and community growth.

The post Reddit sunsets Collectible Avatar Creator Program and shifts royalties to artists appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

El Salvador's move highlights growing concerns over quantum computing's potential to disrupt cryptographic security in financial systems.

The post El Salvador relocates Bitcoin reserve into multiple wallets to reduce exposure to quantum attacks appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

According to the latest report, prominent legal attorney Alex Spiro has been listed as the chairman of a new digital asset treasury firm that aims to raise $200 million to invest in Dogecoin.

What Elon Musk Knows About The Dogecoin Treasury?

In an August 29 report, Fortune revealed that Alex Spiro, a lawyer who has represented popular figures like Elon Musk, Jay-Z, and Alec Baldwin, is set to chair a public company looking to invest in Dogecoin. According to unnamed sources, this digital asset treasury intends to raise at least $200 million to purchase the largest meme coin by market capitalization.

The initiative is being pitched to investors as a Dogecoin public vehicle with the endorsement of House of Doge in order to boost its legitimacy. House of Doge, launched in early 2025 by the Dogecoin Foundation, is the official corporate entity behind the meme coin, burdened with its development and promotion.

The Fortune report revealed that the Dogecoin treasury is still at the pitch stage and didn’t provide any details on the structure or potential launch date of the public vehicle. While his personal lawyer Spiro has been listed as chairman of the public company in an investor pitch, there has been no indication of Musk’s potential role in the initiative.

It is worth noting that Musk has been a vocal supporter of DOGE as far back as 2019, claiming the meme coin to be his favorite cryptocurrency. Showing his support for the meme token, the world’s richest man designed a DOGE-only payment system for his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

Musk’s posts about Dogecoin have always caused the token’s price to move, leading to a scrutiny of his market influence by investors and the crypto community. In 2022, the Tesla founder was defended in court by Spiro after investors sued him for allegedly manipulating the market.

As of this writing, the price of DOGE stands at around $0.2134, reflecting an over 3% decline in the past 24 hours. The meme coin is down by nearly 10% in the last seven days.

Crypto Treasury Firms Taking Center Stage?

Crypto treasury firms have continued to gain popularity in the digital asset industry in 2025, with new public vehicles popping up over the past few months. These publicly-traded companies hold digital assets on their books, offering their shareholders exposure to the crypto assets without directly owning them.

In July 2025, Bit Origin revealed that it had raised around $500 million in loans and equity to build its DOGE treasury. This initiative made it the first publicly traded company in the United States to openly make Dogecoin the core asset on its balance sheet.

Tom Lee, veteran trading analyst, Fundstrat co‑founder, and the strategist behind BitMine’s Ethereum treasury strategy, is once again championing Ethereum. 

During an interview with Mario Nawfal on X, Lee acknowledged how the broader crypto community appeared to abandon Ethereum in favor of faster alternatives like Solana and Sui. However, institutional investors, particularly Wall Street players, value something far more important, which only Ethereum can provide.

Retail Chases Speed, Wall Street Favors Reliability

In the interview, Lee challenges the belief that blockchain networks must prioritize transaction speed above all. Rather, he argues that institutional investors, particularly Wall Street investors, place much greater value on uptime and reliability, qualities that Ethereum has despite being slower at its base layer.

Lee said that retail investors abandoned Ethereum because they thought faster was better, leading them toward high-throughput networks like Solana and Sui with seemingly superior economics. But according to him, Wall Street thinks differently. Institutions prioritize “100 % uptime,” because they can always deploy on layer‑2 solutions to compensate for Ethereum’s base-layer speed limitations. 

Interestingly, Lee pointed to staking as another factor in which Ethereum is better than its counterparts. According to Lee, staking isn’t just about yield, but it’s about influence. “If Goldman stakes enough ETH, they have a positive voice on the Ethereum itself and how they upgrade,” he said. In short, institutional stakeholders like Goldman Sachs would care more about influencing Ethereum through staking, but this is not a weakness.

Lee noted that many veteran investors he recently spoke with still see Ethereum as underperforming, not because of any technological shortcomings, but because its price consistently lagged behind Bitcoin for months. However, this perception is now beginning to shift with Ethereum’s price action since July. 

After Ethereum broke past $4,800, the strength in price is improving confidence among crypto investors, and this momentum could set the stage for much larger growth for its price action in the near future.

Ethereum Price Action

Ethereum indeed has been on a remarkable upward arc since July. In late August 2025, the Ethereum price smashed through its previous all‑time high and traded above $4,880 for the first time since 2021, before finally peaking at $4,946. This, in turn, saw the Ethereum total market cap almost hitting the $600 billion mark

The rally wasn’t just price action. It echoed structural shifts in the institutional inflow dynamics into large cryptocurrencies, especially as seen in the performance of Spot Ethereum ETFs compared to Bitcoin.

Although Ethereum has since entered into a correction path down to the $4,400 level, the sentiment surrounding Ethereum is still bullish. Analysts have raised year‑end forecasts of Ethereum from between $6,000 and $12,000, based on increased institutional engagement and a positive influence from the US Genius Act. At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading at $4,390, up by 1.1% in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Recent data from Bitcoin and gold ETFs revealed a departure from historical trends this month: instead of flows moving in opposite directions as they normally do, both Bitcoin and gold experienced outflows at the same time.

This rare correlation speaks volumes about the current macroeconomic environment and shifting investor psychology. Bitcoin outflows didn’t benefit gold, and until the Fed’s path is clearer, both assets remain under pressure.

Bitcoin outflows, hard assets are feeling the pain

Traditionally, when investors pull money out of Bitcoin, gold, the ultimate safe-haven asset, sees a surge in inflows, and vice versa. That’s because Bitcoin and gold are seen as alternative stores of value and hedges against traditional financial market risks.

Investors often view them as uncorrelated assets because their prices and demand don’t typically move in tandem with stocks or bonds. However, each asset appeals to different risk appetites and market conditions

Not so this month. Bitcoin ETFs recorded six straight days of outflows, draining nearly $2 billion in late August alone. Meanwhile, outflows from major gold ETFs, such as GLDM, also spiked, with $449 million exiting in just one week.

Despite record Bitcoin outflows and a broader crypto market pullback, Bitcoin ETFs rebounded toward the end of August, with a four-day inflow streak through the pullback. Gold ETFs also saw net inflows during the last days of August 2025, tracking a similar rebound as Bitcoin ETFs, and suggesting a possible change in investor sentiment as the month closes.

Macro uncertainty rules

The backdrop for this unusual behavior is a cocktail of economic crosswinds: uncertainty around Federal Reserve monetary policy, persistent inflation, and signs of a softer labor market. With the Fed’s next move unclear, Bitcoin and gold may not be especially attractive to investors seeking clarity or certainty.

Sticky inflation keeps the Fed hawkish, yet waning job growth undercuts confidence in further rate hikes.

This uncomfortable limbo leaves markets in a risk-off posture, where both speculative and defensive assets struggle to gain traction.

Waiting for the Fed’s next move

Bitcoin, often dubbed “digital gold,” inflows are stalling right now because investors aren’t feeling risk-on. Yet gold, which typically shines in periods of heightened fear, is also not benefiting from Bitcoin outflows.

Inflation concerns and shifting rate expectations are undermining gold’s historic safe-haven narrative. Instead of moving in opposition, both assets faced outflows as investors either shift to cash, seek higher-yielding alternatives, or wait for the Fed’s next move.

Until monetary policy direction becomes clearer, both Bitcoin and gold may continue to face headwinds. Macro investors value certainty, and, at the moment, ambiguity reigns.

This lethal combination makes it difficult for investors to predict whether rates will rise, a recession is coming, or inflation will surge again, leading to broader uncertainty across financial markets.

For now, Bitcoin outflows aren’t benefiting gold, and both assets are caught on the sidelines, waiting for the Fed to declare a new direction.

The post Bitcoin outflows aren’t benefiting gold; both assets feel the pressure appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The debate about Bitcoin as a method of payment versus a store of value is ongoing. With prices consistently above $100k, the relentless push from ETF issuers and Bitcoin treasury companies, and the inevitable institutionalization of the space, using Bitcoin for small payments seems more alien than ever.

But is Jack Dorsey right in saying that Bitcoin fails if it’s only a store of value and not used for payments?

Bitcoin as a method of payment

Bitcoin was fundamentally created as a means of payment, a real form of electronic cash for private, peer-to-peer transactions, while its store of value status appeared later as an added benefit. As BitVM creator Robin Linus states:

“Bitcoin’s purpose is payments—store of value is just a neat byproduct.”

Over time, the dominant narrative around Bitcoin has shifted heavily toward “digital gold” and institutional investment, and many influential voices, like Dorsey and Linus, argue this misses the project’s original spirit and shortchanges its long-term relevance. Linus reinforced the historical perspective, declaring:

“The cypherpunk vision was clearly electronic cash for private, peer-to-peer payments. The ‘digital asset’ narrative came later from others. Strange that this is even controversial”.

Dorsey doubled down on his statement, saying:

“I think it has to be payments for it to be relevant on the everyday, otherwise, it’s just something you kind of buy and forget and only use in emergency situations or when you want to get liquid again. So I think if it doesn’t transition to payments and find that everyday use case, it just gets increasingly irrelevant. And that’s failure to me.”

Satoshi’s words leave no doubt

Satoshi Nakamoto’s very first communications, emails, and the infamous Bitcoin whitepaper make it clear that Bitcoin is about e-cash, currency, money, and payments. His intentions for Bitcoin as a method of payment are unambiguous.

In early emails with Adam Back in 2008, Satoshi described Bitcoin as a breakthrough method for building peer-to-peer electronic currency, referencing previous digital cash projects and focusing on payments.

He wrote about proof-of-work as a way to enable currency on a distributed timestamp server, making the intent for payments crystal clear.

Changing narratives: from currency to asset

Over the years, the narrative has shifted. Institutionalization arrived in the form of ETFs, “Number Go Up” (NGU)-focused marketing, and conversations about Bitcoin as a portfolio hedge.

While bringing liquidity and broader acceptance, these changes have arguably moved the ecosystem away from solutions that benefit everyday people and real-world payment use cases; a divergence from Satoshi’s vision.

While Bitcoin’s rise as a store of value has been notorious, it has overshadowed its true foundation in private, peer-to-peer, digital payments.

Some of the project’s strongest voices, Dorsey, Linus, Swan, and even Satoshi himself, remind the community that genuine, universal utility depends on embracing Bitcoin as money in action, not just money in storage.

Bitcoin Audible host Guy Swann called for a serious public debate, tagging the likes of Dorsey and Linus, and other influential Bitcoin community members like Michael Saylor, Saifedean Ammous, and Adam Back:

“I want the best here who will bring real arguments. Not just taglines, moral posturing, and quotes from the whitepaper.”

Relegating Bitcoin to a mere store of value risks losing the original vision and utility that once set it apart. The future of Bitcoin as a method of payment depends on a community willing to challenge prevailing narratives and restore focus on payments and real-world adoption.

The post Bitcoin is for payments; store of value is ‘just a neat byproduct’: BitVM creator appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin briefly fell below $108,000 on August 30, marking its weakest level since early July. The move came as market watchers tracked heavy selling pressure from a whale wallet that had been dormant for years.

Several on-chain analysts noted that the whale address suddenly began shifting large amounts of BTC, raising concern among traders.

Bitcoin Slips as Dormant Whale Shifts Billions Into Ethereum

On August 29, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported that an entity controlling more than $5 billion in Bitcoin was transferring it to Ethereum.

According to the firm, the whale moved about $1.1 billion worth of the asset into a new address before beginning a wave of Ethereum purchases.

Notably, Arkham said the whale had already accumulated roughly $2.5 billion in ETH last week.

Lookonchain, another blockchain analysis firm, reported that the whale had shifted 4,000 BTC—worth over $430 million—into Hyperliquid early Saturday. The move added weight to speculation that the whale was actively rotating into ETH.

Meanwhile, the whale’s aggressive repositioning quickly rippled through the broader market.

According to BeInCrypto data, Bitcoin shed about 2% in 24 hours, slipping below $108,000, while Ethereum gained a nearly identical percentage over the same window.

Crypto traders speculating on these asset prices also absorbed heavy losses.

Data from CoinGlass showed total liquidations across crypto assets exceeding $400 million in a single day. Ethereum’s long positions were hit hardest, with $133 million wiped out, while its Bitcoin counterparts lost $109 million.

Considering this, Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, warned that Bitcoin needs to recover the $112,000 mark to avoid deeper losses quickly. He projected that BTC could test support closer to $100,000 if momentum fails to return.

Moreno also pointed to sentiment gauges that remain firmly negative. The firm’s Bull Score index dropped to 20 earlier this week and has stayed there since—a reading that signals an “extreme bearish” environment.

So, until those metrics improve, analysts expect volatility to remain elevated.

The post Bitcoin Risks Deeper Drop Toward $100,000 Amid Whale Rotation Into Ethereum appeared first on BeInCrypto.

On the surface, the crypto market seems to be having a lackluster day, trading flat since yesterday. Over the past week, most categories—smart contract platforms, layer-1s, DeFi tokens, DEX tokens, and even meme coins—have been under pressure. The global crypto market cap has dropped from $4 trillion to $3.86 trillion, a decline of 3.5% over the past few days.

But under the surface, smart money—wallets known for quick gains and sharper positioning—are quietly accumulating. Here are three altcoins Smart Money are buying despite the broader market weakness.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu has corrected more than 6% over the past seven days, but the pullback seems to have drawn strong buying interest.

With September rate cuts on the horizon and risk-on appetite returning, smart money appears to be positioning early in SHIB, making it one of the altcoins Smart Money wallets are buying right now.

On-chain data confirms this. Over the past week, smart money wallets lifted their holdings by 9.29%, adding about 3.78 billion SHIB.

But the bigger picture is even more telling. The top 100 addresses accumulated another 152.7 billion SHIB, while exchange balances dropped by 1.1 trillion SHIB.

In total, nearly 1.2 trillion SHIB, worth approximately $15.7 million, has shifted into stronger hands, indicating that accumulation extends far beyond just smart money.

Technicals provide further support. Looking at the 4-hour chart, which often reveals short-term trend reversals, SHIB has just flipped bullish after six consecutive bearish sessions.

The bull bear power (BBP) indicator, which measures the balance of buying and selling pressure, has turned positive, hinting that bulls are regaining control.

The immediate resistance sits at $0.00001244. A 4-hour close above this level could pave the way toward $0.00001273, while downside risks resurface below $0.00001216 and invalidate fully under $0.00001198.

For token TA and market updates: Want more token insights like this? Sign up for Editor Harsh Notariya’s Daily Crypto Newsletter here.

Uniswap (UNI)

Uniswap’s token has had a relatively muted August, with prices sliding more than 3.5% over the past month. Despite this correction, smart money has been quietly building positions, suggesting growing confidence in the DEX token narrative. With stablecoin liquidity and decentralized trading activity steadily rising, tokens like UNI remain central to the DeFi space.

That context, along with expectations of September rate cuts, may be pushing smart money to accumulate now.

Over the last 30 days, smart money holdings of UNI rose 6.51%, bringing their total stash to 41.67 million UNI. At the current UNI price of $9.77, that translates into buying of roughly $24.9 million.

Whales have also added to their positions, picking up 8.74 million UNI. At the same time, exchange reserves dropped by 0.89%, or 5.8 million UNI, signaling outflows.

Altogether, this accumulation reflects over $167 million in UNI buying strength spread across smart money, whales, and exchange outflows—highlighting that UNI is one of the altcoins Smart Money are buying aggressively.

From a technical perspective, UNI is trading at $9.77 and remains supported by a long-term ascending trendline that has acted as the base of a broader pattern.

Immediate resistance is at $9.90, and a breakout above that level could open upside toward $10.20 and $10.50.

The more decisive test lies at $11.63, which would confirm a bullish reversal. However, if UNI slips below $8.67, it would invalidate this setup and shift sentiment back to the bears.

Lido DAO (LDO)

Lido DAO (LDO), another DeFi bet following Uniswap, has also attracted accumulation from smart money in the past week.

Despite LDO correcting by over 17% in late August, smart money added 2.36% to its stash, now holding 26.48 million tokens. The top 100 addresses mirrored this bias, lifting their holdings by 0.13% (around 1.08 million tokens, worth $1.32 million).

At the same time, exchange balances fell by 2.2 million tokens valued at nearly $2.7 million.

Together, this translates into more than $4.7 million in net buying pressure, suggesting broad accumulation from smart money and large holders even as whales trimmed their stash by 13.48% (15.68 million tokens).

Technically, the 4-hour chart shows that LDO has broken out of a descending triangle that had capped price action since August 23.

This move means the bearish trend has been invalidated, though it does not yet confirm a bullish reversal. It is interesting to note that the bearish power, per the BBP indicator, has also waned.

Smart money may be betting that invalidating this bearish setup could open the door for a short-term rebound, provided price builds strength above $1.26. If that level is flipped, the next test would be $1.29, which remains a major resistance.

For invalidation, if LDO falls back under $1.21, it would slip beneath the broken trendline, raising doubts over the rebound. A decisive breakdown below $1.18 would fully invalidate smart money’s optimism and return momentum to the bears.

The post 3 Altcoins Smart Money Are Buying During Market Pullback appeared first on BeInCrypto.

The Bitcoin price never really caught a break over the past week, falling below the $110,000 mark by Tuesday, August 26. While it looked set to make a strong comeback, jumping back above $113,000 on Thursday, the flagship cryptocurrency is now struggling around a new multi-week low of around $107,500.

This recent price decline has sparked conversations around the BTC bull cycle potentially reaching its peak, especially considering the market is currently dominated by euphoria. However, a crypto analyst on social media platform X has come forward with an audacious prediction for the Bitcoin price over the next few months.

BTC To Reach Cycle Top In December 2025: Analyst

Crypto analyst Frank Fetter—after a renowned American economist—took to the X platform to submit an exciting and bold prediction for the price of Bitcoin in the remaining months of 2025. According to the online pundit, the Bitcoin price could reach as high as $256,000 in this cycle.

This positive projection is based on the Bitcoin Index Performance Since Cycle Low, which assesses the performance of the BTC price in various 4-year cycle periods. This metric reflects the cyclical nature of the largest cryptocurrency market. While many reports are predicting the cycle theory to be dead, this particular chart shows that Bitcoin has yet to even complete the current bull cycle in the first place.

As observed in the highlighted chart, the Bitcoin Index Performance data suggests that the Bitcoin price, in the past two cycles (2015 – 2018 and 2018 – 2022), reached its peak around 1,100 days after hitting its cycle low. The premier cryptocurrency grew by 110x and 21x in these 2015 – 2018 and 2018 – 2022 cycles, respectively.

With the market leader currently up by over 7x from its last cycle low and around 100 days away from the historical top, Fetter projects the price of BTC to reach as high as $256,000 based on the 2018 – 2022 fractal. If this history does repeat itself, it means the flagship cryptocurrency would have grown 16x by the end of this cycle.

According to the analyst, the Bitcoin price could reach this target as early as December 3, 2025. This potential leg up would represent an almost 140% move from the current price point for BTC.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands around $108,301, reflecting a nearly 4% decline in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the premier cryptocurrency is down by more than 7% is the last seven days.

Japan’s Gumi Inc., known in the gaming sector, is moving deeper into crypto by planning a major purchase of XRP. The company said it will acquire 2.5 billion yen, or close to $17 million, worth of the token as part of its blockchain push.

Accumulation Over Several Months

According to a press release, the acquisition will not be a single purchase. Instead, Gumi will buy XRP gradually from September 2025 through February 2026.

By spreading out its spending, the company appears to be aiming at lowering risk from sudden price changes in the market.

XRP Price Could See Boost

Analysts say Gumi’s steady, large-scale commitment could act as a price catalyst. With 2.5 billion yen entering the market over several months, consistent buying pressure might create upward momentum — especially if other institutions keep adding XRP to their treasuries.

The move also sends a signal: a gaming organization tied to SBI Holdings is backing XRP’s role in cross-border payments and liquidity solutions. That confidence could draw extra investor attention to the token’s long-term utility.

The company explained the move as part of its effort to get involved with XRP’s ecosystem. It highlighted XRP’s role in global remittances and its expanding use in financial services.

Ripple’s close ties with SBI Holdings, Gumi’s major shareholder, were also pointed out as an important factor in the decision.

Before this XRP announcement, Gumi had already added Bitcoin to its balance sheet. Earlier this year, the company spent 1 billion yen, around $6.7 million, to acquire BTC.

That investment didn’t just sit idle. The Bitcoin was staked on Babylon, a protocol that allows holders to earn rewards while waiting for possible price gains.

With that strategy already in motion, the company is now set to run a two-pronged approach: Bitcoin will be used to generate steady income through staking, while XRP will be held as a long-term asset tied to its growing utility in payments and liquidity management.

The Japanese gaming giant’s latest move comes at a time when a growing number of institutions are welcoming XRP into their balance sheets. Over recent months, several entities have disclosed their treasury game plans that include the top altcoin. Their aim, similar to Gumi’s, is to position ahead of potential gains if adoption pushes the price higher.

For Gumi, this is more than a financial experiment. Executives believe Bitcoin and XRP together can provide a base for its blockchain-related business. They say the two assets will support growth in revenue while helping the company build lasting value.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView