The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced the withdrawal of guidance for banks related to their crypto asset and stablecoin activities, with changes to its expectations for these engagements. According to a statement, the move aims to ensure its supervisory approach remains aligned with evolving risks and to support innovation within the banking system further. Policy Changes As part of this shift, the Board is rescinding its 2022 supervisory letter. The directive had required state member banks to provide advance notification of any planned or ongoing crypto asset activities. Under the new rules, banks will no longer be expected to submit such communications. The Fed is also revoking a similar order from 2023 regarding the non-objection process for state member banks engaging in stablecoin activities. This eliminates the requirement for financial institutions to obtain prior approval before participating in such activities. Oversight will now fall under standard regulatory supervision, with no need for pre-clearance Additionally, the Federal Reserve, together with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), is withdrawing from two joint statements issued in 2023 by federal bank regulatory agencies. These communications had outlined the regulators’ views on the risks associated with crypto-asset exposures and provided preliminary guidance for banks operating in those markets. Following the adjustments, the Fed will now work with the relevant agencies to evaluate whether additional or updated guidance is needed to support innovation on crypto-related activities. This strategy reversal comes just weeks after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) made a similar move. The federal banking regulator also rolled back restrictions that had limited the involvement of financial institutions with crypto assets. Before these policies were introduced, some industry figures had claimed that they and their businesses were denied traditional banking services solely because of their association with the digital asset industry. These allegations formed the basis of what came to be known as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” Positive Industry Developments Thursday’s decision is the latest in a series of favorable outcomes for the crypto industry under the Trump administration. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it would no longer pursue criminal charges against crypto exchanges, developers, or users involved in regulatory violations. That development followed the disbanding of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), a specialized DOJ unit that had previously handled crypto-related criminal cases. In February, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reduced the size of its department responsible for crypto prosecution. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also downsized its digital asset enforcement teams in January, leaving just two groups to handle relevant cases. The post Fed Lifts Crypto Restrictions for Banks in Landmark Shift appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-26 00:54

Public companies are increasing their Bitcoin accumulation at a fast pace, with Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey forecasting that they could collectively hold between 2 and 3 million BTC by the end of 2026. According to an April 25 X post from Bailey, new companies are announcing BTC treasury strategies nearly every week, which he believes will increase to daily soon. Bailey’s Prediction The executive anticipates that more than 1,000 cash-flowing and capital-raising public entities will eventually participate in the Bitcoin buying trend, covering every market, appearing in every index, and using various investment wrappers to gain exposure to the digital asset. Currently, public firms hold over 700,000 BTC. Bailey outlined two scenarios for how this number could grow. If the crypto’s price remains flat, he expects public company holdings to exceed 1 million BTC by the end of this year. However, increased liquidity would likely encourage firms to expand their BTC programs even faster if the asset begins to rally. Under that scenario, he said it would be “reasonable” to expect public entities to collectively hold between 2 and 3 million BTC by late 2026. This outlook is supported by recent data from Bitwise, which reported on April 14 that the number of publicly traded firms holding Bitcoin rose by 16.11% in Q1 2025. Further, companies with the flagship cryptocurrency on their balance sheets increased to 79. This figure marks a 17.91% quarter-over-quarter growth, with 12 new additions during the period. Bitwise attributed the surge to a recent rule change by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), allowing firms to report BTC at fair market value. Top Public Traded BTC Holders Michael Saylor’s Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of the digital asset. The firm’s stash now stands at 538,200 BTC after purchasing an additional 6,556 BTC for $555.8 million earlier this week. In total, the outfit has spent $36.47 billion acquiring the cryptocurrency at an average price of $67,766 per BTC. Other top holders include mining operations such as MARA Holdings with 47,600 BTC, Riot Platforms with 19,223 BTC, CleanSpark with 11,869 BTC, as well as electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla with 11,509. Interest is growing globally as well. Japanese investment firm Metaplanet has committed to acquiring 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025. In line with this, it has adopted an aggressive accumulation strategy this year. In April alone, the outfit has made 4 buys of 696 BTC on the 1st, 319 BTC on the 14th, 330 BTC on the 21st, and 145 BTC on the 24th, bringing its total reserve to 5,000 BTC. The post CEO Forecast: Public Companies Could Control 3M BTC by 2026 appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 22:38

The crypto derivatives market is roaring back to life, with Binance Futures leading the charge as its latest monthly trading volume surged past $1.04 trillion, eclipsing February’s $962 billion and March’s $683 billion. This growth in activity has coincided with Bitcoin’s latest rise from the $85,000 level to beyond $94,000, sparking fresh debate over the role of leverage in fueling the latest price run-up. Binance’s Dominance CryptoQuant analyst JA Maartun first reported the rapid uptick in Binance Futures volume activity. He noted that April’s futures volume had already surpassed February and March totals, even though a few days remain before the month ends. According to him, only January’s $1.23 trillion ranks higher in 2025. The growth wasn’t only seen in Binance, with competitors like OKX and Bybit registering substantial spikes, too. OKX has recorded $519.9 billion in volume, a significant improvement from the $427 billion and $306.7 billion attained in February and March, respectively. Bitget follows closely, jumping to $435.4 billion from the $270.6 billion transacted last month. On the other hand, Bybit’s April futures volume has just exceeded $409 billion, a vast improvement on its March figures of $248.4 billion. The influx comes around the same time Bitcoin is experiencing a sharp rebound in its price. In the past week, the number one cryptocurrency climbed from around $85,000 to highs of $94,700 earlier today. This nearly 12% move also unfolded within a highly active trading window, where Binance’s aggressive taker activity, market buys that fill sell orders at prevailing prices, played a dominant role. Over the past month, the platform’s taker buy/sell ratio went up nearly 19%, with a 7-day gain of 6.2%. It resulted in a net taker volume of close to $62 million, the highest in weeks, and a strong indicator that confident buyers are now driving the market narrative. A Bullish Breakout or Overheated Rally? However, beneath this surface-level euphoria lies a more nuanced and cautious sentiment, especially when examining the behavior of short-term holders (STH) and miners. Maartun posted a striking datapoint on X, showing over 47,000 BTC was sent to exchanges in a 24-hour window by STHs looking to make a profit. The broader wave of strategic selling across the crypto ecosystem also adds to the profit-taking narrative. As reported by CryptoPotato , BTC miners gained about $18.6 million, selling as the asset’s price approached $93,000. Ethereum whales have been no less restrained, offloading over 305,000 ETH valued at almost $540 million to exchanges within the past week. Some observers feel these synchronized moves could signal an undercurrent of skepticism about the sustainability of the current rallies both cryptocurrencies are experiencing, even with prices rising. The post Binance Futures Volume Soars Past $1T: Is Leverage Fueling the Crypto Rally? appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 20:24

It was just over two weeks ago when the predominant sentiment in the cryptocurrency market was whether the bull run had ended prematurely, as BTC’s price had tumbled to a five-month low of under $75,000. Now, the asset is pushing above $95,000. A big portion of those gains came in the past week. As we explained in the Market Update from last Friday, the previous week went rather calmly, with BTC’s price trading sideways around $85,000. The weekend was similar, but the bulls stepped up on the gas pedal on Monday and didn’t look back. At the time, bitcoin jumped by over three grand and broke out of its tight range where $86,000 played the role of an upper boundary. Just a day later, the cryptocurrency shot up past $90,000 for the first time since early March, and the gains kept on coming . Perhaps driven by some reports claiming the trade war between the US and China had calmed, at least for the time being, bitcoin flew past $95,000 earlier today to mark a two-month high. Naturally, the sentiment has changed once again, and the crowd is now asking whether $100,000 will fall next and when we will see a new all-time high. Looking at the weekly chart, BTC’s performance is quite impressive. The asset has gained more than 12%. However, many altcoins have posted even more notable price gains, such as SOL, DOGE, ADA, LINK, AVAX, and, of course, SUI, which has skyrocketed by 75% to trade at $3.7 now. Market Data Cryptocurrency Market Overview Weekly. Source: QuantifyCrypto Market Cap: $3.09T | 24H Vol: $115B | BTC Dominance: 61.3% BTC: $95,300 (+12.8%) | ETH: $1,807 (+13.7%) | XRP: $2.21 (+6.6%) This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss ARK Invest Explains How Bitcoin (BTC) Could Shoot Up to $1.5 Million by 2030 . Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest continues to be highly bullish on bitcoin’s price potential by upping its long-term prediction to somewhere between $1.5 million and $2.4 million per BTC. You can check Ark’s reasoning here . Bitcoin (BTC) Shows Resilience as It Strengthens and Decouples from Stock Markets . After the tariff-induced shock and price massacre, bitcoin’s aforementioned recovery brought a lot of hope back to the market. Moreover, the asset decoupled from traditional stocks, which showed strength and resilience, said CryptoQuant. Bitcoin ETFs Record Largest Inflows Since Trump’s Inauguration in January . The economic uncertainty prompted by Trump’s trade war led to large outflows from the BTC ETFs within the past few months. However, the trend has changed now, with several consecutive days of net inflows. Moreover, April 22 became the highest single-day of net inflows since Trump’s inauguration. Dinner with the President: Whales Go Crazy as TRUMP Coin Skyrockets . Among the most controversial news coming from US President Trump regarding the crypto community this week was the update on TRUMP’s meme coin website stating that the top 220 holders will have a chance to attend a special dinner with the POTUS. Naturally, this led to an immediate buying frenzy and price volatility. Charles Hoskinson Says Ethereum May Not Survive the Next Decade . During another AMA session, Charles Hoskinson, who is not only the brain behind Cardano but also helped co-found Ethereum, said the latter’s struggles will continue in the following decade and warned that today’s second-biggest blockchain network might not survive. Arthur Hayes Predicts $200K Bitcoin Fueled by Treasury Buybacks . While Ark Invest expects a BTC price within the millions (in dollars) in the next 5-6 years, Arthur Hayes was more modest, making a case that the asset can skyrocket to $200,000 but on a shorter timeframe. He believes treasury buybacks will be a key reason behind such a potential rally. Charts This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Hype, and Solana – click here for the complete price analysis . The post BTC Eyes $100K Amid Trade War Deescalation and Trump’s Special Dinner Announcement: Your Weekly Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 18:39

TL;DR Despite the recent minor resurgance, ETH continues to be among the biggest underperformers in the past several months, failing to chart a new all-time high and losing a massive chunk of its value. However, one analyst believes this could be a blessing in disguise for the second-largest cryptocurrency as it can pull off a big XRP-like rally. ETHUSD. Source: TradingView Can ETH Do an XRP? Although it failed to near, match, or break its all-time high of over $4,800 this time around, ETH also went on the offensive after the US elections. It skyrocketed from $2,400 to a multi-year peak of its own at just over $4,000. However, it couldn’t keep the momentum going and started to lose value rapidly in Q1 2025, which became its worst in quite some time. April saw more pain as ether plunged to $1,400, thus erasing roughly seven years of gains. Despite recovering to almost $1,800 as of press time, ETH is still below the pre-election levels. It’s down by nearly $2,000 since July when the Ethereum ETFs went live in the US. The painful landscape is visible from a lot of angles – whales selling , Galaxy Digital replacing ETH with SOL, large withdrawals from the ETFs, and so on. However, some analysts see this darkness around the Ethereum ecosystem as a potential long-term entry. Remember when $XRP ‘s price lagged and CT thought it was dead? $ETH ‘s price is lagging now. Institutional demand will soon rise. Don’t fade. DYOR pic.twitter.com/e4WftuxIBt — CryptoBusy (@CryptoBusy) April 25, 2025 In contrast, XRP became one of the rockstars of the late 2024/early 2025 run, surging by triple digits from $0.6 to almost $3.4. Although it still couldn’t break its 2018 ATH, it came inches away. Despite the recent market-wide correction, Ripple’s cross-border token is still well above $2 and has narrowed the gap with ETH in terms of market cap. CryptoBusy compared XRP’s sideways price movements, which went on for years, to ETH’s lagging performance as of now and predicted that “institutional demand” for the latter will soon rise. When is The Next Leg Up? Wess told their 100,000 followers on X that ETH inflows are “spiking,” adding that the market is yet to catch up. The self-proclaimed “meme coin degen” said Ethereum just witnessed its biggest daily inflow into accumulation addresses on April 22, which suggests that “some serious players are clearly loading up while price hovers around $1,750.” They added that on-chain activity is picking up, with active addresses jumping by 10% in two days. At the same time, DEX volumes are “stuck,” DeFi still “feels asleep,” and broader usage “hasn’t followed the ETH inflows just yet.” Consequently, Wess asked whether this is a “quiet” whale accumulation before the next leg up or “are we just catching knives in a longer downtrend.” $ETH inflows are spiking… but does the market care (yet)? Ethereum just saw its biggest-ever daily inflow into accumulation addresses: 449K ETH on April 22 alone. Some serious players are clearly loading up while price hovers around $1,750. Onchain activity is picking up too… pic.twitter.com/lFMl4vjPeG — Wess (@WessWeb3) April 24, 2025 The post Can Ethereum (ETH) Pull a Ripple (XRP) This Cycle? appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 16:43

Bitcoin has pulled off a clean breakout above a key resistance zone, with momentum picking up across both timeframes and confirmation coming from on-chain activity. Technical Analysis By Edris Derakhshi The Daily Chart BTC has broken above the $92,000 level after consolidating for most of April. This breakout comes after a successful reclaim of the 200-day moving average, located around the $89,000 mark, which now acts as strong support around $88,000. The next major resistance lies at $100,000, while support is now locked in at the $92,000 breakout zone. Judging by the bullish momentum, however, a continuation toward the $100,000 level is more probable in the coming weeks. The 4-Hour Chart On the 4-hour chart, price surged through the $92,000 resistance with high volume and has started forming a tight consolidation just above it, signaling a healthy continuation pattern. The RSI also briefly spiked above 70 and is now stabilizing around the 60–65 range, leaving room for further upside without being overextended. Any retest of the $92,000 zone that holds would reinforce this level as a new base before continuation higher. On-Chain Analysis By Edris Derakhshi Net Unrealized Profit Loss (NUPL) Net Unrealized Profit/Loss (NUPL) has bounced sharply, moving back into the belief/optimism zone. This indicates that holders are once again sitting on significant unrealized profits, but sentiment hasn’t yet flipped to euphoria. This phase historically supports price continuation as holders remain confident and are less likely to sell aggressively. With NUPL well below its extreme peak levels, there’s still runway for further upside before greed tops out. The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Is $100K Inevitable After Recent Breakout? appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 15:45

TL;DR The XRP army continues to post about the asset’s enormous potential during this and future bull cycles, indicating massive price predictions of up to $100 per coin. In this article, we will review some of the latest, and a few of them are actually achievable in the short- to medium-term. How High Can XRP Go? To say that Ripple and its native cross-border token have a large and loud online community would be an understatement. To say that they are (almost) always bullish and full of surprising and massive price predictions would be another one. Let’s start with Oscar Ramos, who cited a Bitwise analysis and determined that $2 will be a “thing of the past.” He believes that once the XRP ETFs are approved in the US, “bears will get wrecked” and the asset’s price will go parabolic ($29.32 target by 2030). Recall that there are ten such applications sitting on the US SEC’s desk. While the chances for a green light are quite high, at least according to Polymarket, the actual approval doesn’t guarantee success for the underlying asset. Just see how much lower ETH trades now compared to before the Ethereum ETFs went live last summer. After the $29.32 goal set by Bitwise and Ramos, we go even higher. Brett, who has put XRP in his bio on X, which usually increases the impartiality factor and boosts trust, has set an even more mindblowing target of $55. $XRP TO $55 According to Sistine Research, the altcoin could hit $33-$50 by 2027 — a potential 1500%-2500% price rally. ARE YOU READY FOR THIS XRPIANS pic.twitter.com/hlWqsqUbEj — Brett (@Brett_Crypto_X) April 25, 2025 Despite the X handle, “XRP_Queen” was a lot more modest, suggesting a ‘bold’ price prediction of $6.5 per XRP. Compared to the others, this one seems like a bear case. We are not saying the other predictions are insane or unimaginable, but we would put this one in the ‘achievable’ column. Maybe Even $100? Well, when we are talking about wild and shocking XRP price predictions, you should refer to this article . In it, we cited a popular social media influencer with over 500,000 followers on X who laid out XRP’s path to, yes, $100. That’s $100 per XRP. Although his reasoning has its merits, such a mind-blowing number would require breaking a few financial laws. For instance, XRP would need to skyrocket by 4,450% from its current $2.2 price tag. Let’s assume it does, then its market cap would be just shy of $6 trillion (that’s if the total supply doesn’t further expand until then, which is impossible given Ripple’s tokenomics). We don’t want to sound bearish and pessimistic, but a $6 trillion market cap would mean that XRP is more than three times bigger than bitcoin. It would also mean that Ripple’s token is twice the size of Apple and Microsoft combined. So, yes, it might sound a bit far-fetched but then again nothing is impossible, right? The post $29, $55, $100: Shocking and Wild Ripple (XRP) Price Predictions appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 15:23

Cathie Wood-led asset manager ARK Invest has revised its Bitcoin price targets for 2030, boosting its “bull case” to $2.4 million from $1.5 million. The “bear” and “base” case scenarios were also raised to $500,000 and $1.2 million, respectively, according to a report by ARK’s David Puell on April 24. These adjustments follow an earlier revision in February when the predictions were set at $300,000 and $710,000. 2030 Bitcoin Bull Case The latest forecasts are based on assumptions regarding total addressable markets (TAMs) and Bitcoin adoption. According to the report , institutional investment plays the largest role in ARK’s bull case, with Bitcoin potentially capturing 6.5% of a projected $200 trillion global investment portfolio market by 2030. This estimate is nearly double gold’s current 3.6% portfolio share. In more conservative scenarios, ARK assumes 1% to 2.5% adoption, suggesting that the cryptocurrency’s long-term outlook remains strong even with modest institutional interest. The report highlights the “digital gold” narrative as a key driver of adoption, assuming BTC will compete with gold’s market value without factoring in further growth for the yellow metal. Bitcoin’s Multi-Faceted Growth Path In emerging markets, ARK said it sees a significant opportunity for Bitcoin to serve as a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation, thanks to its accessibility for populations with internet access. Nation-state adoption, currently led by countries like El Salvador and Bhutan , could accelerate, especially with policy endorsements such as US President Donald Trump’s March 2024 executive order supporting a US Bitcoin reserve . On the corporate side, ARK noted a rising number of publicly traded firms holding the cryptocurrency, inspired by American business intelligence firm Strategy’s well-known investment game plan. As of late 2024, 74 companies had accumulated roughly $55 billion in Bitcoin. Finally, ARK even went on to point to on-chain financial services, such as the Lightning Network and wrapped Bitcoin applications, as a fast-growing sector that could further boost BTC’s capital appeal. The post ARK Invest Explains How Bitcoin (BTC) Could Shoot Up to $1.5 Million by 2030 appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 14:32

The team behind the TRUMP meme coin has rushed to clarify misconceptions about the high-profile “Dinner with President Trump” event after rumors emerged that participants needed to hold at least $300,000 worth of TRUMP tokens to qualify. Meanwhile, Tron founder Justin Sun has emerged as the undisputed leader of the pack, amassing $14 million worth of the meme coin to outpace other contenders in what is becoming a high-stakes competition for some face time with Donald Trump. Separating Fact from Fiction The initiative, promoted by the TRUMP meme coin team, promised an exclusive dinner with the U.S. President for the top 220 participants in a leaderboard. However, misinformation soon spread quickly across social media, suggesting that the 220th-ranked TRUMP holder was the cutoff for the dinner. On-chain data shows that the particular account held more than $300,000 worth of the token. It forced the team to go to X to dispel the rumors, clarifying that leaderboard eligibility was based on time-weighted holdings rather than raw dollar amounts. They also confirmed that participation is open to any holder who registered in time, regardless of whether their holdings measure in millions or mere hundreds. “We want to clarify a few things people seem to be confused by on X and in the Media,” the official TRUMP meme account posted. “You need $300K+ to participate (You Don’t). That we’re unlocking into this competition (We’re Not).” The selection system is designed to reward long-term holders rather than last-minute whales looking to buy their way in. “The field is wide open and it’s anyone’s opportunity to have dinner with President Trump,” the team wrote, explaining that the leaderboard calculation will exclude locked tokens, exchange wallets, and non-participating holders. Justin Sun’s $14M Bet Data from the leaderboard confirms the diversity that the team spoke about. While the top-ranked wallet, associated with TRON founder Justin Sun, currently holds 1,176,803 TRUMP tokens valued at about $14 million, the 220th position is occupied by a wallet with a mere 35.3 TRUMP worth approximately $420. Sun’s involvement, also confirmed by Lookonchain, sent ripples through the crypto community. His registration for the dinner added fuel to speculation that major figures in the crypto space were taking the event seriously. However, not everyone is buying the hype. Some have voiced strong skepticism, calling the promotion a pump-and-dump trap: “Lmao pumping the coin before the release of the locked coins for them to dump,” wrote a user. Still, the market has reacted feverishly. Following the dinner announcement, TRUMP jumped from a local low of $9 to more than $16, hitting a seven-week high in minutes. The price has since corrected, and at the time of writing, it was trading at $13.08, a 9.1% on the day. The uptick also pushed the token up 73.6% over the past week and 62.4% across the last fortnight, significantly outperforming the broader crypto market. The post TRUMP Coin Team Denies $300K Dinner Rumor appeared first on CryptoPotato .

2025-04-25 12:58