Several altcoins, however, delivered explosive double-digit gains, which creates a rather mixed picture across the broader market.

Bitcoin Price Struggles Near $72K

Bitcoin’s price action has worsened since yesterday’s market update, when it was trying to stabilize close to $74,000. Instead of reclaiming that level, BTC reversed lower and is currently found at slightly below $73,000 after dipping to an intraday low near $72,500.

The move shows that buyers continue struggling to regain control following last week’s volatility. Bitcoin remains very close to a key short-term support zone (around $72,000).

A decisive break lower could invite more selling pressure, considering that traders are already closely watching macro headlines, overall risk sentiment, and ETF flows.

It’s worth noting that the broader crypto market remains softened, with the total market capitalization hovering around $2.55 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance remains above 57%, suggesting that traders are still cautious toward altcoins, despite isolated rallies.

These Altcoins Lead Gainers

The altcoin market was more divided. Several tokens posted very strong gains. Humanity (H) was the standout performer, surging by roughly 81% throughout the past 24 hours. LAB also jumped by more than 52%.

Worldcoin (WLD), which led yesterday’s altcoin rally, remained among the stronger performers, increasing by another 13% to around $0.38. This move extends its recent momentum and keeps the Sam Altman-linked token in focus.

On the downside, the biggest losers from the Top 100 include Morph, Algorand, and Bitcoin Cash, all of which lost between 6% and 8%.

The post These Altcoins Explode by Double Digits as Bitcoin Price Dips Below $73,000: Market Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The latest price action suggests that the bear market remains unfinished and that deeper losses may lie ahead before recovery begins.

‘Stage 5 Is Coming’

In his latest weekly report, Doctor Profit said the market’s broader structure has not changed and that Bitcoin is still progressing through the later stages of a bear market. According to the analyst, this stage is characterized by exhaustion, sideways trading, and growing frustration among market participants.

He said these conditions are already evident in Bitcoin’s recent price action and believes they signal the market is approaching a transition to Stage 5, which he identifies as the true capitulation phase of the cycle.

Doctor Profit expects Stage 5 to begin once Bitcoin falls below $60,000. A break of that level is expected to accelerate panic across the market and trigger a more severe downturn. He added that the next phase could see forced selling by long-term holders, the collapse of a major exchange or a large market participant, or other black swan-type events that further weaken investor confidence. The analyst argued that bear markets rarely unfold in a straight line and instead tend to be lengthy, exhausting, and destructive for participants, which is why he believes many investors continue to underestimate the downside risks.

Despite Bitcoin’s decline from its highs, Doctor Profit does not believe the market has reached its final bottom. He continues to predict that Bitcoin will eventually fall into the $40,000-$50,000 region before the bear market concludes. Based on his calculations, he sees September to October 2026 as the most likely period for that bottom to form.

The analyst also pointed to several upcoming US economic data releases, such as ISM Manufacturing PMI, ADP employment figures, and nonfarm payrolls, as important events for financial markets. He explained that any signs of weakness in employment data combined with persistent inflation would place the Federal Reserve in a difficult position.

Looking ahead to the June Federal Open Market Committee meeting under Chair Kevin Warsh, the analyst said markets appear to be pricing in a dovish policy stance, but he remains skeptical that such an outcome will materialize.

Derivatives Market Still Struggles

Another factor supporting a similar outlook is the current state of the Bitcoin derivatives market. According to another analyst, Darkfost, the sector has yet to fully recover from the massive liquidation event on October 10, when nearly 71,000 BTC were wiped from open interest across major exchanges within hours. While activity has improved since then, total open interest across the Bitcoin derivatives market, excluding CME, remains below pre-liquidation levels, with roughly 351,000 BTC currently outstanding, down from nearly 375,000 BTC before the event.

However, Binance has bucked the trend, increasing both its open interest and market share since October. Such a trend could potentially indicate that trading activity has become increasingly concentrated on the exchange as investors gravitate toward deeper liquidity and market depth.

The post Here’s Why Bitcoin (BTC) Could Still Face Its Biggest Crash Ahead: Analyst appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The move comes amid a broader wave of institutional interest, strong ETF inflows, and continued momentum in the platform’s position as a leading on-chain derivatives ecosystem.

HYPE Hits New Record After 20% Weekly Rally

HYPE has extended its impressive uptrend over the last 24 hours, climbing more than 5% and pushing above $73 to mark a new all-time high at the time of this writing.

The latest move caps a very powerful five-day rally for the cryptocurrency. HYPE had already been gaining traction last week (and the weeks before that) as buyers defended higher lows and pushed the token through several key resistance zones.

Over the past seven days, it has increased by more than 20%, while its 30-day gains have reached more than 75%.

This has pushed HYPE into the top 10 by market cap, allowing it to surpass the likes of DOGE.

ETF Inflows and Grayscale Buzz Fuel the Rally

Beyond improving fundamentals and overall trading volume, another major reason for the rally appears to be the growing demand for HYPE-linked exchange-traded products.

According to data from SoSoValue, US spot HYPE ETFs recorded more than $9 million in one-day net inflows on May 29th, bringing total net assets above $135 million.

Grayscale has also added another layer to the bullish narrative. The asset manager is reportedly in talks with Hyper Holdings Global LP for a seed investment of approximately 2 million HYPE tokens, which are currently worth well over $140 million, for its proposed Grayscale Hyperliquid Staking ETF.

The fund itself is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker HYPG, which further strengthens expectations that institutional access to HYPE could continue growing.

The post Hyperliquid’s HYPE Price Soars to New ATH Above $73: Here’s Why appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Meanwhile, fresh labor market data and updated readings on manufacturing and services activity are on the table this week.

“We also await further details about a potential US-Iran deal, which appears to be dragging on again,” said the Kobeissi Letter.

Economic Events June 1 to 5

May’s ISM Manufacturing PMI report is due on Monday, which will shed light on the US manufacturing sector.

This is followed by April’s JOLTS Job Openings data on Tuesday and May’s ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI data on Wednesday.

Initial Jobless Claims data is on Thursday, and the big May Jobs Report is due on Friday.

The labor market data is keenly eyed as it is one of the Federal Reserve’s two mandates for monetary policy decisions. The outlook is currently mixed, with more-than-expected hiring in April and May, but experts are divided.

Some economists believe the labor market is rallying after a slow year in 2025, while others claim the growth reflects surging demand for health care workers driven by an aging population rather than economic expansion, according to reports.

Key Events This Week:

1. May ISM Manufacturing PMI data – Monday

2. April JOLTS Job Openings data – Tuesday

3. May ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI data – Wednesday

4. Initial Jobless Claims data – Thursday

5. May Jobs Report – Friday

6. Total of 7 Fed Speaker Events This Week…

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) May 31, 2026

The major stock indexes finished a month of gains at record highs last week, buoyed by enthusiasm for tech stocks and dipping oil prices, but crypto remained deep in bear territory.

Crypto Market Outlook

May ended with Bitcoin losing 3.6% following two green months. It made a weekend high of $74,000 but could not advance further and fell back towards $73,000 during Monday morning trading.

The asset has lost 5% over the past week and is moving to the lower bands of its four-month-long range-bound channel.

Ether had lost the $2,000 level again on Monday morning after spending most of the weekend just above it.

“Several meaningful catalysts are converging in June that could prove significant for Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory,” reported 10x Research on Monday.

“The headwinds are real and visible: ETF outflows, stablecoin contraction, and trading volumes at historic lows all point to near-zero conviction, but that is precisely the environment we anticipated for a major cycle bottom.”

The post 3 Things That May Move Bitcoin Price This Week appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The investment, which could reach up to 75 billion euros, is intended to meet surging demand for high-performance computing and position the country as a major European hub for artificial intelligence infrastructure.

According to an official release, the first phase of the project will include an initial €45 billion investment. It should deliver 3.1 GW of AI data center capacity in the Hauts-de-France region by the year 2031.

The facilities are planned for Bosquel, Bouchain, and Dunkirk, with SoftBank also eyeing additional sites across the country.

The announcement was made at the Choose France summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. The firm said the investment will expand access to computing power for AI companies, enterprises, cloud providers, public institutions, as well as for research organizations.

Speaking on the Matter, Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank, said:

AI is entering a new era, and the countries that build the infrastructure for this transformation will shape the future of technology, industry and society,” said Masayoshi Son. “SoftBank is proud to make this major commitment to France. With its industrial capabilities, talent base and national ambition, France is uniquely positioned to become a leading AI infrastructure hub in Europe.

The move highlights the growing demand for computing power, while SoftBank also vows to create thousands of high-skilled jobs across engineering, data center development, robotics, operations, maintenance, advanced manufacturing, and more.

The post SoftBank Bets Up to €75 Billion on France in Massive AI Data Center Push appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The analytics firm outlines a sharp contrast between the weaker market performance and strong network fundamentals, with stablecoin adoption, real-world asset tokenization, and transaction activity all increasing during the quarter.

XRP Price Falls as Trading Activity Cools

During the first quarter of the year, XRP was, for the most part, the fourth-largest non-stablecoin cryptocurrency by means of total market capitalization, trailing only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin.

However, the token wasn’t immune to the broader market downturn. Its market cap declined by 26% quarter-over-quarter to about $82 billion, while its price dropped by 27% to $1.34 at the time of this writing.

Per Messari’s report, trading activity also slowed down during the cited period. Average daily spot volume declined by 32%, while perpetual futures volume declined by 28.6%. That said, institutional exposure continued to build, as CryptoPotato covered recently. The quarter ended with ETFs holding about 775.4 million XRP, which is roughly 1.26% of the asset’s currently circulating supply.

XRPL Sees Growth in RWAs, Transactions, and Stablecoins

While XRP’s price struggled, XRPL activity moved in the opposite direction, supporting the case for strong fundamental support. Messari indicated that average daily transactions increased by 35% quarter-over-quarter, increasing from 1.83 million to 2.48 million.

The network also saw growing adoption across stablecoins and tokenized assets.

Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin expanded to a market cap of $340.3 million on the XRPL by the end of the quarter, up 45% from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, XRPL’s real-world market cap soared by 124% QoQ to an all-time high of $2.25 billion.

Messari also reported that new infrastructure is being built in institutional-oriented decentralized finance. During the quarter, permissioned domains, permissioned DEX, and token escrow went live. Meanwhile, native lending protocols and asset vaults are still in voting.

All in all, these developments can be taken to suggest that XRPL’s institutional finance narratives continued to strengthen, despite the weakening price performance of XRP.

The post XRP Ledger Activity Soars in Q1 Despite XRP Price Slump: Messari appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin’s price is attempting to stabilize near an important short-term resistance area, while some altcoins are outperforming sharply, led by Worldcoin’s double-digit daily surge.

BTC Pushes Toward $74,000

Bitcoin has remained relatively calm during the weekend trading session after a volatile few days. The cryptocurrency is still fighting to press above an important short-term resistance level.

BTC’s price trades slightly below $74K at the time of this writing, gaining roughly 0.5% over the past 24 hours. It’s evident that buyers are trying to recover some ground following the market-wide pullback that took place last week.

The most recent price action comes as the broader cryptocurrency market stabilizes, with total capitalization hovering around $2.58 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Bitcoin’s dominance remains above 57%. However, the momentum remains fragile, as traders continue to watch macro headlines, with Trump saying they are under no deadline to strike a deal with Iran, meaning uncertainty is likely to continue for the time being.

Worldcoin (WLD) Leads Altcoin Gainers

The altcoin market saw mixed results over the past 24 hours, although several large-cap names posted strong daily moves.

Worldcoin (WLD), the Sam Altman-linked project, stole the show after increasing by about 11% to jump around $0.33. Other top gainers from the top 100 cryptocurrencies by total market cap include Venice Token (VVV), Humanity (H), and Midnight, all of which post notable advances.

BNB and TOn also sttod out among the larger-cap assets with gains of more than 7%.

On the flipside, Monero’s XMR was the weakest top-100 performer, dropping by roughly 8%, while most other major altcoins saw more modest moves.

The post Sam Altman-Backed Crypto Explodes 10% Today as Bitcoin Eyes $74K: Weekend Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The asset has broken below a multi-month bullish structure on the daily chart while continuing to trade inside a descending channel on the 4-hour timeframe.

Meanwhile, sentiment data suggests that aggressive buyers remain largely absent.

Ethereum Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, ETH has decisively broken below the large ascending triangle structure that had developed between February and May. The move occurred after multiple rejections from the $2.4K resistance zone, which coincides with a major horizontal supply area and the former breakout region.

The bearish move has also pushed the price below the 100-day moving average, which is currently around $2.2K. More importantly, ETH remains significantly below the declining 200-day moving average near $2.5K. This indicates that the broader trend continues to favor sellers.

The recent rejection from the $2.4K zone confirms it as the primary resistance area. As long as ETH remains below this region, any recovery attempt may be viewed as a corrective bounce rather than a trend reversal.

On the downside, the next major support lies around the $1.8K zone, highlighted by the blue demand area and the February swing low. A daily close below the current $2K psychological support could increase the probability of a move toward that region.

Momentum indicators also remain weak. The RSI is hovering near oversold territory, which reflects persistent bearish momentum despite the recent stabilization around $2K.

ETH/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart presents a clear descending channel that has guided price action lower throughout May. ETH has been moving toward the lower boundary of the channel again after failing to sustain any meaningful recovery from the mid-range resistance area.

The price is currently trading around $2K, which is a significant demand zone for the market. This area has produced a modest reaction so far, but buyers have yet to generate a convincing reversal signal.

The first resistance level is the descending channel’s upper boundary and the horizontal supply zone, which sits around $2.15K. Above that, the major resistance remains at $2.25K, followed by the upper supply zone near $2.4K.

A breakout above the descending channel could trigger a short-term relief rally toward the $2.15K and $2.25K regions. However, as long as the channel structure remains intact, the path of least resistance appears tilted to the downside.

Conversely, losing the $2K support zone would expose the channel’s lower extension and increase the likelihood of a deeper correction toward the $1.8K area identified on the daily chart.

Sentiment Analysis

The Ethereum Taker Buy Sell Ratio offers additional insight into current market sentiment. This metric measures the balance between aggressive buyers and aggressive sellers across exchanges. Readings above 1 indicate buyer dominance, while values below 1 suggest that market sell orders are outweighing buy orders.

The chart shows a persistent decline in the ratio over recent months, with the metric currently near 0.98 and below the neutral 1.0 threshold. This indicates that sellers continue to dominate order flow despite ETH’s prolonged correction.

For a sustainable recovery to develop, traders would likely need to see the Taker Buy Sell Ratio reclaim and hold above 1. Until that occurs, order flow suggests that bullish momentum remains limited and that rallies may continue to face significant selling pressure.

The post Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH Risks Deeper Drop as $2K Support Comes Under Pressure appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Hal Finney argued that a monetary network cannot be rebooted without damaging the credibility of everything that follows.

The Debate Over a New Bitcoin

On May 30, 2011, Hal Finney and Jon Tobey entered a debate called “Early speculators’ reward.”

Basically, it was a discussion on Bitcointalk, where the OP raised a question that has followed Bitcoin since its very first days – was it fair that early adopters mined or acquired coins before most people knew the network existed?

Some participants argued that this early distribution amounted to a significant advantage – so large that the protocol itself should be relaunched. Finney rejected the premise with a response that was not just technical, but also rooted in economic logic.

“Any successful replacement of the Bitcoin block chain will forever undermine the credibility of any successor. […] How is an investor to know that it won’t happen again?”

The Problem of Credibility

Finney’s point seems simple now: if Bitcoin could be discarded because early users benefited, then any future replacement would inherit the same vulnerability, because there would be a new group of early adopters, a later group of users who resent them, and so forth – a vicious circle.

His argument also anticipated what later became a core principle of Bitcoin: monetary networks depend not only on code but also on confidence, continuity, and credible resistance to arbitrary change.

In simple words, Bitcoin’s staying power relies on itself – the Bitcoin staying power. The protocol has become so resistant to unnecessary change that it has brought forward a level of predictability that alternative economic systems cannot yet fathom.

The post 15 Years Ago, Hal Finney Explained Why Bitcoin Could Not Simply Be Replaced appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Republican lawmakers have shifted their portfolios to reflect assets and companies that are in the president’s favor.

GOP Trades Follow Trump’s Crypto Signal

According to a recent report, GOP lawmakers have migrated their portfolios toward “Trump favorites.” These include Intel and Bitcoin, which underscores how closely political sentiment and market positioning have started to overlap.

The report also says that investments in the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF currently account for about 4% of total Republican holdings, subject to the analysis.

This figure is relatively small compared to traditional stock positions, but it holds considerable political significance. Bitcoin has become a clear financial symbol of Trump’s efforts to turn the United States into the “crypto capital of the world.”

Trump Keeps Praising Crypto

This shift comes as the president continues to publicly praise the cryptocurrency industry.

Just a few days ago, he once again promoted his goal of keeping the US the crypto capital of the world, which further reinforces a message that has been central to his digital asset agenda. Unfortunately, the industry took a dive immediately afterward, but let’s be optimistic and consider it short-term selling pressure.

This specific rhetoric has been backed by Trump’s policy. Recently, the Commodity and Futures Trading Commission took a landmark step by approving KalshiEX’s BTCPERP as the first regulated Bitcoin perpetual futures contract listed on a CFTC-regulated US-based exchange.

Moreover, the watchdog issued a no-action letter, which clears the path for Coinbase to connect American users to global derivatives markets for the very first time ever.

Back to the subject at hand, though, for investors, the growing exposure to bitcoin-linked products presents a new reality – one that confirms that crypto is evolving to be more than just a speculative asset class.

The post GOP Portfolios Shift Toward Bitcoin and Other Trump Favorites: Report appeared first on CryptoPotato.

While the USDT pair continues to grind near the lows, with the $1.20 support uncomfortably close, the BTC ratio has staged a convincing recovery over the past week, with the RSI on that pair climbing to its highest reading since February.

Ripple Price Analysis: The USDT Pair

On the USDT pair, the price has gone essentially nowhere since last week. It is hovering around $1.34, pressed against the upper boundary of the descending channel.

The 100-day moving average at approximately $1.40 also sits just overhead. It is close enough to reclaim, but buyers have not been able to push the price above it over the past two weeks. On the downside, the $1.20 support band remains close below. This is a key level that has not been breached since February’s wick.

The RSI also sits in the 40–45 range and is recovering slightly from recent soft readings, but it offers no directional signal. A daily close back above the 100-day moving average at $1.40 and a breakout from the descending channel is the minimum requirement to ease the downward pressure and open the path to a genuine recovery. Failing that, the mentioned $1.20 critical demand zone could be the next decisive area for the price to visit in the coming weeks.

The BTC Pair

The pair against BTC tells a different story. From the recent low of 1,700 sats that held the price, XRP/BTC has recovered to above 1,800 sats and is on the verge of breaking above this area, which could be a sign of a potential recovery.

More significantly, the RSI has climbed to approximately 60–65, which is the highest reading on this pair since February and a dramatic reversal from the oversold extreme printed in early May. This kind of RSI recovery, from deeply oversold to the mid-to-upper 60s in under a month, historically carries follow-through rather than fading immediately.

The next meaningful resistance sits at the 2,000 sat zone, with the 100-day moving average declining below it near 1,900 sats, and the 200-day moving average just above at approximately 2,050 sats. Reclaiming this area would be a meaningful sign on the road to recovery for XRP.

Looking below, the recent low at 1,700 sats remains the immediate floor to defend on any pullback. Losing this level on a closing basis would invalidate the bounce entirely and could push the price much lower in the coming weeks.

The post Ripple Price Prediction: Can XRP Reclaim $1.40 as Bitcoin Pair Hits Important High? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

However, BTC is now approaching an important confluence of technical supports around $70K-$72K, where both trendline support and the 100-day MA could provide temporary relief for the market.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, Bitcoin has officially broken below the key $75K-$76K support region, which previously acted as an important decision point for the market. The breakdown confirms bearish continuation after repeated failures to reclaim the descending 200-day MA near $80K-$81K.

Currently, the price is approaching a major support confluence around $70K-$72K. This region aligns with the ascending lower boundary of the broader structure, the 100-day MA around $73K, and a significant historical order block visible on the chart. Such overlapping supports often increase the probability of at least a short-term reaction or relief bounce.

If buyers manage to defend the $70K-$72K range, Bitcoin could attempt a corrective recovery back toward the broken $75K-$76K resistance zone. However, failure to hold this area may open the path toward deeper supports around $65K-$66K and potentially the broader $60K-$63K demand region.

For now, the overall market structure remains bearish unless BTC reclaims the $75K-$76K zone and stabilizes above it.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart reflects accelerating bearish momentum following the recent breakdown below the consolidation structure near $75K-$76K. Sellers remain in control, while lower highs and persistent rejection candles continue to dominate the short-term trend.

Nevertheless, Bitcoin is now entering a critical order block between $70K and $72K. This zone has historically attracted significant demand and currently overlaps with the rising trendline support shown on the chart. The market reaction here will likely determine the next major move.

A short-term bullish pullback remains possible if buyers step in around this support cluster. In that scenario, BTC could revisit the $74K-$76K region as a corrective rebound. However, if the current support fails to hold, bearish momentum could accelerate rapidly toward the $65K-$66K liquidity zone.

Therefore, the $70K-$72K area represents the most important short-term battlefield between buyers and sellers.

Sentiment Analysis

The ETF cumulative flow chart reveals an important divergence developing in the market. Despite Bitcoin attempting multiple recoveries during recent months, cumulative ETF inflows have started flattening and have recently turned weaker alongside the latest correction.

This behavior suggests that institutional demand has cooled considerably compared to previous accumulation phases. The slowdown in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows indicates reduced aggressive buying from large market participants, which partly explains BTC’s inability to sustain rallies above the $80K-$82K region.

More importantly, recent price weakness has occurred while cumulative ETF flows remain relatively stable rather than aggressively expanding higher. This signals a lack of fresh capital entering the market at current levels.

Historically, strong bullish continuation phases in Bitcoin have usually been accompanied by accelerating ETF inflows. The absence of that dynamic increases the likelihood that the current market will remain corrective in the short term.

Still, if Bitcoin stabilizes around the $70K-$72K support region and ETF flows begin strengthening again, the market could regain momentum later. Until then, weakening institutional demand, combined with a bearish technical structure, keeps downside risks elevated despite the possibility of temporary relief rallies.

The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Eyes $70K-$72K Support Amid Market Weakness appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed in its Wednesday statement that five individuals are now facing charges in connection with the case, including two main suspects who have been placed in custody and three others who have been indicted without detention.

Influencer Ruse, Fake Lockups

Investigators say the group created and launched CatFi in early 2025 through the Solana meme coin platform Pump.fun. It managed to draw in investors soon after listing, only to abandon the project once enough money had entered the token. Prosecutors highlighted that the case is legally significant because it is the first time the country’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act has been used to prosecute a rug pull under fraudulent and unfair trading provisions. Interestingly, it is also the first known prosecution involving a crypto crime carried out through a decentralized exchange, which had previously remained largely outside regulatory reach.

According to the findings, the suspects did not rely solely on token mechanics to generate interest but allegedly built a misleading promotional ecosystem around the project. One of the accused reportedly presented himself online as an independent crypto influencer, using that identity to push investment interest toward CatFi. Meanwhile, another handled official project communications, where follower numbers were artificially inflated, and announcements were posted claiming fake token lock-up arrangements intended to suggest stability.

Authorities further allege that the group circulated tokens across multiple wallets and carried out wash trading activity to disguise their control over supply and to create the appearance of genuine market demand. In the hours following launch, CatFi’s price reportedly surged dramatically, increasing by roughly 1,001 times within a 26-hour window, during which about 6,000 investors bought into the token.

Prosecutors said that 256 of these investors later reported total losses amounting to around 900 million Korean won, which is roughly equivalent to $600,000, while the suspects are believed to have secured profits exceeding 400 million won. The scheme had initially drawn attention from online blockchain analysts who traced wallet activity and publicly identified those involved, but police at the time closed the case after the suspects claimed they had been victims of hacking.

The matter was later escalated when the Financial Services Commission referred it to prosecutors, which ultimately led to a joint investigation involving a dedicated crypto crime unit as well as financial and tax authorities, that tracked down the suspects, including one individual who had evaded capture for three months using disguises.

Arrests followed on May 11 for two suspects, while the remaining three were detained later on Wednesday.

High User Activity Despite Allegations

Pump.fun has come under intense scrutiny for enabling large-scale speculative token activity on Solana, where most newly created meme coins are linked to scams like rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes. The platform’s ease of token creation and low transaction costs drove rapid trading.

Despite this, the meme coin launchpad emerged as one of the Solana ecosystem’s top revenue-generating applications in 2025. In fact, it was one of seven Solana apps that earned over $100 million in revenue during the year.

The post South Korea Cracks Down on CatFi Rugpull: First-Ever Crypto Fraud Case Under New Investor Protection Law appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The sanctioned entities are accused of processing more than $90 billion in 2025 to fund Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 Crypto Platforms Linked to Illicit Russian Flows

A TRM Labs report reveals that Huobi, Exmo Exchange, Bitpapa, and Rapira Group were some of the targeted exchanges, with Huobi alone sending more than $4.9 billion in on-chain transactions to UK-sanctioned entities and the A7 network since 2021. Additionally, $1.13 billion of this occurred 14 months after the March 2025 takedown of Russian crypto exchange Garantex, with $838 million directed specifically to the A7 network last year.

According to TRM’s findings, the crypto activity associated with Russia did not slow down after the Garantex collapse but was instead migrated to successor exchanges and payment platforms like Rapira, Aifory Pro, Grinex.io, and ABCex. Exmo exchange is said to have directly transacted over $19.5 million with sanctioned entities like Garantex and Chatex, while BitPapa was also reported to have transferred millions to these actors.

The report notes that Rapira moved more than $543 million, including $375.6 million tied to Grinex.io, while Aifory Pro transferred over $189 million, of which $175.2 million was attributed to ABCex. Meanwhile, ABCex itself recorded $355 million in transactions across the restricted firms, sending $175.2 million to Aifory Pro, $133.4 million to Garantex, and $38.1 million to Rapira.

The government has now added all 18 sanctioned entities to the UK Consolidated List, with businesses operating in the country now required to freeze any assets connected to them and block transactions involving the listed companies.

“If the Kremlin thinks it can evade our sanctions by hiding behind crypto networks and shadow financial systems, it is gravely mistaken,” said the Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

She added that the restrictions were being made to cut off the financial flows sustaining Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Russia-Related Illicit Crypto Activity Has Rebounded

The new measures also extend to target individuals linked to the A7 network. In its report, the government says that the group is backed by a Kyrgyz bank suspected of processing payments within the system, alongside a major global crypto exchange that is believed to have transferred more than $1.5 billion back into Kremlin-linked financial channels.

Meanwhile, a separate TRM Labs analysis discovered that illicit crypto activity went up sharply last year. According to the company, most of that was related to Russian-linked trades, with A7’s A7A5 token contributing $72 billion worth of trades alone while the group’s own wallets accounted for another $39 billion. Most of that money reportedly flowed through Garantex and Grinex.

The post UK Sanctions 18 Crypto Firms Tied to Russia’s $90B War Network appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The attack adds to a growing list of DeFi breaches this month, as security experts warn that aging smart contracts and weak access controls are leaving protocols exposed.

What Happened

According to on-chain security account PeckShieldAlert, a user named “Tahax” first identified the exploit. Per their report, attackers targeted at least 1,400 old DxSale liquidity pool contracts on BNB Chain, draining about $7.3 million worth of crypto from them, which they then routed through AnySwap in an attempt to obscure their trail.

PeckShield added that an address identified as “0xC457…FA69” had transferred 2,958 BNB from the hack, worth $1.87 million, into two main wallets, which then moved the funds through several deposit addresses on Binance.

DxSale is a launchpad platform that lets crypto projects create tokens and liquidity pools without building their own infrastructure. It was pretty big about five years ago, with many of the projects launching tokens on BNB Chain locking their LPs with the protocol.

According to Tahax, the locker was still holding LPs from projects that had not been touched for years, with founders and holders believing it was safe. However, nearly nine months ago, the DxSale deployer transferred ownership of the locker to a new wallet with no public announcement or migration notice. The on-chain degen claims that the locker contract was unverified and it probably contained a backdoor, which the attacker took advantage of.

Two days ago, 0xC457…FA69, a brand new wallet funded from Bybit and possibly routed through AnySwap, reportedly took ownership of the locker and, within hours started draining the LPs.

DxSale itself was yet to make a statement regarding the exploit.

DeFi Security Concerns Keep Growing

The DxSale hack hasn’t happened in isolation, with the crypto sector losing at least $650 million in April from similar incidents. May has also had its fair share of attacks, including one last week, where a person stole more than $11 million from the Verus bridge after exploiting a flaw in how it verified payment amounts. According to security researchers, the attacker submitted a tiny transaction that passed verification checks while still unlocking large withdrawals from the bridge’s reserves.

Earlier in the month, liquidity provider TrustedVolumes was also hit for about $5.9 million after a hacker abused weaknesses in its custom settlement system, with analysts pointing out that the exploit worked because the protocol checked authorization against one address while pulling funds from another.

THORChain was also a victim, with on-chain sleuth ZachXBT saying it may have lost more than $10 million, which sent its RUNE token plummeting 15% within minutes.

This steady stream of exploits has elicited a reaction, with OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz declaring “all of DeFi unsafe,” arguing that AI-assisted attackers are finding vulnerabilities faster than security teams can patch them.

The post Over 1,400 Liquidity Providers Hit in $7.3 Million DxSale Exploit appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The move comes as institutional demand via spot XRP ETFs continues to stand in contrast to the broader market weakness.

XRP ETFs Extend Positive Inflow Streak

According to data from SoSoValue for today, spot XRP ETFs recorded $11.88 million in daily net inflows, bringing the cumulative total to $1.42 billion or $1.12 billion in net assets.

The figure represents 1.37% of the total XRP market cap.

That follows yesterday’s positive reading, when these products saw about $1.77 million in inflows despite the broader crypto market downturn.

The inflows may not be massive, but they do indicate a temporary trend, with institutions continuing to accumulate XRP amid market instability.

The continued streak gives bulls a positive narrative, but ETF demand alone has definitely not been enough to fully reverse the broader downtrend observed in XRP’s price.

XRP Price Outlook: Key Levels to Watch

From a technical perspective, XRP’s 2% daily bounce is encouraging, but it is far from being a signal for a confirmed trend reversal. The token has recently slipped toward its lowest level since March, with the $1.20 region continuing to serve as a key support level.

The first major upside level to watch is around $1.4.

As we recently reported, XRP’s 100-day moving average sits near that zone, making it a key resistance level for buyers to reclaim. A successful breakout above it could open the door to a move toward $1.5-$1.6 and improve short-term sentiment.

On the downside, a clean break below $1.20 would be a bearish signal, potentially exposing the altcoin to a deeper correction. This becomes especially true if Bitcoin and the broader crypto market resume their decline.

For now, however, XRP’s price outlook remains cautious.

The post Ripple (XRP) Price Bounces 2% on Continued ETF Inflows: What’s Next? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

However, Stellar (XLM) continues to be the clear outlier from the top alts, posting yet another massive daily surge while the broader market remains under pressure.

BTC Price Calms Above $73K

Bitcoin’s most recent weekly correction took the asset south when it slipped below $73,000 amid renewed pressure across crypto markets. The primary cryptocurrency has recovered since then and gained some ground, now trading at $73,400.

Its intraday moves have not been without volatility, however. The price ranged between $72,200 and $74,200 before finally settling down at the current levels as the weekend starts.

Bitcoin’s market capitalization remains above $1.47 billion, while its dominance over altcoins is more or less unchanged, suggesting they failed to capitalize on BTC’s weakness. The latter could have been induced by weakening ETF flows, which have posted record outflows in the past few days.

For now, the $73,000 zone has become the key area to watch. A decisive loss of that level could trigger another leg lower, potentially to $70,000, while a move above $74K may ease some of the short-term pressure.

Stellar (XLM) Continues to Lead the Altcoin Market

The altcoin market shows a mixed picture today, with most large-cap assets posting relatively modest moves over the past 24 hours rather than sharp recoveries.

Ethereum (ETH) is trading close to $2,000, while SOL, XRP, and several other majors are showing only limited changes. BNB has fared the best from the top alts, rising by more than 5% on the day.

XRP is also slightly in the green, while ETH and SOL remain almost flat compared to their levels from 24 hours.

Stellar (XLM), however, is in a completely different category. The altcoin has exploded by roughly 25% over the past day and is trading near $0.20, making it one of the strongest performers among mid-cap cryptocurrencies.

The move comes shortly after DTCC announced that its tokenization service will connect with the Stellar public blockchain. The move is expected to support tokenized DTC-custodied assets, including stocks, ETFs, treasuries, and corporate bonds, with availability targeted for the first half of 2027.

Other notable performers for the day include LAB, up 37.5%; Algorand’s ALGO, up 9.5%; and XDC Network (XDC), up 9%.

The post Bitcoin Calms at $73,000, Stellar Explodes by 25% Daily: Weekend Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

One of these vaults, currently enjoying a total value locked of more than $3 million, delivered 638% APY last month. Let’s examine.

What Are Hyperliquid Vaults?

Hyperliquid vaults are one of the more closely watched features on the decentralized derivatives exchange. They allow traders to participate in shared strategies.

Think about it this way – a vault works more like a pooled trading account. A vault leader runs a strategy, while other users can deposit funds into the vault and gain exposure to the results.

If the strategy makes money, depositors would share in the profits. If it loses money, they also share in the losses.

What makes vaults interesting is that, unlike a basic yield product that simply lends or rebalances assets, they are built directly into HyperCore. This means that vault strategies can tap into existing infrastructure available to traders on the exchange, including leverage, liquidations, perps, high-throughput execution, and everything Hyperliquid provides.

This can make them powerful instruments for those seeking more passive avenues, but they can also be risky. Returns can move very sharply in both directions, especially when vaults use leverage or take concentrated directional bets.

An interesting way to think about it is to equate it to on-chain copy trading with pooled capital. The strategy is fully visible, performance can be tracked, and users can choose whether the risk profile is fit for their own portfolio.

Long HYPE and BTC, Short “Garbage” Yields 638% APY Past Month

One particular vault built on Hyperliquid has drawn attention after returning an APY of 638% over the past month.

It’s named “Long HYPE & BTC, Short Garbage,” and it currently manages around $3.03 million in total value locked.

Its strategy is designed to be 70% HYPE and 30% BTC on the long side. It also maintains shorts in a basket of at least 10 high-FDV and high-emission coins, with the short side representing about 60% of notional exposure.

As you can see from the position table, the only underperforming trade is the BTC long, though it has been offset by the funding payout.

The vault’s overall PnL chart shows a steep rise over the prior 30 days, nearing the $1.2 million area.

Of course, this shouldn’t be interpreted as a low-risk yield. On the contrary, it reflects a rather aggressive leveraged long-short crypto trade, which depends heavily on HYPE’s price performance.

The post This Crypto Trade Printed 638% APY Last Month: Details appeared first on CryptoPotato.

A few important project-oriented developments also took place, so let’s have a look at some of the more important news around the project.

Important Protocol Update for Pi Network

Undoubtedly, the main development story for the past few days centered on an important protocol upgrade for mainnet node operators. As CryptoPotato reported, all Pi mainnet nodes are required to move to version v24. The deadline is set for June 2nd, 2026.

The team described the update as very quick to complete, with downtime expected of about 15 minutes. However, the warning around it is significant, because nodes that fail to update risk being disconnected from the canonical chain.

That could create instability if enough operators delay the process. Developers have also advised operators not to upgrade all nodes at once, instead routing traffic through other nodes during the transition.

For Pi Network, the move comes at an important stage, because the project continues to focus on infrastructure and utility, while the market continues to watch for signs of technical progress that can translate into more confidence in the native token Pi.

CiDi Games Beta Draws Engagement

The second major update is coming from the ecosystem side of things. CiDi Games – a Pi Network Ventures portfolio company – launched its beta application within the Pi Browser. The move is supposed to bring Pioneers 10 instant-access games across puzzle, idle, action, and competitive categories.

The move also introduced skill-based tournaments, platform progression through CiDiScore, the Pi ELF companion experience, and more.

The early traction was notable. In less than a week, CiDi Games attracted more than 81,000 Pioneers across more than 160 countries and regions, generating over 1.2 million game sessions. The launch also showed that Pi-based applications can reach users organically, build engagement, and test monetization through real utility rather than speculation.

CiDi Games, a Pi Network Ventures portfolio company, launched their beta app in the Pi Browser!

This brought Pioneers 10 instant-access games along with skill-based tournaments, platform progression through CiDiScore, the Pi ELF companion experience, Elf Continent, and developer… pic.twitter.com/7iqdZxUoIb

— Pi Network (@PiCoreTeam) May 28, 2026

Pi Price Remains Under Pressure

Despite the notable ecosystem updates, PI’s market performance remained depressed today. At the time of this writing, the token is trading at around $0.143, down about 4.7% over the past week, with a market capitalization of nearly $1.53 billion and daily trading volume of around $8.7 million – a far cry from its former days of massive activity.

The cryptocurrency continues to reflect broader caution observed in altcoins this week, with traders weighing technical progress against weaker market momentum.

As it stands, PI’s price action suggests that investors are not easily swayed by announcements.

The post Pi Network News and PI Price Update May 30 appeared first on CryptoPotato.

But data suggest that ETH’s largest whales are accumulating again

ETH Whales Tighten Grip on Supply

Wallets holding at least 100,000 Ethereum now collectively own 17.41 million ETH, the highest level in nine weeks. These holdings account for 22.03% of Ethereum’s total supply and mark a 10-week high.

The latest findings come after Santiment reported that the asset’s fall below $2,000 triggered a wave of “buy the dip” calls from retail traders. According to the analytics firm, crypto markets typically react to sharp declines in two ways: either fear takes over, and traders begin abandoning the asset, or optimism grows as traders view lower prices as a buying opportunity.

The second reaction appeared to be dominating sentiment around ETH despite the recent weakness, which essentially meant that retail traders were increasingly confident that the decline represented a discounted entry point rather than a warning sign of deeper downside.

However, Santiment warned that excessive optimism from the crowd has historically been a bearish signal, as retail traders often misread market direction during volatile periods. The firm went on to add that a stronger buying opportunity may emerge once the current FOMO fades and sentiment shifts toward panic, which it described as a more typical setup seen near market bottoms.

Downside Targets

Bearish technical signals have not completely disappeared from the market. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez, for one, said Ethereum could see accelerated downside pressure if it records a weekly close below the $1,850 level.

Based on the broader channel structure, Martinez identified two potential downside targets following the rejection. The first target stands around $1,560, which he described as interim structural support, while the second target sits near $1,070, which marks the lower boundary of the crypto asset’s multi-year range.

The post Ethereum’s Largest Wallets Now Control Over 22% of Supply Amid Fresh Accumulation Wave appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Venture firms invested roughly $4 billion across 355 crypto and blockchain-focused deals during the quarter, which is a 50% decline in capital invested quarter-over-quarter and a 16% drop in deal count.

VC Market Loses Steam

Despite the pullback, activity remained well above many of the quarterly levels seen during the 2023-2024 market downturn. Galaxy Research found that the decline was driven mainly by the absence of the very large later-stage financings seen in Q4 2025, while smaller seed and early-stage rounds continued to close at a relatively steady pace.

If annualized, Q1’s pace would imply approximately $16 billion invested during 2026, below 2025’s nearly $20 billion total but still stronger than much of the previous two years. The historical relationship between Bitcoin prices and crypto venture investing has weakened compared with earlier cycles in 2017 and 2021. While Bitcoin reached new highs in late 2025, venture activity remained uneven, and both Bitcoin prices and venture funding declined in Q1 2026, though the drop in invested capital was more severe than the decline in deal activity.

Later-stage startups accounted for the majority of funding during the quarter, as this cohort captured roughly 57% of all invested capital, while earlier-stage companies received the remaining 43%. By deal count, however, early-stage activity remained significant, even as the share of pre-seed deals declined to 19% and later-stage transactions rose to one-quarter of completed deals.

Galaxy said that this trend indicates the growing maturity of the crypto industry and the increasing presence of larger, revenue-generating companies.

Meanwhile, median crypto deal sizes also reached new all-time highs above $4.5 million in Q1 2026, even as valuations pulled back slightly from the record levels reached in Q4 2025.

Among the sectors tracked by Galaxy Research, the Trading/Exchange/Investing/Lending category attracted the most venture funding by a wide margin after raising roughly $2.6 billion, or nearly three-fifths of all capital invested during the quarter. The same category also led in deal count with 74 transactions.

Wallet startups ranked second in capital raised with roughly $270 million. Galaxy also found that startups founded in 2018 received the largest amount of capital in Q1 at $1.3 billion, while younger startups founded in 2024 and 2025 dominated overall deal count.

US Leads Crypto Deals

Geographically, the United States continued to dominate crypto venture activity, as it accounted for over 70% of all invested capital and 43.5% of total deals completed during the quarter. Bahrain and Singapore followed the US in capital share, while the United Kingdom ranked second by deal count.

On the fundraising side, investors allocated nearly $1.1 billion to eight new crypto-focused venture funds, the fewest new funds launched in a quarter since Q3 2020.

Galaxy said fundraising conditions remain difficult due to macroeconomic pressures, lingering effects from the 2022-2023 crypto market turmoil, growing institutional interest in artificial intelligence, and competition from spot crypto ETFs and digital asset treasury companies for investor capital.

The post Crypto VC Funding Falls 50% After Massive Q4 2025 Surge: Galaxy appeared first on CryptoPotato.

This split has left crypto investors searching for answers, especially since the market has lumped the two asset classes together under the “risk-on” label.

Diverging Drivers Between Equities and Bitcoin

According to market researchers at XWIN Japan, the reason for the divergence is simple: stocks and BTC are running on “different engines.”

They noted that equity gains are tied to growth in AI-linked earnings, capital spending from firms like Nvidia, and share buybacks, as well as steady ETF inflows. As such, investors can point to profit growth that is real and visible.

However, Bitcoin does not carry earnings or cash flow, with its price depending on new capital entering the market, which leaves it more exposed to liquidity shifts.

Right now, per XWIN’s assessment, that capital isn’t arriving. Recall that spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded notable outflows during the second half of May, with data from SoSoValue showing that since May 15, the funds have lost more than $3.5 billion. In that time, the biggest outflows were recorded on May 18 ($648.64 million) and May 27 ($733.43 million). There hasn’t been a single green day since the $131.31 million that flowed in on May 14.

XWIN’s analysts also pointed out that in past strong cycles, the price of Bitcoin was often backed by growing user activity. But currently, the asset is increasingly resembling a market where price is elevated while participation is fading. And that, they said, is the key difference.

“Stocks rise because companies generate profits. Bitcoin rises when new liquidity and new participants return,” they explained.

As a result of the above, investors have been allocating more funds to stocks, which they see as “profit growth assets,” while taking away from those that depend on liquidity, including BTC.

And it’s not all talk. As noted by analyst Ash Crypto earlier today, the Nikkei crossed 66,500 for the first time ever on May 29, with Japanese stocks adding about $3.2 trillion this year alone. The story was the same in Korea, whose KOSPI also hit a new all-time high, adding 150 trillion won to its total market value.

What Bitcoin Needs

As the Nikkei and KOSPI shone, Bitcoin yesterday crashed to about $72,600 per CoinGecko data, with market watchers suggesting it may have been affected by the resumption in hostilities between the USA and Iran, as well as someone offloading a huge $1.3 billion position in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT.

The flagship crypto has since dragged itself back above $73,000, but that’s hardly impressive, considering that it had been trading close to $78,000 at some point in the last seven days. The current price also represents a drop of more than 4% in the past month, as well as a nearly 32% decline year-on-year.

To turn things around, XWIN’s analysts stated that Bitcoin needs stronger ETF flows, a rise in its on-chain activity, and improvement in the Coinbase Premium. They also believe that a weaker dollar could help bring about a more sustained revival for the cryptocurrency.

The post Why Bitcoin Is Falling Behind Record-Breaking Stocks appeared first on CryptoPotato.

This move undoubtedly reflected a combination of macro pressure, renewed ETF outflows, and weaker liquidity rather than a single industry-specific event.

It goes without saying that the biggest theme was the fading institutional demand. US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw notable redemptions, with over a billion dollars leaving in a single day. At the same time, large-holder activity picked up, with whale outflows reaching their highest level since February, which added to concerns that some investors are preparing to offload into weakness.

Macro headlines also played their part. Geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran have reduced hopes for near-term rate cuts, weighing on speculative assets. Moreover, analysts reported that central banks are adding to their gold reserves at an unprecedented rate, signaling broader risk-off market sentiment.

Altcoins followed Bitcoin lower – at least most of them. Ethereum is hovering near $2,000, and risk appetite remains cautious, to say the least.

Overall, the week showed that crypto remains highly sensitive to ETF flows and macro risk. Bitcoin’s failure to hold its price around the mid-$70s level leaves the market looking rather defensive heading into next week.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.54T | 24H Vol: $83B | BTC Dominance: 57.7%

BTC: $73,158 (-5.4%) | ETH: $1,995 (-5.9%) | XRP: $1.33 (-3.4%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

SpaceX Pre-IPO Market Flash-Crashes 45% on Hyperliquid. The pre-IPO market for SpaceX on Hyperliquid, powered by Ventuals, went through a sudden flash crash. Its price tanked by 45% in moments before recovering, causing mass liquidations. Ventuals has said that affected traders will be compensated.

Google Engineer Accused of Turning Secret Search Data Into a $1.2M Polymarket Profit. US prosecutors have charged a software engineer from Google with allegedly using confidential information to profit from betting on Polymarket. He allegedly made $1.2 million by using proprietary search data.

Hyperliquid Adds Macro Prediction Markets, HYPE Explodes Above $64. Hyperliquid has expanded the suite of available outcome markets on its platform. Initially, only fixed bets on Bitcoin’s daily price were available, but now users can trade on macro events such as monthly CPI prints and more.

Coinbase CEO Reveals What Still Needs to Change Before Finance Truly Evolves. Brian Armstrong said that the financial system still requires major upgrades. He emphasized that significant technological innovation and policy work will be needed to achieve them.

Galaxy Digital and BitGo Clash in Court Over Failed $1.2 Billion Crypto Merger. BitGo and Galaxy Digital continue their courtroom clash over the collapse of a $1.2 billion acquisition agreement that was once expected to become the largest merger in the industry.

Sui Network Hit by Fresh Outage Months After Previous Six-Hour Downtime Incident. Sui Network has once again experienced considerable downtime. The blockchain went offline for nearly six hours on Thursday. It’s far from the first time this has happened as well.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.

The post Bitcoin, Altcoin Prices Slide on ETF Outflows and Macro Risk: The Weekly Crypto Recap appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Crypto markets have been in decline all week, with around $120 billion leaving the space as Bitcoin continues to weaken and Ether gets crushed.

Escalation of US military action in the Middle East has pushed investors into panic mode, and the sell-off has accelerated.

Bitcoin Options Expiry

This week’s batch of Bitcoin options contracts has a put/call ratio of 0.85, meaning that sellers of longs and shorts are pretty evenly matched. Max pain is around $75,000, according to Coinglass, which is a little higher than current spot prices, so some could be out of the money on expiry.

Open interest (OI), or the value or number of Bitcoin options contracts yet to expire, remains highest at the $80,000 strike price on Deribit, with $1.7 billion, but short sellers still have $1.2 billion in OI at $60,000. Total BTC options OI across all exchanges has been declining recently, and is at $37.5 billion, according to Coinglass.

Although Bitcoin has fallen to a “very dangerous level,” implied volatility (IV) has not risen significantly, reported derivatives provider Greeks Live on Thursday.

Under these circumstances, today’s expiry appears likely to “significantly alter the current options position structure,” they added.

“The market as a whole is still betting on support, and large investors’ concerns about the risk of a breakout have not increased significantly.”

BTC’s price has begun to break below the Gex concentration zone, and the resistance from open interest will continue to weaken. Meanwhile, since Gex is concentrated around $2,000, ETH has also broken below the Gex resistance level.

Although BTC has fallen to a very dangerous… pic.twitter.com/INeioAIqMP

— Greeks.live (@GreeksLive) May 28, 2026

In addition to today’s batch of Bitcoin options, around 650,000 Ethereum contracts are also expiring, with a notional value of $1.3 billion, max pain at $2,200, and a put/call ratio of 0.77. Total ETH options OI across all exchanges is around $6.9 billion.

This brings the total crypto options expiry notional value to around $7.6 billion, the largest event for many weeks.

Spot Market Outlook

Markets have been falling all week, with total capitalization dipping to $2.55 trillion on Friday morning in Asia, their lowest level since April 13.

BTC managed to recover $73,000 after falling below it twice on Thursday, but its market structure remains weak and further losses look likely.

ETH had reclaimed $2,000 at the time of writing, but also looked very weak and deep in bear market territory.

Crypto could be further pressured by US inflation, which increased at its fastest pace in three years in April as measured by this week’s PCE report.

The post Will Crypto Markets Fall Further When $6.3B Bitcoin Options Expire? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The timing was especially hard to ignore considering that on Polymarket, the probability that Strategy will sell some of its Bitcoin before December 31, 2026 has now hit 84%.

What the Transfer Could Mean

Depositing BTC to an exchange does not automatically mean that the holder is looking to sell. This was noted by pseudonymous crypto analyst COINBOY, who pointed out that funds moved to Coinbase Prime could be for OTC trading, collateral arrangement, or institutional fund management rather than outright liquidation. Keep that distinction in mind before reading too much into a single on-chain transaction.

However, what gave Strategy’s move more weight is the context around it, with the company’s Executive Chairman Michael Saylor recently declining to rule out selling some BTC before year-end, a notable departure from the hold-at-all-cost image he’s spent years building.

That change in mindset was revealed on Strategy’s Q1 2026 earnings call, where the firm reported $12.5 billion in net losses for the period. During the call, Saylor suggested that the company could liquidate part of its BTC stash to pay dividends, a position that was defended by Bitcoin maximalist Samson Mow, who said that the “never sell” mantra long associated with Saylor should not be taken as some kind of corporate oath but as guidance for individual holders, since any BTC treasury company that completely rules out selling would be handing a roadmap to short sellers that could hurt it.

There’s also the question of what Strategy did earlier this week when, instead of buying more Bitcoin as is the tradition, it repurchased approximately $1.5 billion of its own 0% convertible senior notes that were due in 2029. Analyst Darkfost framed the move as a balance sheet cleanup rather than the company rethinking its BTC plan, although Saylor himself had once again hinted in an interview that one of the options Strategy had considered to fund the repurchase was Bitcoin sales.

Interestingly, hours before on-chain tracking platform Lookonchain reported on Strategy’s 411 BTC deposit on Coinbase Prime, the executive posted a one-word tweet on X that simply read, “HODL.”

Where Bitcoin Stands

While speculation about Strategy’s intention was running rife, BTC itself was being buffeted by geopolitical developments, with the OG cryptocurrency losing more than $2,000 from its value after hostilities between the USA and Iran resumed. That session was quite rough, as it saw crypto markets shed over $100 million in total capitalization, with liquidations across derivatives topping $1 billion.

Today, at the time of writing, BTC was about $300 short of $74,000, having dipped by almost 5% in 7 days and nearly the same percentage in the last month. For Strategy, whose 843,738 BTC were purchased at around $75,700 per coin, the current price range puts its overall position modestly in the red on paper.

The post Strategy Moves $30 Million in BTC to Coinbase Amid Sell Speculation appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is down 6% this week after sellers managed to put pressure on the $2,000 support. At the time of this post, this level appears to be holding, but only by a thread. Another push later could turn it into key resistance.

If $2,000 is lost next week, buyers will likely retreat to support at $1,800. This level managed to halt the downtrend previously, but another visit there could be interpreted as bearish, with a higher chance of a breakdown.

Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency remains in a bearish trend with sentiment being quite negative. This will likely fuel new lows as the downtrend continues into the summer of 2026.

Ripple (XRP)

XRP also had a bad week, closing with a 4% loss. Its price fell below the blue pennant, which is now acting as resistance. Sellers are defending the level at $1.4 and the key support levels are found at $1.2 and $1 where buyers are likely to return.

If this weakness continues, this cryptocurrency is likely to revisit the support levels in the coming weeks. Sellers are also controlling the price and have dominated for over three weeks with no relief.

Looking ahead, XRP is in a difficult position because its downtrend has been ongoing for almost a year. There were no major relief rallies, and any bounce was short-lived. Hopefully, a bottom is found soon, with $1 as a prime candidate.

Cardano (ADA)

ADA has entered dangerous territory after its price pierced through the support at $0.24. While it is still early to call it, this breakdown could be a significant loss of trust as the price falls to new lows.

Cardano also closed the week with a 7% loss, being unable to stop sellers from pushing the price down. The support at $0.24 held well for several months, but it seems this latest push may seal its fate.

Looking ahead, if $0.24 becomes resistance in the coming days, this cryptocurrency may make new lows not seen since 2021. If so, key target areas will be found at $0.20 and $0.15.

Binance Coin (BNB)

Binance Coin continues to disappoint, as its price has failed to break the $690 resistance level several times. This has forced it to bounce in a flat trend for months, testing the support at $580 and resistance at $690 several times. It also closed the week with a 3% loss.

Without a clear breakout, BNB could end up making lower lows, as the overall market bias is bearish. Therefore, sellers have the advantage and they could soon try their luck again at the key support. If that won’t hold, bears will target $ 500 next.

Looking ahead, this cryptocurrency may pause, moving sideways before its downtrend resumes. This is contingent on the overall market remaining bearish. Should Bitcoin make new lows, BNB is likely to follow as well based on this price action.

Hype (HYPE)

HYPE closed this week 6% higher, but it appears to have hit a ceiling somewhere around $64. Since that level was visited, sellers managed to put a stop to the rally and the price has been hesitating to make new gains.

With sellers becoming more aggressive, the most likely scenario here is a pullback towards the low $50 before HYPE attempts new highs. A correction would also be ideal to consolidate the recent gains after such a spectacular performance in recent weeks.

Looking ahead, if HYPE manages to test and confirm $52 as support, then it can use that level as a base towards new highs later. The current resistance at $63 continues to hold and will need to turn into support for the rally to resume.

The post Crypto Price Analysis May-29: ETH, XRP, ADA, BNB, and HYPE appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The latest data shows that XRP ETF clients bought $1.77 million in XRP yesterday, bringing total net assets to about $1.12 billion.

XRP Funds Defy Broader ETF Weakness

The fresh XRP inflow comes at a moment when Bitcoin and Ethereum products have been hit by renewed outflows. Investors seem to be pulling back from riskier assets amid a broader crypto market downturn. Data from SoSoValue shows that US BTC spot ETFs record $228M in outflows, while ETH products lost $121M.

Against that backdrop, XRP’s $1.77 million inflow might seem modest in size, but it could be interpreted as notable in direction. It indicates that some ETF investors continue to accumulate exposure to Ripple’s native cryptocurrency despite the fact that capital is exiting BTC and ETH products.

Of course, the inflow has been far from enough to reverse XRP’s weakening price action, although positive signs appear.

XRP Price Notes Small Rebound

XRP is showing a modest rebound today, with the token trading around 2% higher. That said, the move has not fully erased the recent bearish pressure.

As CryptoPotato reported earlier, XRP recently slipped towards its lowest levels since March, eyeing $1.20 as the next major support zone.

Technical pressure has also been intense throughout the past week. XRP fell below its 100-day moving average, which is currently treated as considerable resistance at $1.4, while the 200-day moving average remains higher around $1.6.

A breakdown below $1.2 could open the door to a much deeper decline, potentially toward the zone around $0.60.

And yet, the contrast seems clear: ETF demand remains positive, but price momentum is still bearish. The first step to stabilizing the PA would be to reclaim the 100-day EMA at $1.4.

The post Good News for Ripple? XRP ETFs Post Inflows Despite Market Downturn appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The Layer 1 network said the issue was caused by a bug tied to its recently released 1.72 update, which specifically affected the gas charging logic.

Recurring Network Issues

In a post on X, the team behind Sui confirmed that activity on the mainnet had resumed and added that a detailed incident review would be released in the coming days. Earlier during the outage, the project warned users that the network was experiencing a stall and that transactions were paused until a solution was deployed.

According to the network’s status page, the disruption lasted for 5 hours and 55 minutes. Although the blockchain has resumed functioning, validators on the Sui mainnet are still marked as operating under “degraded performance.”

This isn’t Sui’s first outage. In fact, in January this year, the network suffered another downtime event that lasted more than six hours. A separate disruption also occurred in November 2024, which was linked to a bug in transaction scheduling logic that caused validators to crash and ended up halting transaction processing across the network.

Price Performance

Sui’s native token, SUI, briefly dropped from $0.95 to $0.89 on Thursday during the network disruption, but the decline did not last long. The token has since stabilized and is trading near $0.925. Over the past 24 hours, SUI has gained around 1.5%.

SUI also saw a strong rally earlier this month, briefly climbing to nearly $1.40 in mid-May, its highest level since January. The surge came after Sui Group Holdings staked 108.7 million SUI tokens, removing nearly 3% of the circulating supply from the market. Additional momentum came from optimism surrounding the upcoming launch of CME Group SUI futures and Sui’s partnership with African payments firm Paga. However, despite the short-term recovery, the token remains down nearly 17% over the past week amid broader weakness across the crypto market.

The post Sui Network Hit by Fresh Outage Months After Previous Six-Hour Downtime Incident appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The rally has also drawn close political attention after comments from President Donald Trump praising the company earlier in May.

AI Server Demand Drives Record Results

Dell Technologies saw its price per share surge in after-hours trading. This came after the company reported first-quarter results that sharply exceeded Wall Street expectations, driven largely by booming demand for artificial intelligence servers.

The company outlined adjusted earnings per share of $4.86 on revenue of $43.8 billion, which far exceeded the projections and expectations of analyst forecasts, which stood at around $2.99 – a 1.6x increase.

Revenue also nearly doubled from the previous year, while AI-optimized server orders increased dramatically. This underscores just how central Dell has become to the infrastructure behind the ongoing AI frenzy.

The company also raised its full-year outlook, now forecasting revenue of about $167 billion for the fiscal year that ends in January 2027. It expects around $60 billion of that to come from sales of AI-oriented servers.

Moreover, Dell CEO Jeff Clarke said their “AI opportunity shows no signs of slowing,” as customers have reportedly been investing in data centers capable of supporting large-scale deployment of AI-based solutions.

The stock price exploded by about 39% after the earnings release, extending a rally that has already made the firm one of the strongest performers this year.

Trump’s Recent Comments Add Political Spotlight

The most recent surge has also drawn attention to the public praise for Dell from President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, on May 8th, he urged people to “go out and buy Dell computers,” a call that was followed by a sharp rise in the company’s stock price.

Since then, Dell’s shares increased by about 80%, adding roughly $120 billion in market capitalization. The same post also highlighted Dell’s reported $9.7 nillion Pentagon contract, awarded on May 27, as another catalyst that is feeding enthusiasm.

Recall that Trump also recently praised the cryptocurrency industry and Bitcoin in particular, saying that the country is the “crypto capital of the world,” and that “builders and entrepreneurs are coming back to the United States where they belong.” He also said that they will “codify a future-proof digital asset market structure that cannot be undone by the crypto haters.” Unfortunately for crypto investors, the market has plunged since these remarks, with Bitcoin trading at slightly above $$73,000 at the time of this writing.

The post Dell Shares Explode Following AI-Fueled Earnings Beat appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Ventuals is one such exchange that allows users to trade pre-markets for popular companies such as OpenAI and SpaceX.

Trading under the SPACEX-USDH pair on Hyperliquid, the pair reflects what traders believe is a fair valuation of Elon Musk’s company before it went public, and it has allowed speculation for a long time now, regularly attracting $2.9 million in open interest and over $5 million in 24-hour volume.

Yesterday, the market flash-crashed by a whopping 45%, dropping from around $2,200 to $1,200, triggering the liquidation of more than $1.5 million in leveraged long positions held by hundreds of traders.

Ventuals, the provider for this particular market, gave an explanation on their official X account and hinted at compensation:

The offchain data provider used as a component of the oracle price returned incorrect data, which caused the market’s oracle and mark price to move dramatically. This led to the liquidation of some user positions.

We have taken immediate steps to prevent this form happening again on any of the pre-IPO markets, and are evaluating the impact it had on affected users for appropriate compensation.

UPDATE:

Ventuals has confirmed that affected users will be compensated within the next 48 hours.

The post SpaceX Pre-IPO Market Flash-Crashes 45% on Hyperliquid (UPDATED) appeared first on CryptoPotato.

According to a criminal complaint unsealed in the Southern District of New York, Spagnuolo allegedly accessed nonpublic ‘Year in Search 2025’ data from Google’s internal systems and used that information to trade on Google-related markets on Polymarket before the results became public.

Polymarket Insider Trading Case

Prosecutors charged him with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, while the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a parallel civil complaint accusing him of insider trading violations under the Commodity Exchange Act. The filing states that Google keeps its “Year in Search” rankings strictly confidential because the annual campaign is commercially valuable and designed around a coordinated public reveal intended to generate media attention, user engagement, and advertising demand.

Investigators said Spagnuolo had access to a Google internal software tool containing confidential trend data and that the tool itself displayed a “Google Confidential” warning banner. Authorities allege that between October and December 2025, Spagnuolo used the AlphaRaccoon Polymarket account to place bets on at least 23 Google-related prediction markets, including contracts tied to the “#1 Searched Person on Google this year” and “Top 5 Most Searched People on Google 2025.”

The complaint says that after reviewing Google’s internal data on October 15, 2025, Spagnuolo placed trades the following day, backing Kendrick Lamar to become the top searched person of the year while simultaneously betting against Pope Leo XIV achieving the same result. Prosecutors said he continued placing trades over the following weeks using knowledge unavailable to the public.

On November 27, 2025, investigators allege that Spagnuolo again accessed confidential Google search rankings and learned that musician d4vd had overtaken Kendrick Lamar as the top trending person for the year. Roughly three hours later, the AlphaRaccoon account allegedly placed bets favoring d4vd despite the market assigning almost no probability to that outcome at the time.

The filing states that the account risked roughly $2.75 million across Google Year in Search-related markets between October 15 and December 4, 2025. After Google publicly released its Year in Search results on December 4, prosecutors said the AlphaRaccoon account generated approximately $1.2 million in profits.

Investigators further allege that Spagnuolo attempted to conceal the origin of the proceeds by moving crypto through multiple wallets, decentralized swapping services, and a privacy-focused transfer service.

Kalshi’s Crackdown on Insider Trading Cases

The allegations against Spagnuolo come as prediction markets face increasing scrutiny over insider-style trading activity. In April, rival platform Kalshi banned three US political candidates after discovering they had placed bets tied to their own election races. Those included Minnesota State Senator Matt Klein, Texas congressional candidate Ezekiel Enriquez, and Virginia Senate candidate Mark Moran.

Kalshi said the trades violated exchange rules that prohibit people with direct influence over an event from trading related contracts. The platform issued fines and five-year bans.

The post Google Engineer Accused of Turning Secret Search Data Into a $1.2M Polymarket Profit appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The approval also gives the firms permission to issue electronic money under the UK’s Electronic Money Regulations 2011.

Aave Pushes Deeper Into Regulated Crypto Services

In a post published on X, Aave said the approvals would allow “regulated cryptoasset activities and payments infrastructure” in the UK, including stablecoin on- and off-ramping services.

The companies were assigned firm reference numbers 1031720 and 1031721, while Push’s electronic money authorization carries reference number 900984.

According to Aave founder Stani Kulechov, the setup will allow users to move fiat currency directly into the Aave ecosystem through what he described as a “vertically integrated zero-fee on-ramp.”

He also linked the FCA registration to Aave’s broader regulatory plans in Europe, referencing the company’s MiCA license through the Central Bank of Ireland for operations across the European Economic Area.

The announcement has come at a particularly busy time for the protocol. Earlier this week, it published a governance “Temp Check” proposal to deploy Aave V4 on Avalanche, including a dedicated liquidity hub for tokenized real-world assets.

Former Ava Labs executive Luigi D’Onorio DeMeo wrote on X that Avalanche had a “huge opportunity” to build on-chain capital markets around the new version of the protocol.

It has also come when the wider DeFi sector is facing renewed scrutiny after several major exploits this year. Things have gotten so bad that yesterday, OpenZeppelin co-founder Manuel Aráoz warned users on X that he now considers “all DeFi unsafe.”

He argued that AI-powered coding tools have tilted the balance too heavily in favor of attackers and named Aave as one of the platforms he no longer thinks is safe.

Aave was indeed heavily affected by an exploit in April on KelpDAO. However, recent community discussion has focused on its response, with analyst Jose Fabrega praising Aave DAO for using roughly $58 million from its treasury to help cover losses tied to rsETH depositors after the incident.

An April 25 report on the recovery effort showed Kulechov personally pledged 5,000 ETH toward the “DeFi United” initiative formed to stabilize markets after the exploit created a deficit of more than 100,000 ETH across connected protocols.

AAVE Price Slips

Despite news of the UK approval, data from CoinGecko showed that at the time of writing, Aave’s native AAVE token had dipped about 5% in 24 hours to trade at around $81.

That figure also represented a nearly 10% drop during the last seven days, as well as a 17% fall over the past month. Still, Aave remains one of the largest DeFi lending protocols, with more than $13.6 billion in total value locked (TVL).

The post Aave Secures FCA Approval for UK Crypto Operations appeared first on CryptoPotato.

The program allows developers, including wallets, Telegram bots, and trading frontends, to connect directly to the exchange, set their own fee rates on top of the base protocol fee, and retain 100% of what they charge. There is no gatekeeping or revenue share at the protocol level. As a result, builders compete primarily on product quality, user experience, and pricing, creating a distribution layer where different entry points all access the same order book.

Hyperliquid Builder Rankings

Among builders, CoinGecko found Phantom leads with $20.63 million in terms of cumulative revenue, and represents almost 32% of total earnings among the top 10 since the program began. It also has the largest user base at 137,496 users and averages about $150 revenue per user.

Based ranks second with $15.05 million in revenue from $44 billion in volume compared to Phantom’s $39.4 billion, with its lower 0.025% builder fee versus Phantom’s 0.05% explaining the gap in earnings despite higher throughput. Together, Phantom and Based make up for almost 55% of total top-10 builder revenue.

Meanwhile, MetaMask ranks fourth with $6.51 million in terms of revenue as it charges a 0.1% fee, the highest among the top builders, while still attracting 43,761 users and $7.46 billion in trading volume, with an average revenue per user of $149. Next up is Insilico with $3.30 million in revenue from just 2,962 users, followed by Axiom, which processed $22.1 billion in volume but earned $2.27 million due to a 0.01% fee, resulting in $68 revenue per user.

Drivers Behind Hyperliquid’s Growth

Beyond the builder-driven revenue layer, the broader ecosystem developments are further strengthening Hyperliquid’s position. Traction in HIP-3 permissionless perp markets, including emerging pre-IPO trading venues, is expanding activity and awareness. Additionally, spot HYPE ETF launches appear to have significantly improved distribution and investor access to the token, supported by strong early flows that point to underlying demand.

According to FalconX, the HIP-4 outcome markets, launched on mainnet earlier this month, expand Hyperliquid’s reach into prediction market territory and bring it closer to already established platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket. At the same time, the introduction of priority fees is expected to add incremental protocol revenue and deepen token utility.

FalconX further estimated that USDC becoming an aligned asset through formal support from Coinbase and Circle could contribute up to $160 million in annualized revenue.

The post Hyperliquid Builder Program Becomes Major Revenue Engine for Wallets and Bots: CoinGecko appeared first on CryptoPotato.

BC.GAME has announced that stakers on BC Engine have earned more than 2.1 million BCD, worth over $2.1 million, only a few weeks after the system launched on April 8.

BC Engine is an in-platform rewards system built around BC.GAME’s platform coin, $BC. Players can earn $BC by wagering on BC.GAME casino games, with the $BC automatically entering BC Engine. Users can then view their $BC balance, staking status, unclaimed rewards and historical reward distributions within the BC Engine page.

The system brings casino gameplay, $BC earnings, staking participation and reward claims into one place. For users, $BC is not only a platform coin, but also part of the regular gameplay and reward process on BC.GAME.

BCGame Coin has also drawn more market attention recently and has reached all-time highs on some market tracking platforms. With BC Engine now live, the use of $BC on BC.GAME has become more defined: players earn $BC through casino games, the $BC enters BC Engine automatically, and users can continue to participate in staking and reward distributions.

In addition to staking rewards, BC Engine also includes a daily burn mechanism. Under the current mechanism, part of the $BC flow related to BC Engine enters a daily burn process and is removed from supply. Users can also view cumulative burn-related data on the BC Engine page.

BC Engine currently allows users to view their staked amount, earnings, the next payout pool, historical distribution rounds and related supply data. BC.GAME said it will continue to improve the BC Engine user experience and release further updates around $BC earning, staking and reward claims.

About BC.GAME

BC.GAME is a crypto-first online entertainment platform offering casino games, sports betting and original gaming experiences. The platform supports a wide range of digital assets and continues to build product features around user experience, transparency and crypto-native participation.

The post BC.GAME: BC Engine Stakers Have Earned Over $2M in Rewards appeared first on CryptoPotato.

However, Santiment pointed out that the sudden wave of optimism around ETH’s decline could be a warning sign in itself.

Crowd Optimism Points to More Downside

Santiment’s reasoning is that when a major token drops through a key psychological level, traders often split into two camps, with one group panicking and writing off the asset and the other piling in even more because they believe they are catching a discount.

Per the firm’s analysis, the second scenario is what is happening currently with Ethereum.

“Retail has erupted with ‘buy the dip’ calls toward $ETH,” it wrote on X, adding that this kind of crowd optimism at a local bottom usually means the price still has some more falling to do.

That’s because, in Santiment’s assessment, retail crowds tend to get such calls wrong and get too optimistic, and anyone buying before panic fully sets in will be doing so before the actual floor arrives.

As such, the firm advised patience, saying:

“There will be an opportunity to buy Ethereum, but ideally you will want to wait for the majority to cool down their FOMO and begin to show panic. This way, you will be buying while there is true blood in the streets.”

A glimpse at the market backs up that bearish backdrop, with ETH trading around $1,975 at the time of writing, which is a nearly 5% drop in the last 24 hours and almost 8% in the red over seven days.

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency is also down around 14% from where it was 30 days ago and is sitting about 60% below its all-time high registered in August 2025 when it stopped a few dollars short of $5,000.

Data from CoinGlass shows that about $241 million in ETH positions were liquidated in the past day alone, with longs making up the vast majority of that figure at roughly $228 million compared to just $13 million in shorts.

Those lopsided liquidation numbers reflect just how many traders were caught offside betting on a recovery.

Ethereum Network’s Success Isn’t Showing in ETH Prices

All the above is happening at a time when debate around Ethereum’s future is hitting fever pitch, with Bankless co-founder David Hoffman saying that he had sold his ETH stash.

He said that, while Ethereum has succeeded as a network, he is unsure whether ETH itself still has a strong path toward a major long-term repricing.

According to him, Ethereum has become more beneficial to stablecoins, tokenized assets, and decentralized apps at the expense of its own native token, calling the network “a giver, not a taker.”

The post Buy the Dip on ETH, or Is More Downside Ahead? These Metrics Give Hints appeared first on CryptoPotato.

However, BTC is now approaching an important confluence of technical supports around $70K-$72K, where both trendline support and the 100-day MA could provide temporary relief for the market.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

On the daily timeframe, Bitcoin has officially broken below the key $75K-$76K support region, which previously acted as an important decision point for the market. The breakdown confirms bearish continuation after repeated failures to reclaim the descending 200-day MA near $80K-$81K.

Currently, the price is approaching a major support confluence around $70K-$72K. This region aligns with the ascending lower boundary of the broader structure, the 100-day MA around $73K, and a significant historical order block visible on the chart. Such overlapping supports often increase the probability of at least a short-term reaction or relief bounce.

If buyers manage to defend the $70K-$72K range, Bitcoin could attempt a corrective recovery back toward the broken $75K-$76K resistance zone. However, failure to hold this area may open the path toward deeper supports around $65K-$66K and potentially the broader $60K-$63K demand region.

For now, the overall market structure remains bearish unless BTC reclaims the $75K-$76K zone and stabilizes above it.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour chart reflects accelerating bearish momentum following the recent breakdown below the consolidation structure near $75K-$76K. Sellers remain in control, while lower highs and persistent rejection candles continue to dominate the short-term trend.

Nevertheless, Bitcoin is now entering a critical order block between $70K and $72K. This zone has historically attracted significant demand and currently overlaps with the rising trendline support shown on the chart. The market reaction here will likely determine the next major move.

A short-term bullish pullback remains possible if buyers step in around this support cluster. In that scenario, BTC could revisit the $74K-$76K region as a corrective rebound. However, if the current support fails to hold, bearish momentum could accelerate rapidly toward the $65K-$66K liquidity zone.

Therefore, the $70K-$72K area represents the most important short-term battlefield between buyers and sellers.

Sentiment Analysis

The ETF cumulative flow chart reveals an important divergence developing in the market. Despite Bitcoin attempting multiple recoveries during recent months, cumulative ETF inflows have started flattening and have recently turned weaker alongside the latest correction.

This behavior suggests that institutional demand has cooled considerably compared to previous accumulation phases. The slowdown in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows indicates reduced aggressive buying from large market participants, which partly explains BTC’s inability to sustain rallies above the $80K-$82K region.

More importantly, recent price weakness has occurred while cumulative ETF flows remain relatively stable rather than aggressively expanding higher. This signals a lack of fresh capital entering the market at current levels.

Historically, strong bullish continuation phases in Bitcoin have usually been accompanied by accelerating ETF inflows. The absence of that dynamic increases the likelihood that the current market will remain corrective in the short term.

Still, if Bitcoin stabilizes around the $70K-$72K support region and ETF flows begin strengthening again, the market could regain momentum later. Until then, weakening institutional demand, combined with a bearish technical structure, keeps downside risks elevated despite the possibility of temporary relief rallies.

The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC Eyes $70K Support as ETF Demand Weakens and Bears Stay in Control appeared first on CryptoPotato.