Uncategorized
Memecoins Under Fire as BTC Lullfest Below $100K Revives Memories of 2018

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent narrow price range between $94,000 and $100,000 has perplexed many market participants.
While the largest cryptocurrency historically shows strong directional moves followed by months-long consolidations, known as stair-step price movements, this time feels different. Usually consolidations are followed by a breakout. In contrast, now the range has narrowed. In December it was $90,000-$110,000.
Attendees at last week’s Consensus Hong Kong shared the sentiment, with some prominent market makers and industry figures suggesting the rampant memecoin frenzy is a key reason behind the lull in BTC and the broader altcoin market, which feels similar to the lackluster price action from seven years ago.
«The market has been very saturated with memecoin launches, and crypto natives are kind of exhausted by this,» said Evgeny Gaevoy, CEO of leading market maker Wintermute, at the conference.
Tokens such as President Donald Trump’s TRUMP and the LIBRA token promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei tend to draw liquidity from more established cryptocurrencies, Gaevoy said, with traders buying those at the expense of other coins.
Such stagnant BTC price behavior is reminiscent of September-October 2018, when the range tightened over successive weeks, ultimately settling between $6,000 and $6,400.
It’s not a totally parallel situation, though. That occurred during a bear market, following a steep decline from bitcoin’s then-record high of nearly $20,000, making the range play somewhat justifiable as investor confidence waned. This time around, BTC is only about 12% below its all-time high.
Presidential memecoins
Three days before his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump debuted his official token, TRUMP, which reached a market cap of over $12 billion in just 48 hours. Its descent was equally fast, and the market cap had crashed to near $3 billion by early this month, data from Coingecko show.
What’s interesting is that the total crypto market capitalization remained largely unchanged at nearly $3.5 trillion during the boom-bust cycle. That’s a sign the memecoin did little to draw new capital to the market. In other words, the money simply migrated from BTC, Solana’s SOL and other coins.
Moreover, while some wallets that invested early made big money, around 800,000 lost a total of $2 billion by selling at a loss or holding as prices crashed, according to Chainalysis.
Something similar played out during the LIBRA fiasco early this month, which destroyed $251 million in investor money and became a net wealth-destroyer for the crypto market.
That’s probably why Abraxas Capital Management founder Fabio Frontini said memecoins should be banned. He was speaking during a rapid-fire round at the «Views from Wall Street to Crypto» session at Consensus.
Jason Atkins, chief commercial officer at Auros, said the fact that memecoins are sucking out liquidity from the other sectors of the market shows how fragile the liquidity pool is.
«It’s clear that adoption is still at an early stage,» Atkins said in an interview. «The number of participants remains relatively low, and the fact that one high-profile token launch can send shockwaves across the entire market shows how fragile the liquidity pool is. It’s a clear signal that the broader market lacks sufficient depth and stability.»
Those are key requirements for attracting more institutional interest, he said.
«Institutional investors are actively exploring how they can engage with this space. But they are cautious. They need to see a more mature, stable market that can handle larger volumes without getting disrupted by speculative, meme-driven activity.»
Bitcoin’s direction
Opinions were mixed on what happens next for the BTC price.
Several Consensus delegates said the meme frenzy and the uncanny stability in BTC is unhealthy. Such range plays often end with a downside move, they said. That’s what happened in 2018, when the consolidation ended with a sharp decline.
On the other hand, the memecoin saturation is overshadowing positive news on the regulatory front, Wintermute’s Gaevoy said.
«People don’t necessarily appreciate that we have a lot of positive news coming. For example, on the regulatory side, we have all forgotten how bad of an influence the SEC and even CFTC was for the last few years and now that overhang is completely gone. I don’t think it’s being properly priced, So I’m pretty optimistic,» Gaevoy said.
Altcoin ETFs?
The regulatory environment includes change of U.S. administration and exit of Gary Gensler from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of issuers have now filed SEC applications for spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to Solana’s SOL, XRP, dogecoin (DOGE) and litecoin (LTC).
To date, the regulator has approved only spot bitcoin and ether ETFs, assuming that the CME’s surveillance system for bitcoin and ether futures mitigates concerns about price manipulation. If CME futures are seen as a prerequisite to win approval for ETFs tied to digital assets, it’s worth noting the broader altcoins don’t have that privilege yet.
Gaevoy disagrees.
«It’s a relic from the previous SEC leadership. I would definitely not be surprised if Solana and other top 10 tokens excluding stablecoins are approved,» he said.
Business
Strategy Bought $27M in Bitcoin at $123K Before Crypto Crash

Strategy (MSTR), the world’s largest corporate owner of bitcoin (BTC), appeared to miss out on capitalizing on last week’s market rout to purchase the dip in prices.
According to Monday’s press release, the firm bought 220 BTC at an average price of $123,561. The company used the proceeds of selling its various preferred stocks (STRF, STRK, STRD), raising $27.3 million.
That purchase price was well above the prices the largest crypto changed hands in the second half of the week. Bitcoin nosedived from above $123,000 on Thursday to as low as $103,000 on late Friday during one, if not the worst crypto flash crash on record, liquidating over $19 billion in leveraged positions.
That move occurred as Trump said to impose a 100% increase in tariffs against Chinese goods as a retaliation for tightening rare earth metal exports, reigniting fears of a trade war between the two world powers.
At its lowest point on Friday, BTC traded nearly 16% lower than the average of Strategy’s recent purchase price. Even during the swift rebound over the weekend, the firm could have bought tokens between $110,000 and $115,000, at a 7%-10% discount compared to what it paid for.
With the latest purchase, the firm brought its total holdings to 640,250 BTC, at an average acquisition price of $73,000 since starting its bitcoin treasury plan in 2020.
MSTR, the firm’s common stock, was up 2.5% on Monday.
Business
HBAR Rises Past Key Resistance After Explosive Decline

HBAR (Hedera Hashgraph) experienced pronounced volatility in the final hour of trading on Oct. 13, soaring from $0.187 to a peak of $0.191—a 2.14% intraday gain—before consolidating around $0.190.
The move was driven by a dramatic surge in trading activity, with a standout 15.65 million tokens exchanged at 13:31, signaling strong institutional participation. This decisive volume breakout propelled the asset beyond its prior resistance range of $0.190–$0.191, establishing a new technical footing amid bullish momentum.
The surge capped a broader 23-hour rally from Oct. 12 to 13, during which HBAR advanced roughly 9% within a $0.17–$0.19 bandwidth. This sustained upward trajectory was characterized by consistent volume inflows and a firm recovery from earlier lows near $0.17, underscoring robust market conviction. The asset’s ability to preserve support above $0.18 throughout the period reinforced confidence among traders eyeing continued bullish action.
Strong institutional engagement was evident as consecutive high-volume intervals extended through the breakout window, suggesting renewed accumulation and positioning for potential continuation. HBAR’s price structure now shows resilient support around $0.189–$0.190, signaling the possibility of further upside if momentum persists and broader market conditions remain favorable.
Technical Indicators Highlight Bullish Sentiment
- HBAR operated within a $0.017 bandwidth (9%) spanning $0.174 and $0.191 throughout the previous 23-hour period from 12 October 15:00 to 13 October 14:00.
- Substantial volume surges reaching 179.54 million and 182.77 million during 11:00 and 13:00 sessions on 13 October validated positive market sentiment.
- Critical resistance materialized at $0.190-$0.191 thresholds where price movements encountered persistent selling activity.
- The $0.183-$0.184 territory established dependable support through volume-supported bounces.
- Extraordinary volume explosion at 13:31 registering 15.65 million units signaled decisive breakout event.
- High-volume intervals surpassing 10 million units through 13:35 substantiated significant institutional engagement.
- Asset preserved support above $0.189 despite moderate profit-taking activity.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.
Business
Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin and Altcoins Recover After $500B Crash

The crypto market staged a recovery on Monday following the weekend’s $500 billion bloodbath that resulted in a $10 billion drop in open interest.
Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 1.4% while ether (ETH) outperformed with a 2.5% gain. Synthetix (SNX, meanwhile, stole the show with a 120% rally as traders anticipate «perpetual wars» between the decentralized trading venue and HyperLiquid.
Plasma (XPL) and aster (ASTER) both failed to benefit from Monday’s recovery, losing 4.2% and 2.5% respectively.
Derivatives Positioning
- The BTC futures market has stabilized after a volatile period. Open interest, which had dropped from $33 billion to $23 billion over the weekend, has now settled at around $26 billion. Similarly, the 3-month annualized basis has rebounded to the 6-7% range, after dipping to 4-5% over the weekend, indicating that the bullish sentiment has largely returned. However, funding rates remain a key area of divergence; while Bybit and Hyperliquid have settled around 10%, Binance’s rate is negative.
- The BTC options market is showing a renewed bullish lean. The 24-hour Put/Call Volume has shifted to be more in favor of calls, now at over 56%. Additionally, the 1-week 25 Delta Skew has risen to 2.5% after a period of flatness.
- These metrics indicate a market with increasing demand for bullish exposure and upside protection, reflecting a shift away from the recent «cautious neutrality.»
- Coinglass data shows $620 million in 24 hour liquidations, with a 34-66 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($218 million), BTC ($124 million) and SOL ($43 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations. Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $116,620 as a core liquidation level to monitor, in case of a price rise.
Token Talk
By Oliver Knight
- The crypto market kicked off Monday with a rebound in the wake of a sharp weekend leverage flush. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the total crypto market cap climbed roughly 5.7% in the past 24 hours, with volume jumping about 26.8%, suggesting those liquidated at the weekend are repurchasing their positions.
- A total of $19 billion worth of derivatives positions were wiped out over the weekend with the vast majority being attributed to those holding long positions, in the past 24 hours, however, $626 billion was liquidated with $420 billion of that being on the short side, demonstrating a reversal in sentiment, according to CoinGlass.
- The recovery has been tentative so far; the dominance of Bitcoin remains elevated at about 58.45%, down modestly from recent highs, which implies altcoins may still lag as capital piles back into safer large-cap names.
- The big winner of Monday’s recovery was synthetix (SNX), which rose by more than 120% ahead of a crypto trading competition that will see it potentially start up «perpetual wars» with HyperLiquid.
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