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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.
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Bitcoin’s Breakout Signals BTC Potentially Rallying to $90K-$92K: Technical Analysis

This is a daily technical analysis by CoinDesk analyst and Chartered Market Technician Omkar Godbole.
Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent range play resolved bullishly early Monday, shifting focus to the $90,000-$92,000 range, which was previously a strong support zone.
The leading cryptocurrency by market value rose past $87,000, convincingly breaking out of a week-long consolidation between $83,000 and $86,000. The renewed willingness among the bulls to lead the price action indicates the resumption of the recovery from the April 7 lows under $75,000.
It also means potential for a continued move higher to the $90,000-$92,000 range, which acted as the floor, arresting price drops from December to early February. The support zone was eventually breached in late February, spurring a rapid decline to under $75,000.
The range breakout is seen on the hourly chart (left).
It follows the recent invalidation of the bearish trendline, characterizing the sell-off from record highs, as seen on the daily chart. BTC has also surpassed the 30-day exponential moving average (EMA) of price highs, indicating a bullish shift in momentum.
The focus, therefore, is on the $90,000-$92,000 range, the former support zone from early this year. Those tracking moving averages should note that the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) is now located at $88,245.
The bullish outlook risks invalidation should prices fall all the way back to $85K by the day’s end (UTC).
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Stablecoin Giant Circle Is Launching a New Payments and Remittance Network

Circle, the firm behind the $60 billion USDC stablecoin, is launching a new payments and cross border remittance network on Tuesday — the company’s “next product move” — from its plush New York City headquarters, high on the 87th Floor of One World Trade Center.
The launch event is aimed at banks, fintechs, payment service providers, remittance providers and USDC strategic partners. It will feature Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire sharing his vision for the stablecoin giant’s next move within the payments space, according to an invite seen by CoinDesk.
New and incipient regulations around the globe are opening up the stablecoin space, where Circle has shared the limelight with larger rival Tether. It makes sense then that Circle — a firm that has successfully pivoted during its years in the crypto space — should look to consolidate its position and return to its roots as a payments company.
“Circle is launching a payments network that is initially targeting remittances but is ultimately aiming to rival Mastercard and Visa,» said a person familiar with the plans.
Stablecoins have reached an adoption level where the technology could disrupt global money transfers in a way similar to WhatsApp and international calls, VC firm Andreessen Horowitz said in recent report.
In a recent interview, crypto custody tech specialists Fireblocks pointed to billions being moved around by payments services providers doing things like cross border payments using stablecoins like USDC and USDT.
Circle was in the news most recently, after the firm announced plans to go public in the U.S., only to postpone the date of its IPO thanks to choppy and uncertain market conditions.
Circle did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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BNB, SOL, XRP Spike Higher as Bitcoin ‘Digital Gold’ Narrative Makes a Comeback

Surging gold prices and bitcoin’s (BTC) relatively strong price action amid a global market sell-off have some traders revisiting the latter’s role as “digital gold” — a big narrative in bitcoin’s early years but one that has lost steam in recent times.
BTC zoomed above $87,000 in Asian morning hours, with Cardano’s ADA, BNB Chain’s BNB, XRP and ether (ETH) adding as much as 1.5%. The spike reversed all declines since Thursday, with tokens such as Solana’s SOL up 5.2% in the past week.
The tariff-driven trade wars have sparked fears of inflation and currency devaluation, prompting comparisons of the asset to gold’s historical role as a hedge.
“Although bitcoin has had a close correlation with U.S. equities, it seems to be changing with a stronger tie to the rise of the price of gold, which has been a safe haven while equities have plummeted,” Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message on Monday.
“Bitcoin crossed $87,000 as a sign of renewed investor confidence as the market continues to stabilize after panicking over tariffs. It’s also worth noting that Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative is taking off as both assets have grown in tandem,” Ruck said.
Gold set fresh highs Monday with a push above $3,380 per ounce, bringing year-to-date gains to 25%. Bitcoin has dropped more than 20% from a January peak of $108,000, though Monday’s push over $87,000 sent the asset to its highest level since Donald Trump’s “liberation day” in early April.
Pressure on the greenback has continued to grow as the dollar index (DXY) crashed to a three-year low, with some pointing out that most bad news has been “priced in” and that bitcoin could see upside in the coming days.
“Trump’s inclination to remove Jerome Powell as Fed Chair and force interest rate cuts is causing people to sell the U.S. dollar and U.S. government debt, moving to other safe haven assets such as gold, European bonds, and now, Bitcoin,” Jeff Mei, COO at BTSE, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message Monday.
“After all, when rates are cut, more money flows into the money supply, devaluing the U.S. dollar. In general, downward pressure on the US dollar is growing and this could be a driving catalyst for Bitcoin to become a safe haven asset,” Mei added.
Meanwhile, here’s a machine’s view of the markets today, powered by the CoinDesk Markets AI bot.
ADA Price Analysis
- Cardano’s ADA is above 63 cents with strong technical indicators pointing to continued upward momentum despite macroeconomic headwinds.
- Price action formed a clear ascending channel with strong support at $0.612, which successfully held during multiple retests.
- Notable volume spike occurred on 2025-04-21 00:00 when volume reached 68M (3x average), propelling price through key resistance at $0.630.
- Fibonacci extension levels suggest 64 cents as the next target, with an overall range of 0.031 (5.1%), indicating substantial volatility.
- RSI remains below overbought territory despite the rally, suggesting potential for continued upward momentum.
- Consolidation near previous resistance suggests accumulation rather than distribution.
XRP Price Analysis
- XRP’s decisive breakout signals a potential end to months-long sideways trading, with technical indicators pointing to further gains ahead.
- Fibonacci retracement levels suggest potential continuation toward $2.15, with the 61.8% extension pointing to $2.18 as the next target if bullish momentum persists.
SOL Price Analysis
- SOL breaks decisively above $135 resistance, surging 10.2% to establish new support levels with strong volume confirmation
- Key technical battle emerges between $129 support and $144 resistance zones, with on-chain data showing 5.75% of realized volume concentrated at these critical levels
- Price action formed a clear ascending channel with higher lows and higher highs, particularly evident in the April 19-21 rally.
- Volume significantly increased during upward movements, confirming the strength of the bullish trend.
- The 48-hour momentum indicators show bullish divergence with price maintaining strength above the 20-hour moving average.
BNB Price Action
- BNB breaks $600 barrier with 3.2% surge as large holders accumulate during market volatility.
- Recent quarterly token burn removed 1.57 million BNB worth over $1 billion, supporting price momentum.
- Open interest in BNB rose 3.3% to $760 million despite negative funding rates, with 68% of traders betting on continued price increases.
- BNB broke out of its consolidation range with a 3.2% surge from $592.63 to $601.74.
- Price action shows clear bullish momentum with increasing volume, particularly during the breakout candle where volume spiked to 55,661 units.
- Fibonacci extension targets suggest potential continuation toward the $605-610 zone if current momentum persists.
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