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data from a recent report by the Bitcoin-focused financial services company River indicates that 14 of the top 25 U.S. banks are currently building or offering Bitcoin products for their clients. This marks a significant shift in the stance of traditional financial institutions toward digital assets.
Overview of Bank Offerings
The banks are developing a range of Bitcoin-related products, driven by customer demand, competitive pressure, and clearer regulatory guidance from bodies like the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
Specific offerings vary by institution and often target high-net-worth (HNW) or institutional clients. Services generally fall into two main categories:
Custody Solutions: Secure storage of digital assets for institutions and HNW clients.
Trading Services: Integrated trading capabilities within existing brokerage platforms or dedicated platforms.
Major Banks Involved
Several major U.S. banks are leading the push into Bitcoin services:
JPMorgan Chase: One of the largest banks, offering trading services and known for its institutional-grade research and risk management in the crypto space.
Goldman Sachs: Provides over-the-counter (OTC) Bitcoin trading services to its HNW clients.
BNY Mellon: An early pioneer in institutional custody, offering Bitcoin and Ether custody services for select clients.
PNC Group: Has launched both custody and trading services for its clients.
Silver's "parabolic" price surge is driven by a structural supply deficit and a confluence of factors, primarily massive and irreplaceable industrial demand from green energy and technology sectors, compounded by strong investment interest and supply chain issues.
Key Drivers of the Silver Price Rally
Persistent Supply Deficits: The silver market has experienced a supply deficit (demand exceeding supply) for five consecutive years, leading to a significant drawdown in above-ground inventories in London and New York vaults. Mine production has remained largely stagnant or even declined in some regions over the past decade, especially as most silver is produced as a byproduct of mining other metals like copper and zinc, making output less responsive to the silver price alone.
Massive Industrial Demand: As the best conductor of electricity and heat, silver is essential and largely non-substitutable in many critical technologies. Key industrial drivers include:
Solar Panels (Photovoltaics): The global push for renewable energy has made the solar industry a massive consumer of silver, accounting for a significant percentage of annual demand.
Electric Vehicles (EVs): Modern cars, especially EVs, contain a significant amount of silver in their electrical contacts, batteries, and electronic systems, a demand set to rise with the transition to electric transport.
Electronics & AI: Silver is widely used in semiconductors, printed circuit boards, 5G networks, and data centers, as these industries require maximum conductivity in minimal space.
Investment and Safe-Haven Demand: Alongside industrial use, silver's role as a precious metal has seen renewed interest.
Inflation Hedge: Investors are turning to silver to hedge against high inflation and currency devaluation.
Monetary Policy: Expectations of US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts make non-yielding assets like silver more attractive by reducing the opportunity cost of holding them. #USCryptoStakingTaxReview #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
According to Brandt’s post on X (formerly Twitter), the quarterly Average Directional Index (ADX) — a trend strength indicator he follows closely — suggests that silver is not in overbought territory yet.
Because of this, he argues there is room for much higher prices before exhaustion, from a technical perspective.
🎯 Target Price: $147
Based on his analysis, Brandt suggests that $147 per ounce is a reasonable target price for silver.
This doesn’t imply a prediction that silver will definitely reach $147 — but rather that the technical conditions have not yet reached levels that normally signal an overbought market.
The Average Directional Index (ADX) measures the strength of a trend. When ADX is high while prices are elevated, markets can be considered overbought or extended. Brandt’s point is that silver’s quarterly ADX has not yet flagged such overextension, meaning the current uptrend could still have significant room to run. #WriteToEarnUpgrade #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
📊 PlanB on Bitcoin’s Correlation Breakdown According to recent market reports, that Bitcoin’s usual historical correlation with stocks and gold appears to be breaking down at current price levels. Specifically: Bitcoin’s price (around ~$87,500) is not moving in line with typical historical patterns relative to equities and gold when compared to prior periods.
PlanB drew a parallel to earlier market phases — for example, when BTC was below $1,000 and then experienced a major price surge — but also cautioned that past behavior doesn’t guarantee a repeat this time. #USCryptoStakingTaxReview #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
BIFI skyrocketed over 200% on Christmas Day, briefly hitting $400 before correcting to its current price of around $274.
Technicals: The surge was driven by a technical breakout from a long consolidation. The RSI was heavily overbought and has now cooled to a more neutral 48-53 range.
Key Driver: The primary catalyst is the token's extremely low supply of only 80,000 tokens, which creates high volatility and the potential for a supply shock.
Fundamental News: A new exchange listing on December 26th likely contributed significantly to the buying pressure.
Market Performance
BIFI trades around $274.3, down 14.68% in 24 hours from its recent high, but remains up over 168% for the week.
The 24-hour trading volume surged over 1300% to around $35 million, indicating massive speculative interest, though this has since subsided.
The total market capitalization for all memecoins recently hit a 2025 low of around $35 to $39.4 billion, a sharp decline from its peak valuation of over $150 billion in late 2024. This represents a significant drop of nearly 70% from the sector's peak value.
The downturn has been attributed to several factors:
Market Saturation Over 13 million new meme tokens were issued in 2025 alone, diluting the market and leading to many short-lived projects and scams.
Investor Fatigue The initial enthusiasm waned, with retail investors moving away from high-risk, speculative assets.
High-Profile Flops Tokens tied to political figures experienced pump-and-dump events, shattering investor confidence.
Lack of Utility The sector faced criticism for the tokens' lack of real-world use or underlying asset value, with social hype being the primary driver.
Broader Market Decline The slump occurred within a wider cryptocurrency market downturn, with the total crypto market cap also seeing a sharp drop in November 2025.
Despite the crash, established coins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB) continue to dominate the sector, holding more than 50% of the remaining market capitalization. #USCryptoStakingTaxReview #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
In 2026, Ethereum is expected to focus on scalability improvements and the potential for institutional adoption to grow its validator base and network efficiency, but the specific changes to "allowing (and eventually encouraging) validators" as framed are not explicitly detailed in current plans.
Key developments and potential impacts for validators and the network in 2026 include:
Pectra Upgrade Impacts: The earlier Pectra upgrade (implemented in May 2025) increased the effective balance ceiling for validators, allowing larger operators to consolidate their operations, which in effect made running a large number of validators more efficient. This encourages larger-scale validation.
Fusaka Upgrade: This major network upgrade is anticipated for late 2025 or early 2026. The "Fusaka" upgrade will introduce Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS) to enhance Layer-2 (L2) scalability and reduce the data requirements for Ethereum validators to verify L2 transactions, making the network more efficient overall.
Continued Scaling: Beyond these specific upgrades, the Ethereum roadmap continues to focus on scalability through sharding and other Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), which aim to handle more transactions and reduce gas fees. Increased efficiency and lower costs could attract more individuals and institutions to participate as validators or use the network's services.
Institutional Interest: With the advent and success of spot Ethereum ETFs, there's a growing expectation of significant institutional interest and adoption. This could lead to a more professional and well-capitalized validator base as institutions integrate Ethereum into their financial systems. #BinanceAlphaAlert #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
🇯🇵 Japan considers tax reform for cryptocurrency income (2025 update)
The Japanese government and ruling coalition have backed cutting tax on crypto-investment gains to a flat ~20% (similar to stock investment taxes), replacing the current progressive system that can reach up to 55% for high earners.
This would place digital-asset profits under a separate-income tax category, rather than treating them as “miscellaneous income” combined with salary and other earnings.
Policymakers also plan to reclassify certain cryptocurrencies as financial products and require more information disclosure from exchanges, along with insider-trading rules to strengthen investor protection.
Align crypto taxation with traditional investments. Encourage domestic trading and Web3 innovation.
The proposed tax-cut framework is expected to be part of Japan’s 2026 tax-reform package, which could be sent to parliament in 2026.
Some elements might take effect later: recent reports suggest implementation could slip to 2028 as authorities want more time to build investor-protection rules and market safeguards. #BinanceAlphaAlert #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
BitMine Chairman Tom Lee stated that the financial services industry will significantly benefit from the application of AI and blockchain technology, which could improve profit margins and lead major banks to resemble tech stocks. Lee did not use the phrase "Trade futures and win" in this context; instead, he views Ethereum and AI as "supercycle investing narratives" for the long term.
AI & Blockchain Benefits: Lee predicts that AI and blockchain will reduce employee intensity for enterprises within the financial services sector, thereby improving profit margins.
"Tech Giant" Potential: He foresees leading banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs potentially evolving into the next wave of "tech giants" due to the integration of these technologies.
Ethereum as the Platform: Lee emphasizes that "Wall Street and AI moving onto the blockchain should lead to a greater transformation of today's financial system. And the majority of this is taking place on Ethereum".
Long-Term View: Lee regards Ethereum as one of the biggest macro trades over the next 10-15 years, a core part of BitMine's long-term "Alchemy of 5%" strategy to accumulate 5% of the total ETH supply, not a short-term futures trade. #BinanceAlphaAlert #DireCryptomedia #Write2Earn $BTC $ETH
To trade futures on Binance as a beginner, you need to set up your futures account, understand key concepts like leverage and margin, and then follow a step-by-step process to place and manage your trades. It is highly recommended to start with a Binance demo account or small capital while using low leverage.
Part 1: Account Setup
Create a Binance Account: If you don't have one, sign up on the Binance website and complete the identity verification (KYC) process.
Enable Futures Trading: Log in, navigate to the "Derivatives" section, and select "USDⓈ-M Futures" or "COIN-M Futures".
Pass the Quiz: You will be prompted to take a short quiz to ensure you understand the risks involved in futures trading. Answer the questions correctly to activate your account.