U.today

Brad Garlinghouse hasmarked his 11th anniversary at the enterprise blockchain firm Ripple.

This has been a tumultuous but extremely rewarding tenure that saw him become a central figure in the fight for U.S. cryptocurrency regulation.

Garlinghouse has stressed that the industry's years-long regulatory battles are finally nearing a resolution following a series of high-level discussions in Washington, D.C.

"The fight has been worth it," he posted, noting recent conversations with several prominent lawmakers, including Senators Bill Hagerty, Tim Scott, and John Boozman, as well as an appearance at the Semafor World Economic Summit.

Garlinghouse's Ripple journey

Garlinghouse, who has held major executive roles at legacy tech giants AOL and Yahoo, was initially skeptical of the cryptocurrency industry after being approached by former Ripple CEO Chris Larsen.

He was intending to take a position at the ride-hailing company Uber.

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Ultimately, Larsen convinced him that Ripple offered a chance to change the world in a more meaningful way.

Garlinghouse joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer in April 2015. He was then elevated to CEO the following year, replacing Larsen at the top job.

Over the past 11 years, Garlinghouse has become a billionaire and has emerged victorious from the battle with the SEC.

His CLARITY Act

In his anniversary post, Garlinghouse declared that the "CLARITY Act window is open," urging the industry that "now is our moment to act."

Garlinghouse has previously admitted that Ripple technically does not have a "big dog in this fight."

Since XRP has already been legally recognized as a non-security commodity by U.S. regulators, Ripple enjoys a level of legal certainty that many other crypto firms lack.

However, he acknowledges that Ripple's long-term fortunes are intrinsically tied to the broader success of the U.S. digital asset space.

He has repeatedly warned the industry not to let the pursuit of a perfect regulatory framework kill a good one, stressing that people are exhausted from the fight and that clarity is always better than chaos.

With price action now getting close to what might be a new all-time low, Midnight is moving toward a critical all-time-low point.

Following an initial explosive launch phase, characterized by strong speculative inflows and sharp upside volatility, the asset has entered a persistent downtrend, with no discernible signs of a reversal at this time.

NIGHT is currently falling steadily under all major moving averages, trading between $0.035 and $0.036. With lower highs, lower lows and numerous unsuccessful attempts to recover resistance levels, the chart structure is blatantly bearish.

The order flow is still dominated by sellers, and each bounce has been weaker than the previous one. Volume reveals the same information. Low, diminishing participation has taken the place of early launch phase spikes. For assets that lose their speculative momentum, this is a common pattern: liquidity dries up, and the price collapses under its own weight.

Additionally, momentum indicators do not help. RSI shows no discernible bullish divergence and is still suppressed in the lower range. This implies that even at these lower price points, selling pressure is still present.

What's happening with NIGHT?

NIGHT seems to be experiencing a cycle of post-hype decline. Narrative and early demand played a major role in the initial valuation, but the market is repricing the asset lower in the absence of strong ecosystem traction or sustained utility. This is not uncommon, as the trajectory of many recently introduced tokens is comparable.

The absence of structural support is currently the major problem. Since NIGHT is trading in comparatively unexplored territory, as opposed to well-established assets with distinct demand zones, the likelihood of further declines is increased.

Hyperliquid tearing through

A turning point that may determine Hyperliquid's long-term course is drawing near. HYPE is currently pushing into a significant resistance zone in the mid-$40s, a level that has previously rejected the price several times following months of consistent recovery.

The structure of this attempt is what sets it apart; it is a consistent trend with strengthening fundamentals rather than a sporadic spike. A distinct shift from accumulation to expansion is evident in price action.

HYPE is currently trading above important moving averages with momentum after establishing steady higher lows and regaining them. It is important to note that volume has been increasing in tandem with the move; participation, not thin liquidity, is driving the price.

If this resistance broke cleanly, it would indicate a structural breakout rather than merely a local rally. For the asset, this moment may therefore be regarded as potentially historic.

It would confirm a change from the recovery phase to the price discovery phase, when new valuation ranges start to emerge and past highs cease to function as barriers.

The fundamental explanation is simple: active trading infrastructure revolves around Hyperliquid. Its worth is dependent on usage, in contrast to passive assets. DeFi activity, especially in derivatives, high-frequency traders and speculative capital, are all still drawn to the platform.

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As a result, there is a feedback loop that increases activity, liquidity, relevance and demand for HYPE. That is how a structural move differs from a temporary pump.

What can investors expect from HYPE?

Volatility in the short term. Breakout attempts seldom proceed in a straight line. Pullbacks and retests are likely, even if HYPE breaks through resistance, particularly following a powerful run.

In the medium term, everything relies on the sustainability of the activity. The breakout holds and continues if Hyperliquid maintains its dominance as a platform for high-volatility trading and DeFi infrastructure. The price follows a decline in activity.

HYPE is currently testing its ability to redefine its own range, in addition to being trendy. If it is successful, this will be remembered as more than just another rally.

Ethereum's clear direction

After months of consistent declines, Ethereum is beginning to show signs of improvement, but the current structure is far from ideal.

ETH is currently trading between $2,350 and $2,400, pushing into a crucial resistance area in an effort to break above a horizontal ceiling that has repeatedly capped the price in recent weeks.

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Technical advancements have been made. ETH is creating higher lows and has recovered short-term moving averages, suggesting that buyers are progressively intervening. During recent rallies, momentum is increasing, RSI is rising and volume has somewhat increased.

The route toward $2,800-$3,000 will become feasible if Ethereum can firmly break and hold above the $2,400-$2,500 resistance band. Because of the previous sell-off's speed, there is not much resistance in that range, so if momentum increases, the price could move swiftly.

The catch is that the macrostructure is still negative. ETH is still below significant long-term moving averages, such as the 200-day, which is still declining. This indicates that rather than following the larger trend, the current move is occurring against it.

Another noteworthy signal comes from the derivatives side. "58bro.eth," a successful trader with over $34 million in total profits and a 91% win rate over 67 trades, is currently shorting both ETH and BTC. The holdings are substantial — roughly $13 million in Bitcoin and $12.5 million in Ethereum.

Legendary venture capitalist and early cryptocurrency adopter Tim Draper is once againdoubling down on his ultra-bullish outlook for Bitcoin.

The billionaire has predicted that the flagship cryptocurrency will surge $250,000 within the next 18 months.

I bought Bitcoin at $4. Or so I thought.Peter Viscenne had offered to mine it for me. He bought some fast mining chips from Butterfly Labs, but rather than delivering them to him, they used them to mine their own bitcoin. Then when Peter finally got the chips, Bitcoin was over…

— Tim Draper (@TimDraper) April 14, 2026

From Butterfly Labs to the Mt. Gox debacle

Draper has revealed that his first attempt to acquire Bitcoin was back when the asset was trading at just $4.

He teamed up with Peter Viscenne to mine BTC and ordered mining chips from hardware manufacturer Butterfly Labs.

However, the manufacturer allegedly used the chips to mine Bitcoin for themselves instead of shipping the equipment.

Bitcoin was already trading above $30 by the time they received the mining hardware.

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Draper then ended up losing his entire stash during the collapse of Mt. Gox, which was the leading BTC exchange at that time.

The price of Bitcoin remained surprisingly resilient. "It turned out that Bitcoin was being used for remitting money, paying unbanked employees, and creating economies where there weren’t any," he said.

Draper stepped in during the 2014 US Marshals auction of confiscated Silk Road assets, paying $632 per coin per coin.

Shortly after the massive purchase, Draper predicted that Bitcoin would hit $10,000 within three years. Despite drawing confused looks from the host, his forecast was spectacularly accurate.

Defending the $250,000 prediction

Draperhas has admitted that his subsequent price targets "have not been so prescient." That said, he continues to stand by it.

"I have reason to believe that Bitcoin will reach $250k in 18 months," the billionaire stated in his latest post.

According to Draper, growing adoption and the ongoing degradation of traditional fiat currencies will be the key catalysts that will supercharge the next rally.

Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs isentering the cryptocurrency ETF race.

The investment banking titan has filed for a unique structured product that is specifically meant to cater to risk-averse and income-seeking investors.

The "boomber candy" strategy

According to newly surfaced SEC filings, Goldman Sachs is preparing to launch a "Bitcoin Premium Income" ETF.

Instead of offering a standard spot product, the firm is using a rather sophisticated derivatives strategy designed to offer clients exposure to Bitcoin's price action while dampening volatility and generating yield.

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas has opined that the product is essentially "boomer candy". This essentially means that th the product is designed for traditional clients who want exposure to the digital asset space but are happy to sacrifice some upside potential in exchange for lower downside risk.

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The fund will not hold Bitcoin directly. Instead, it gains exposure by owning shares in existing Spot Bitcoin ETPs. The fund employs a dynamic "overwrite" options strategy to generate yield.

Investment banks are embracing Bitcoin

On Apr. 8, Morgan Stanley launched its own spot Bitcoin ETF (MSBT), triggering a fierce fee war among major asset managers.

Morgan Stanley priced the MSBT expense ratio at a rock-bottom 0.14%. The goal was to undercut Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (0.15%) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (0.25%).

The launch was a great success, with Morgan Stanley pulling off one of the most successful ETF debuts as of recently.

As an aftermath of the XRPL Zone conference in Paris, an important infrastructureupdate has taken place: the XRP network has integrated Boundless technology, which operates on zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). Put simply, this adds a privacy layer toXRP Ledger tokens that did not exist before.

XRPL Commons and Boundless confirmed that developers can now create “hidden” smart contracts and escrow accounts on the XRPL network.

How XRP Ledger is hiding transaction data with its new ZK-proof update

Previously, all transactions on XRP Ledger were fully transparent. Anyone could see the amount, sender and recipient. For regular users this is acceptable, but for large companies and banks it is a problem, as they cannot disclose commercial secrets or balances publicly.

Now it is possible to transfer stablecoins, such asRLUSD, in a way in which transaction details are hidden from the public, while still being verified by the network for validity.

XRPL gets on chain privacy via ZKP: Introducing @boundless_xyz Boundless on XRPLRead the full story here:https://t.co/JwBKBvpmuJ@Odelia_Torteman @Ripple @RippleXDev pic.twitter.com/iuSFK4c2wh

— XRPL Commons (@xrpl_commons) April 14, 2026

Moreover, a full-fledged zkVM virtual machine has been introduced, which now allows complex computations to be performed off-chain, while only a small cryptographic proof that everything executed correctly is submitted to the mainXRP Ledger.

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Still, despite the added privacy, the technology enables “blind” verification processes such as KYC and AML. This means a bank can confirm that a user is not on sanctions lists without revealing personal data to the entire network.

The team is now said to be working on Smart Vaults, which will be the next stage of the upgrade.

This is not a “killer” of other networks but a planned expansion of XRPL’s capabilities. The blockchain is now suitable for use cases where confidentiality is required, such as interbank transfers or corporate treasury management, without unnecessary public exposure.

Michael Saylorpublished a series of posts in which he directly contrasted his STRC (Stretch) instrument with the traditional market. His main message is that Strategy has created an asset that combines the stability of the dollar with the returns of a Bitcoin empire.

In his latest tweet, Saylor states that the volatility of STRC is in the money-market range, and everything else is not. The chart shows that the 30-day historical volatility of STRC is just 1.7%. This is dozens of times lower than that ofBitcoin itself (38%), gold (36%) or the S&P 500 index (20%).

In essence, Saylor is convincing investors that STRC is as safe as short-term bonds (BIL, 1.0%), while being significantly more profitable.

With ~1.7% volatility, a 4.49 Sharpe, and ~$278M in daily liquidity, $STRC delivers money market–like stability with market-leading risk-adjusted returns. pic.twitter.com/PEI23ER8oa

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) April 14, 2026

1.7% volatility funds latest 10,268 BTC buy

Saylor’s second post is a direct strike at the efficiency of hedge funds. The Sharpe ratio (return-to-risk ratio) of STRC has reached 4.49. For comparison, among the closest competitors on the bond market (HYG, PFF), it fluctuates in the range of 0.19-0.27, while BIL is negative at -0.23.

Saylor emphasizes that with such stability, daily liquidity amounts to about $278 million, making the instrument accessible to the largest institutional players.

It is precisely this math from Saylor’s posts that allowed Strategy to carry out the following operations over the past two days:

April 13: 7,651.36 BTC absorbed: Bond market effectively financed thepurchase of Bitcoin.April 14: Right now, amid these tweets, another 2,617.28 BTC have been acquired, according to strc.live portal.

Thanks to confidence in the metrics that Saylor highlighted today, the company has accumulated 19,441 BTC over 10 trading days.

Saylor is no longer selling “just Bitcoin.” Today, he sold the market a technology for accumulation. As long as STRC maintains 1.7% volatility, investors will continue to bring capital, which Saylor will convert into over 10,000 BTC in two days.

The broad crypto market is regaining momentum, and leading crypto assets have also continued to achieve incredible milestones in crucial metrics.

While the first quarter of the year saw mixed sentiment across the market, Solana achieved significant economic growth over the period, sparking attention from market participants.

Solana crushes $1 trillion milestone

As of Tuesday, April 14, data from Artemis shows that Solana has recorded a total of $1.1 trillion in total economic activity in Q1, 2026.

While this reflects substantial growth for the Solana network, it marks the first time the blockchain would ever cross the $1 trillion mark in a quarter.

The source provided charts revealing a dramatic surge in the Solana network's on-chain usage, following a massive 6,558.6% increase over the last quarter.

As such, the total value of all transactions and economic interactions on the Solana network over the last three months has reached its all-time high.

Solana regains momentum

It is important to note that the sharp increase in Solana's economic activity typically indicates a significant increase in the adoption of Solana.

This growing adoption could have been driven by increased transaction throughput, heightening DeFi participation, growing staking activities and others.

The chart shows that Solana has regained strong momentum after experiencing volatility throughout 2024 and mid-2025.

Thus, activity has rebounded sharply in late 2025 and continued to accelerate rapidly into 2026.

Despite the serious volatility faced with the crypto ecosystem over the period, the massive economic growth shows that the network’s long-term growth trend remains intact.

Bitcoin has shattered a major psychological barrier, surging past the $75,000 level for the first time since its mid-March highs.

The flagship cryptocurrency reclaimed the massive $75,577 average cost basis of corporate whale Strategy Inc. just one day after the firm announced another billion-dollar acquisition.

Bitcoin has pulled off a V-shaped recovery following a brutal multi-week correction.

Back in mid-March, Bitcoin established a local top near the $76,000 level before encountering massive resistance. This led to an unfortunate downtrend that bled the market throughout the remainder of the month, ultimately dragging the price down to a local bottom near the $65,000 support zone by late March.

The bulls finally regained their footing in April. Currently trading at $75,533, Bitcoin has cleanly broken out of its month-long consolidation phase.

With the $75,000 barrier broken and institutional buyers back in profit, analysts are already looking toward the next major psychological hurdle. Top on-chain analyst Willy Woo recently stated that the network's underlying fundamentals are rapidly repairing, establishing $80,000 as the critical test level for the cryptocurrency's next major leg up.

The market is finally healing from the catastrophic derivatives deleveraging event that occurred late last year, explaining that spot buying remains incredibly stable while the derivatives sector is making a successful second attempt at rebounding.

XRP is nearing a golden cross on its hourly chart. The 50 MA has converged with the 200 MA on the hourly chart. The potential of a golden cross is seen with the hourly MA 50 turning upward and might rise above the MA 200 in the upcoming hourly sessions.

The broader price action is currently that of sideways trading, with XRP approaching a multiyear breakout decision zone. XRP is consolidating below the daily MA 50 at $1.37, with the price now seeking a decisive breakout above this key level.

For most of April, at least for four consecutive occasions, XRP sought to break above the daily MA 50, but buyers could not advance the breakout, with the price stalling underneath it.

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Beyond the daily MA 50 at $1.37, traders are watching the $1.42 to $1.45 range as a key breakout barrier, while a drop below $1.35 to $1.30 would put downside risk back in focus.

XRP awaits crucial breakout

At the time of writing, XRP was up 3.22% in the last 24 hours and up 4.91% weekly. XRP's daily trading volume is up over 62% to $2.89 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

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The XRP price is rising alongside increased volume, while social sentiment has dropped to one of its most bearish levels in two years, a setup that has previously preceded strong rallies.

Santiment observed through its weekly social data that XRP FUD is at its third highest point in the past two years. According to Santiment, this raises the probability of a relief rally as prices move in the opposite direction of the crowd's expectations.

However, the broader derivatives market remains cautious. Glassnode pointed out that after the aggressive deleveraging event in early October 2025, which saw perpetual OI collapse from seven billion to two billion XRP (about 71% drop), XRP positioning has continued to compress. Since then, OI has further declined 25% to 1.5 billion XRP.

This suggests that the market is yet to rebuild speculative exposure, indicating continuing caution among derivatives traders.

With exchange outflows exceeding one trillion SHIB in a brief amount of time, Shiba Inu is exhibiting a change in on-chain behavior. That is a significant shift in the positioning of large holders, particularly in light of the months-long downtrend and low demand.

Both exchange inflows and outflows have increased, but outflows are outpacing inflows, according to the data. Net flow is still marginally negative, with total outflows at about 1.24 trillion SHIB and inflows at about 1.13 trillion SHIB.

Price not responding properly

At the same time, exchange reserves are still slightly decreasing. Instead of aggressive selling, this combination usually indicates a slow removal of supply from exchanges. However, the price is not responding, at least not yet.

Compressed under important moving averages, SHIB is still trading between $0.0000058 and $0.0000060, and the overall trend is still negative. Tight ascending support is forming on the chart, resembling previous consolidation phases, but there is no breakout confirmation.

What, then, is truly going on? This appears to be a phase of transition. Larger holders now seem to be repositioning, possibly accumulating at lower levels, as the heavy selling that characterized earlier months has subsided. Rising inflows and outflows, however, indicate that distribution has not entirely vanished.

Psychologically and structurally, reaching the $1 trillion outflow threshold is important because it indicates that substantial capital is prepared to transfer SHIB off exchanges, which typically lessens immediate sell pressure. However, it is insufficient on its own to cause a reversal.

Two main scenarios

SHIB may establish a base and try to recover toward $0.0000065-$0.0000070 if outflows persistently dominate while the price remains above $0.0000055.

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That would be the first true indication of strength. This entire move turns into noise if inflows resume and surpass outflows, and SHIB runs the risk of returning to lower levels.

SHIB still lacks a compelling storyline at the moment. In contrast to previous hype-driven cycles, the current phase is more structural and quiet.

TL;DR

XRP gap: Evernorth CEO claims XRP needs fiduciary standards and mass-allocation platforms to win global institutional capital.BTC resistance: Analysts warn against chasing Bitcoin above $77,700 due to narrow Bollinger Bands and a "fragile" market structure.DOGE 4/20 squeeze: Dogecoin is compressed between $0.089 and $0.10; a breakout could trigger a 15-20% move before Doge Day.Crypto Market Outlook: U.S. PPI inflation cooled to 4% (vs. 4.6% forecast), fueling a recovery with Ethereum (ETH) leading at $2,370.Evernorth CEO reveals what separates XRP from becoming main banking OS

Despite XRP’s dominance in the markets of Japan and South Korea, the ecosystem still lacks a “final piece” for full global integration with traditional finance (TradFi). This was stated by Evernorth CEO Ashish Birla in an exclusive interview with CoinPost. According to Birla, the era in which an asset’s success is measured solely by retail demand is over. Today, institutions (pension funds and insurance companies) require not just access toXRP but fiduciary standards comparable to the bond market.

Yes, XRP has established itself as a primary settlement asset in Asia due to clear regulation. However, for global scale, this experience must be transferred to Western markets through regulated channels.

Evernorth will be a publicly traded company on the stock market (Nasdaq under ticker XRPN) and investors can buy stock instead of directly buying $XRP."Evernorth is designed as a capital allocation platform for the XRP ecosystem. While operating within the framework of a… https://t.co/UfPafYXQrH pic.twitter.com/p4Y5rzsoYg

— 🌸Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 14, 2026

Birla emphasized that institutions will not rebuild their internal systems for crypto assets. Instead, they use “proxies” — publicly regulated companies such as Evernorth, which take on compliance risks and provide deep liquidity within theXRP ecosystem.

According to Evernorth’s position, the final stage will be the mass deployment of allocation platforms. Institutional capital is “lazy” and disciplined. It requires automated reporting and risk management tools that operate within the legal framework of public companies.

The technology arrived years ago. Regulation has now caught up. What remains is capital, which demands accountability and transparency. Evernorth aims to fill this gap by acting as a trust layer between decentralized systems and traditional capital, Birla concluded.

Why Dogecoin (DOGE) chart looks like powder keg ahead of 4/20

Dogecoin (DOGE), the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is showing signs of critical price compression just six days before the community’s annual event — Doge Day (April 20). On the DOGE/USDT chart by TradingView, a classic consolidation pattern has formed. The price is currently squeezed within a narrow range between $0.089 (strong support) and the psychological resistance at $0.10.

Bollinger Bands on the daily time frame have narrowed to their lowest levels since the start of the year. Historically, such compression has preceded impulsive moves of 15-20%.

Current Dogecoin price is at $0.094 (+3.7% over 24 hours). The main driver of current attention is not only the calendar date of April 20 but also real integrations, particularly X Money.

Two scenarios for the next 144 hours:

Bullish: Breakout and consolidation above $0.10 opens a direct path to the targets of $0.12 and $0.15 (peak levels of 2025) by the morning of April 20.Conservative: If the $0.10 resistance holds,DOGE will continue trading within the range until the end of the month, ignoring event-driven hype.Stop play at $77,700: Why Bitcoin is expected to reverse

Bitcoin (BTC) delivered an impressive rally to a four-week high above $74,400, but technical indicators and a surge in leveraged positions are forcing professionals to act with caution. The key signal of the day: do not chase the rally above $77,700.

According to the current BTC/USDT chart, the price is approaching the middle Bollinger Band on the weekly time frame. The $77,723 level acts as critical resistance.

Historically, interaction with this zone, combined with current volatility compression, often precedes a sharp pullback or transition into a prolonged sideways range forBitcoin. Attempting to buy a breakout above this level now appears mathematically unjustified due to the high risk of a false move.

Analyst Maartunn from CryptoQuantreports unprecedented exchange activity, making the current market structure “fragile.” Despite the strong price impulse, funding rates remain negative. This indicates the market is overloaded with short positions, while spot demand continues to support price, triggering cascading liquidations of bears.

Maartunn intends to open a short, but the setup remains unclear. Either negative funding or the presence of a spot buyer force need to change.

A breakout above $77,700 per BTC without prior reduction in open interest could lead to a final upward squeeze followed by a deep correction.

Crypto Market Outlook: Bitcoin at highs, Ethereum leading

As of April 14, 2026, the cryptocurrency market is showing a confident recovery. Bitcoin has established itself above $70,000, supported by inflows of institutional capital and unexpectedly positive macro data from the United States. The slowdown in producer inflation (PPI) has reduced pressure on risk assets, creating an ideal backdrop for a local rally.

Key developments:

U.S. producer inflation report (March PPI): The data came in significantly better than forecasts. The monthly figure reached +0.5% (vs. +1.1% expected), while the annual rate stood at +4% (vs. +4.6% forecast). The easing of inflationary pressure from producers gives the Federal Reserve room to maneuver and boosts investor appetite for crypto assets.Bitcoin (BTC): Following the PPI release, BTC on Binance reached $74,418 (+5% over 24 hours). The intraday high hit $74,900. The move is also supported by progress in geopolitics and a pullback in oil prices below $100.Deutsche Börse deal: The German giant acquired a 1.5% stake in crypto exchange Kraken for $200 million. This is direct evidence of deep TradFi integration into the crypto sector, effectively turning exchanges into full-fledged financial institutions.Altcoin performance:Ethereum (ETH) led gains among the top assets, rising 7.8% to reach $2,370.

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The broad crypto market is once again building momentum amid the ongoing price rallies as the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) appears to be hitting the market again.

On Tuesday, crypto analytics platform Santiment shared data revealing that Ethereum's funding rate is showing rising greed signals.

ETH/BTC ratio soars

After surging as high as $2,391 earlier today, Ethereum has seen its dominance over Bitcoin hit the highest level since late January. As such, the ETH/BTC ratio has surged to its multi-month high.

While this shows that Ethereum has begun to outperform Bitcoin after weeks of extremely poor performance, Ethereum has suddenly regained its strength against Bitcoin.

To further back its strength, Ethereum's ability to outperform Bitcoin has been spurred by a sharp surge in funding rates across major exchanges.

This suggests that speculative demand is surging rapidly alongside increased leverage. With this move, it appears that traders are increasingly opening long positions amid rising confidence.

FOMO returns to market

While the sudden increase in the funding rate has coincided with a market FOMO, traders are aggressively chasing upward momentum.

This appears to have triggered the rapid Ethereum price surge, as its price has surged by nearly 10% over the last 24 hours.

Nonetheless, analysts warn that this could also raise the risk of sudden volatility if positions become overcrowded.

While Bitcoin has only surged by about 5% over the same period, the bigger gains recorded by Ethereum suggest that altcoins may have begun to draw market attention and the market may already be entering its altcoin season.

The Shiba Inu price is in green alongside increased trading volume. At the time of writing, SHIB was edging higher, up nearly 3% in the last 24 hours to $0.00000594. Its trading volume has increased 50% within the specific time frame to $127.25 million, according to CoinMarketCap data, a different scenario from that seen in the past week, when its trading volumes largely dwindled.

On the derivatives market as well, Shiba Inu volume is up 102.48% to $161.13 million, indicating increased trader activity.

The increased volumes accompanying the Shiba Inu price rise might suggest traders' participation rather than an indefinite move. Open interest, which refers to the number of unsettled positions in the market, rose 3.12% in the last 24 hours to $62 million, indicating that traders are betting on price moves.The Shiba Inu price move looks constructive, sustaining above the daily MA 50 at $0.00000584; however, it is yet to clear the $0.000006 level, which really matters.

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Shiba Inu touched this level when it reached an intraday high of $0.000006, but bulls are yet to capitalize on the move.

SHIB's broader pattern still reflects sideways trading, with the price staying in a range between $0.00000562 and $0.00000644 since mid-March. This suggests a larger move is likely but not yet confirmed.

$445 million short liquidations hit crypto market

The crypto market saw significant gains on Tuesday as risk assets rallied while oil eased.

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The rally led to about $545 million in crypto liquidations, according to CoinGlass data, mostly from short positions, as the majority of crypto assets posted daily and weekly gains.

A total of 171,184 traders suffered liquidations, with $445 million coming from shorts, the second major squeeze in less than a week.

The largest single liquidation was a $12.40 million BTC-USDT short on Aster. Bitcoin accounted for $236 million in total liquidations, while Ethereum followed at $136 million.

Broader crypto sentiment remains mixed, with capital rotating into selected altcoins.

Payment volume and transaction throughput are sharply and unusually increasing on the XRP Ledger, but the price is still mostly unimpressed. The reason this move is worth considering is precisely that disconnect.

XRP Ledger activity has skyrocketed in recent weeks, according to on-chain data. In more extreme cases, payment activity has spiked hundreds of percent in a single day, with reports of 400% jumps in transaction volume during peak bursts. XRP Ledger's charts show payment volume ramping aggressively despite no equivalent price breakout.

Serious activity range

Daily transactions are now pushing into the multi-million range, with some days approaching 3 million transactions, representing a major expansion in usage compared to previous periods.

What is the true cause of this? Unfortunately for us, the retail hype doesn't have the answer. It is most likely the use of infrastructure.

The following are the main sources of this surge: remittance flows and cross-border payments, activity involving stablecoins (such as RLUSD transfers), automated programs and bots running on the XRPL DEX, and tokenized asset activity and liquidity routing.

XRPL utilization layer

XRPL is being utilized more and more as a transaction layer, in addition to a network of speculative assets. There has been a structural change, as payments now make up a large portion of transactions, sometimes surpassing 50% of all activity.

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The catch is that not all activities are created equal. Algorithmic trading and bot-driven liquidity operations, particularly on XRPL's decentralized exchange, where market-making strategies inflate transaction counts without necessarily adding real demand, are responsible for a portion of the spike. As a result, some of this growth is functional, but not entirely organic.

With no confirmed trend reversal, XRP is still trading in a weak structure between $1.35 and $1.40, below significant resistance levels. Due to transaction volume not being equal to demand accumulation, the market has not yet priced in the activity spike.

What should investors expect?

There are two scenarios. If this activity continues and shifts into actual economic demand (payments, enterprise use, tokenized assets), XRP will probably follow with a delayed increase. In the past, price has frequently followed on-chain growth.

If bots and internal liquidity loops continue to dominate the spike, or if it fades, the network will quickly return to normal, and the price will continue to drift sideways.

The XRP price continues to trade within an abnormally tight range, according to the Bollinger Bands technical indicator as per TradingView, which has recorded a compression down to 6%. This marks the lowest volatility level since the beginning of the year and signals that a major move is expected for the XRP market.

For comparison, in January 2026, volatility reached 10%, after which the price increased by 28% by mid-March. A similar style compression to 7.7% led to a 17% impulse within five days. Today’s 6% stands as a zone of extreme compression, where any large market order could trigger a chain reaction forXRP.

Bullish path to $2 vs. bearish liquidity hunt at $1.15

Declining trading volumes during such compressions often indicate the dominance of market makers and the absence of strong market drivers, keeping the price within the $1.30-$1.38 range. Market makers may attempt to shake out retail participants, creating an illusion of stability that can disappear once liquidity breaks beyond one of the bands.

At the same time, this current calm can be interpreted not as a loss of interest but as a transition of the asset from speculative hands to long-term holders. In particular, according toanalyst Ali Martinez, citing Santiment data, whales accumulated over 20 million XRP over the past week, supporting this thesis.

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Upon a breakout from consolidation, two scenarios can be outlined:

Bull case: Consolidation above the upper band at $1.40, opening the path toward a test of the $2 level.Bear case: A break below the lower boundary at $1.30 could send XRP in search of liquidity around $1.15, wherelarge buy orders are concentrated.

In summary,XRP is currently in a state of fragile equilibrium, and extreme compression confirms that this status quo cannot last for long, while the direction of the breakout remains an open question dependent on the current macro backdrop.

Hyperliquid is setting itself apart from the market. HYPE has risen sharply, gaining about 10% in just two days and regaining the $44-$45 range with significant momentum, while the majority of altcoins continue to be slow or range-bound. The structure has clearly changed, as seen on the chart.

With the help of increasing volume and regaining important moving averages, HYPE has been printing higher lows and higher highs since bottoming earlier in the year. HYPE has turned those levels into support and is now getting close to earlier local highs, in contrast to many other assets that are still trapped below long-term resistance.

Additionally, momentum indicators are leaning bullish. The RSI is moving toward overbought territory, indicating strength rather than exhaustion.

Why Hyperliquid?

Positioning within the ecosystem is the primary factor, not just price action. Particularly in the derivatives industry, Hyperliquid has developed into a major hub for DeFi infrastructure and high-volatility trading. Liquidity is concentrated in many of the most actively traded, hyped and speculative tokens. Currently, a significant amount of the volatility is being routed through Hyperliquid, and traders are going where the volatility is.

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Additionally, well-known cryptocurrency traders and figures like Arthur Hayes actively use and promote the platform, which is more significant than most people would like to acknowledge. The Hyperliquid ecosystem is currently receiving a disproportionate amount of attention, which leads to liquidity.

Additionally, platforms such as Hyperliquid produce actual trading activity rather than merely passive holding, which is a structural advantage. This results in tighter spreads, deeper order books and continuous fee generation, all of which strengthen its standing as a trading venue.

What to expect next?

HYPE is extended in the short term. These kinds of moves rarely go straight up without consolidation. It would not be shocking to see a decline toward $40-$42, and it would probably serve as a strength test.

The trajectory in the medium term mostly follows the platform's continued concentration of activity. The demand for HYPE will continue to be structurally supported if traders continue to use Hyperliquid as their main platform for high-risk, high-reward trades.

HYPE is currently moving not only as a result of speculation but also because it is at the epicenter of speculation.

The X social media giant appears to on the verge of launching a massive cryptocurrency initiative.

Nikita Bier, the head of product at X, recently took to the platform to hint at an upcoming rollout.

"Crypto has had a rough year. Maybe we should launch something to fix it," Bier posted to his millions of followers, teasing an unannounced product or feature that could potentially shift the industry's momentum.

Sweeping crypto overhaul

Bier recently gained some notoriety within the cryptocurrency community after taking an aggressive stance against manipulation on the platform.

According to the executive, "80% of crypto is simply bots."

The executive claims that the only viable solution is to implement strict second-degree reply restrictions.

Bier recently quipped that “there were only 2000 people rugging each other back and forth, forever” after the platform recently removed crypto bots.

Apart from automated spam, X is heavily targeting the phishing ecosystem.

Following a wave of high-profile account hijackings used to promote fraudulent tokens, Bier announced new automated security measures.

If an account with over 10,000 followers suddenly drops a meme coin without any prior history, the system will immediately flag it as a hack.

The platform will then mandate account ownership verification.

X Money

X recently confirmed that X Money, the platform's dedicated payment system, will enter its early public access phase this month.

The company has explicitly stated that cryptocurrency and stock trading functionalities are planned for integration later in the year.

Prominent Bitcoin investor Fred Krueger haspredicted that the flagship cryptocurrency will break its all-time highs again this year. The new peak will be highly consequential, according to the analyst.

The main consequences

The predicted ATH will disprove the theory that Bitcoin's price strictly adheres to a four-year halving cycle.

The persistent "Quantum FUD" will finally fade into the background, Kruger again.

The bearish thesis that Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy (MSTR) will eventually be forced to liquidate its massive Bitcoin treasury will also die.

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Retail investors who panic-sold their holdings during recent corrections will be left behind, Kruger predicts.

Countering Schiff

Krueger recently shut down vocal crypto skeptic and gold bug Peter Schiff.

Schiff attempted to take a victory lap during a localized market correction, posting to his followers: "Is there any news, or is Bitcoin tanking just because it's so overpriced?"

"Peter Schiff watching a 5% dip in Bitcoin after a 6000x return since he started trashing it. 'Clearly the entire asset class was a mistake," he stated.

Is Bitcoin going to hit $80,000?

Krueger is not the only high-profile figure flashing major bullish signals. Top on-chain analyst Willy Woo recently stated that Bitcoin's underlying fundamentals are rapidly repairing, setting the stage for a run at a major psychological resistance level. According to Woo, $80,000 is now the critical test level for the cryptocurrency's next major leg up.

Positive capital flows

In the meantime, capital flows into the Bitcoin network have finally flipped positive for the first time since January.

The market is healing from the catastrophic derivatives deleveraging event that occurred in late 2025.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs also raked in a massive $816.9 million in net flows last week, completely wiping out previous year-to-date deficits.

$80,000 remains the key level for the bulls to watch.

Weak momentum, compression and indecision following a protracted downtrend are exactly what the market data has been indicating for months, and Shiba Inu is most likely to fall from the edge here.

The token briefly moved toward the $0.000008-0.000009 zone earlier in 2026, but those moves lacked follow-through and were swiftly sold into. This is the main problem: every rally is being treated as exit liquidity.

Currently trading around $0.0000058-$0.0000060, SHIB has drifted back toward its lower range after failing to sustain earlier recovery attempts. Technically speaking, there is no verified trend reversal, and SHIB is trapped below major moving averages.

The overall structure is in line with what many analysts anticipate: a consolidation phase between roughly $0.000006 and $0.000010, not a breakout trend. Indicators are neutral to slightly bearish, with the RSI hovering around midrange levels and no strong bullish divergence.

The true question now is whether it will sink again. In a nutshell, it can, and the setup permits it. The critical level is between $0.0000058 and $0.0000059. This is functioning as a weak support.

According to current projections, if that breaks with volume, downside targets open toward $0.0000052 or lower. Given the weak demand and decreasing burn activity, there is nothing structurally stopping that move.

However, it is also not a certain collapse. Reduced selling pressure and sporadic accumulation by larger holders are indicators of stabilization. SHIB may enter a short-term recovery phase if it can recover and hold above $0.0000065.

Investors should expect ongoing chop within a range rather than a clear trend. SHIB is evolving into a liquidity-driven alt coin that tracks general market sentiment rather than acting like a high-beta meme coin.

Bitcoin not recovering

Bitcoin is once again in the neighborhood of $70,000, but unlike earlier clear breakouts or abrupt rejections, the current structure is chaotic, which makes it risky.

BTC found a local bottom in the mid-$60,000s following a prolonged decline from the $120,000 area, and it is currently consolidating inside a tightening symmetrical triangle. Key moving averages above continue to slope downward, while price action reveals higher lows pressing against a declining resistance trendline. As a result, a classic compression scenario is created in a more general bearish environment.

Conflicting signals are the source of the difficulty. Short-term structure is getting better, on the one hand. With each dip, buyers are entering the market earlier, creating an ascending base between $65,000 and $67,000. The RSI is leveling off around neutral levels, indicating that selling pressure is no longer predominant.

Conversely, the macro trend is still negative. The 200-day, which is serving as dynamic resistance, is one of the major moving averages that Bitcoin is still trading below. Every upward push enters supply, and volume exhibits passive absorption rather than aggressive accumulation.

The $70,000 threshold is a battlefield for liquidity as well as psychological. Because it lies in the middle of this compression range, both mean-reversion and breakout traders are active here. For this reason, rather than trending steadily, the price keeps pulling back.

What can investors anticipate then? There will soon be a breakout, but the direction is unclear. As short positions unwind, if BTC breaks above $72,000-$73,000 with volume, it opens a path toward $75,000 and possibly higher. But if $68,000 is not held, the higher low structure would be invalidated, and the price would probably return to $64,000-$62,000, where actual demand would need to demonstrate itself.

Dogecoin too stable

DOGE is currently trading tightly between $0.09 and $0.10, with the price barely moving and candles shrinking to nearly flat prints following months of steady decline from the $0.30 region. This behavior is abnormal, in comparison to the past. A market that has essentially gone idle is depicted on the chart.

Momentum indicators like RSI are trapped in neutral territory, volume has decreased and intraday ranges are small. The rapid absorption of even small spikes indicates a lack of engagement on the part of both buyers and sellers. This is stagnation following exhaustion rather than consolidation following strength.

In terms of structure, DOGE is in a downward trend, continuing the tendency of past years. All of the major moving averages are below the price, and they are still declining. There is no indication of an aggressive accumulation, no higher highs or a trend reversal. Instead, there is a liquidity vacuum because there is insufficient participation to significantly move the price in either direction.

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A legitimate question is raised by this type of low-volatility environment: is DOGE stabilizing, or is it just becoming less relevant? This can be interpreted in two different ways.

The first is beneficial. Expansion is frequently preceded by extreme compression. When volatility reaches this low, it usually does not stay there. Once liquidity recovers, the price eventually breaks out sharply. In that regard, even though the direction is still unknown, DOGE may be preparing a move.

Less hopeful is the second interpretation. The identity of DOGE has always been connected to social momentum, hype cycles and conjecture. The asset finds it difficult to create organic demand without those motivators. We may be witnessing a gradual decline into insignificance, in which volatility vanishes due to a decline in interest.

Major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is currently thetarget of an active extortion plot by a criminal organization threatening to leak internal company videos containing sensitive client data.

Despite the alarming threats, the company has explicitly stated that its core infrastructure was never breached, customer funds remain entirely secure, and it will not yield to any ransom demands.

The insider threat

According to Nick Percoco, Kraken's chief security officer, the extortion attempt stems from two isolated incidents of rogue employees abusing their access privileges.

The first incident occurred in February 2025, when Kraken received a tip from a trusted source about a video circulating on a criminal forum. The footage appeared to show a user navigating the exchange's internal client support systems.

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Kraken immediately launched an investigation, identifying the culprit as a member of its own support team. The employee’s access was instantly revoked, security controls were upgraded, and affected users were notified.

More recently, the company received a second tip accompanied by a similar video. Once again, Kraken quickly identified the compromised employee, terminated their access, and initiated a full investigation.

Scope of the compromise

Across both the February 2025 and recent incidents, the rogue support agents only potentially viewed a very small fraction of the user base. Kraken estimates that approximately 2,000 client accounts were affected, which accounts for just 0.02% of the exchange's total clientele. The company noted that any users potentially impacted by these unauthorized views have already been directly notified.

Refusal to negotiate

Shortly after Kraken shut down the second rogue employee's access, the criminal group initiated their extortion campaign. The bad actors threatened to distribute the internal footage from both incidents to media outlets and social media platforms if the exchange did not comply with their financial demands.

Percoco’s response to the threat was definitive. "We will not pay these criminals," the Chief Security Officer stated. "We will not ever negotiate with bad actors."