U.today

Bitcoin treasury juggernaut Strategy has splurged another $2.54 billion to acquire 34,164 BTC.

The Virginia-headquartered business intelligence firm has executed one of the largest single cryptocurrency purchases in corporate history.

Third-largest weekly BTC purchase by MSTR ever https://t.co/pGrH88f9fd pic.twitter.com/K1C1BoQko5

— Vetle Lunde (@VetleLunde) April 20, 2026

Between April 13 and April 19, the company deployed $2.54 billion to expand its digital reserves. The acquisition was executed at an average price of $74,395 per Bitcoin.

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Strategy has tapped into its ongoing at-the-market (ATM) equity offering program. The company sold nearly 21.8 million shares of its Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock, which yielded approximately $2.17 billion in net proceeds.

The firm also sold 2.16 million shares of its standard Class A Common Stock, netting an additional $366 million.

The company now holds an eye-popping 815,061 BTC following the latest purchase.

Strategy has spent an aggregate total of $61.56 billion to amass this hoard.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) is currently changing hands at $75,525.

Ethereum Foundation developer and researcher Barnabé Monnot indicates that the latest crypto hacks highlight a larger goal for Ethereum as well as many crypto assets.

Over the weekend, the crypto market woke up to news regarding the exploit of the KelpDAO protocol. A $293 million exploit of Kelp’s bridge allowed attackers to use stolen rsETH, a liquid restaking token widely used in DeFi, as collateral to borrow funds on lending platforms, sparking concerns from the broader crypto market.

The attacker stole about 116,500 rsETH, a token issued by Kelp DAO that represents "restaked" Ethereum by targeting a bridge built using LayerZero, a system that allows different blockchains to communicate. The total losses are estimated at roughly $293 million, making it the largest DeFi exploit of 2026.

The attack affected cross-chain infrastructure, restaking models and lending markets at the same time and follows a string of recent incidents.

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The hack occurred in an unusually hostile stretch for DeFi — particularly this month. Solana-based perpetuals protocol Drift was drained of about $285 million in an April 1 attack, and at least a dozen smaller protocols have been exploited in the weeks since, including CoW Swap, Zerion, Rhea Finance and Silo Finance.

Hack highlights larger goal for Ethereum

In a recent tweet, Ethereum Foundation developer and researcher Barnabé Monnot states that the recent hacks serve as a reminder not only for Ethereum but for other crypto assets on the major goal ahead. He highlighted that the goal should be to make Ethereum not only the transport layer but also the issuer-of-record.

Hacks like these remind us that for many assets, the goal should be to make Ethereum not only the transport layer, but also the issuer-of-record.Validity proofs and fast finality are essential to remove latency across the board and compete with faster alternatives.

— barnabe.eth (@barnabemonnot) April 20, 2026

Monnot noted that validity proofs and fast finality are essential to remove latency across the board and compete with faster alternatives, with Ethereum making steady progress toward this vision.

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In the past year, Ethereum announced a renewed focus on three strategic initiatives: scale L1, scale blobs and improve UX.

Faster confirmation times are consistently cited as among the biggest requirements for better interoperability across the Ethereum ecosystem. The current aim is to focus on clear, measurable protocol metrics to drive down latency and cost, while increasing security and trustlessness.

Over the last 24 hours, Shiba Inu has shown a surface-level improvement in the majority of tracked on-chain metrics, with nine out of ten indicators showing positive trends. After a decline, this initially appears to be a move in the direction of recovery. However, the underlying data does not entirely support a clear bullish narrative, and the price structure still reflects a larger bearish context.

Activity through the roof

Several areas are seeing an increase in on-chain activity. Increased participation is indicated by the rise in active sending addresses. Additionally, there has been an increase in exchange outflows, which is generally seen as an indication that holders are transferring assets off exchanges, which is frequently linked to accumulation behavior. Additionally, exchange reserves expressed in USD have increased, suggesting that the ecosystem's capital exposure is increasing.

The data inflow is the source of the issue. Both overall and moving average exchange inflows are increasing concurrently. Both the overall inflows and the seven-day average inflow show a significant increase. This signal is not neutral. Increasing inflows typically indicate that more tokens are being moved to exchanges, which typically precedes selling pressure, as opposed to long-term holding.

Key metrics on the rise

Increases in both inflows and outflows indicate increased activity, but not necessarily accumulation. Large holders frequently reposition or exit during distribution phases. This ambiguity is reinforced by netflow data. The recent positive shift indicates that inflows are catching up, even though the most recent figure is still negative, indicating that outflows still slightly predominate. Any bullish interpretation based solely on outflows is weakened by that change.

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Technically speaking, price action is compressed close to local lows, and SHIB is still trading below important moving averages. Reversal structures have not yet been verified. Although there is short-term consolidation, it is occurring beneath resistance levels rather than above them.

Although the metric dashboard appears robust at first glance, the composition of those signals is more important than their quantity. Gains in activity and participation are offset by increases in indicators linked to selling pressure.

Inflows must slow down, while outflows and holder retention continue to be the main drivers of SHIB's sustainable recovery. The current configuration will lean more toward an unstable equilibrium than a verified trend reversal until that balance changes.

Well-known market analyst Ansemissued a sharp warning for Ethereum investors as, according to him, the fundamental value proposition ofEthereum is weakening and could lead to a collapse below the $1,000 mark by the end of the current year.

As Ansem points out, the "ETH thesis" has been consistently deteriorating over the past few years. Not only hasSolana become the main hub of retail activity in this cycle, but Hyperliquid has also taken the lead in decentralized perpetuals trading. The idea of general-purpose rollups has failed to gain meaningful traction, and Vitalik Buterin has "publicly abandoned" this development direction.

think you can short eth here @ ~$2330 and close < $1000 by eoy

— Ansem (@blknoiz06) April 19, 2026

Ethereum's "safety" exchanged for real revenues in tech

Investor confidence is being undermined by the explosive growth of the artificial intelligence sector and tech stocks, adds Ansem. These assets offer "real revenue" and more attractive growth prospects compared to stagnating assets in DeFi protocols.

Even the current instability in the Aave ecosystem demonstrates the severity of the blow to Ethereum's reputation as a "safe haven" for institutional capital. The situation around theKelp DAO exploit and rsETH tokens, which resulted in approximately $292 million being withdrawn, has already led to around $6 billion in deposit outflows from Aave, as users rushed to secure their capital.

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From Ansem's technical analysis perspective, Ethereum is in a "prolonged downtrend" after failing to break multiyear resistance levels. The trader suggests opening short positions at current levels around $2,317, targeting a move below $1,000 by the end of 2026.

The "hard invalidation" level for the bearish scenario is set at $2,700-$2,800, but getting there requires the emergence of fundamentally new growth drivers within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Binance's cofounder does not seem too happy about hitting the 11-million-followers milestone on his X account and has started a discussion about the authenticity of those followers.

Hitting milestone

In response to X user "Ochaiizz" celebrating CZ's reaching 11 million followers, CZ made a straightforward observation, raising concerns about how growth seemed to stall for a while before abruptly picking up. That response may appear mundane, but it highlights a recurring problem that many market players would rather overlook.

huh? that slowed for a long while, then it jumped yesterday? https://t.co/6wbr9bD6MO

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) April 20, 2026

In cryptocurrency-related accounts, particularly those connected to trading signals, meme coins or influencer-driven narratives, follower spikes like this are not unusual. Suspicion of inorganic amplification is frequently raised by growth patterns that stay flat before suddenly surging.

Although it is possible that a post went viral, or that an outside event attracted attention, these patterns are so common in the industry that the explanation is frequently less compelling.

Why follower count matters

Social metrics are one of the simplest ways to manipulate the cryptocurrency ecosystem, which has always been susceptible. Bots are capable of inflating sentiment indicators, follower counts and engagement rates. As a result, credibility and influence are perceived in a distorted way.

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This is significant because it shows awareness at the highest level of the industry. When a person with his level of exposure questions growth metrics, it implies that the problem is not unique. Additionally, it is consistent with broader concerns about coordinated promotion campaigns, wash trading and fake volume that have been reported on various platforms.

A large number of followers frequently translates into perceived authority, which can affect capital flows. A crucial layer of market signaling is jeopardized if those figures are inaccurate — and in most cases they are.

CZ's skepticism is warranted, but not all large accounts are inflated. Cross-referencing metrics with real activity, engagement consistency and discourse quality is important. There will probably be more pressure to make these signals more transparent as platforms like X develop.

After XRP went live on the Solana blockchain, users are alreadyexecuting trades for the asset without even leaving the WhatsApp messaging app.

X user @sol_nxxn posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat successfully swapping 0.1 SOL for ~5.99 wXRP. "I just bought XRP on Solana through WhatsApp. Solana is officially ready for boomers," the user quipped.

How it actually works

Trading cryptocurrency via a simple text message is the result of several cutting-edge technologies operating in tandem.

First of all, this is possible due to the recent bridging of XRP to Solana.

The bridging is facilitated by omnichain interoperability protocol LayerZero and institutional custodian Hex Trust, the asset exists on Solana as an SPL token called wXRP. Asreported by U.Today, the integration finally took place on Apr. 17.

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Given that the wrapped XRP token acts like a Solana token, it is compatible with every decentralized exchange (DEX) and smart contract on the network.

The WhatsApp interface is powered by advanced AI bots. Developers are now deploying trading bots equipped with AI Agent APIs that can process natural language. A user can simply text a command like, "Buy 0.1 SOL worth of wXRP."

These WhatsApp bots are linked to a user's non-custodial wallet. A text command parses the intent, routes the trade through a Solana DEX aggregator.

Of course, XRP can also be used across Solana’s entire DeFi ecosystem, which includes lending and borrowing protocols (Kamino, Marginfi), AMMs (Raydium, Orca) as well as Web3 wallets (Backpack) and other apps.

David Schwartz, Ripple's CTO Emeritus, has arather chilling warning for the decentralized finance (DeFi) bridging sector after a catastrophic $290 million exploit drained the Kelp DAO ecosystem.

The cryptocurrency veteran has assessed cross-chain systems for Ripple's upcoming RLUSD stablecoin, concluding that the industry suffers from a dangerous culture of prioritizing convenience and rapid scaling over robust security features.

I evaluated a lot of DeFi bridging systems for use by RLUSD. I was almost exclusively focused on the security and risk aspect. One thing I noticed is that most schemes were very well designed and had really strong mechanisms available to protect against exactly the type of attack…

— David 'JoelKatz' Schwartz (@JoelKatz) April 20, 2026

Ignoring security issues

Schwartz has found that most bridging systems were actually well-designed to prevent the exact type of attack that struck Kelp DAO.

However, as the Ripple vet noted, bridge providers frequently recommended bypassing their own strongest security mechanisms due to the "operational complexity costs" involved.

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"Their sales pitch was that they have the best security features, but they're easy to use and scale, assuming you don't use the security features," Schwartz stated.

The push for simplicity and speed in adding new blockchain networks came with the expectation that operators would simply ignore robust security protocols.

The $290 million wake-up call

Over the weekend, an attacker managed to siphon approximately 116,500 rsETH (roughly $290 million) from the Kelp DAO ecosystem across the Ethereum and Arbitrum networks.

Asreported by U.Today, the hack was due to a bug caused by a severe private key compromise on the source chain. The attacker hijacked a legitimately deployed Kelp DAO peer contract, which made it possible for them to initiate a massive withdrawal in a matter of minutes. The exploiter's initial wallets were funded via the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash.

Schwartz has argued that this multi-million dollar disaster was highly preventable. "I have a funny feeling part of the problem is going to be something like KelpDAO choosing not to use key LayerZero security features out of convenience," he noted.

The bullish wave that began to form in late February appears to have stalled out, and XRP's recent attempt at recovery is losing structure.

The asset was able to create a series of higher lows and momentarily move closer to the $1.50 area, but there isn't any follow-through. The price is returning to hesitancy just below a significant resistance cluster rather than continuing. The rejection close to the short-term resistance trendline and the inability to maintain movement above it are the most telling indicators.

Although XRP broke out of a local ascending structure, it did not develop into a long-term trend. Instead of expansion, what you are currently witnessing is a flattening of momentum. Instead of committing, the market tested upside liquidity.

Technically speaking, XRP is still below its main moving averages, such as the 100 and 200 EMA, both of which are still declining. It defines the larger trend, so it is not just a small detail. Any bullish move is, by definition, a counter-trend as long as the price remains below those levels, and they usually fail unless they are backed by significant volume and persistence.

Another flaw is the volume itself. The recent push higher did not result in any notable expansion, indicating that buyers were not sufficiently aggressive to flip market structure. Without that involvement, rallies are susceptible to swift reversals, which is precisely what appears to be occurring right now.

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The rounding bottom formation, which appeared promising, could now be invalidated. The entire recovery attempt will restart if XRP begins to lose the higher-low structure around $1.35-$1.38, and the market will probably return to consolidation or even continue the downtrend.

Although the likelihood is changing, there is still a small window of opportunity for XRP to stabilize and try another push. The bullish wave exhausted itself before regaining crucial resistance, so it did not enter a breakout phase.

Bitcoin is not yet ready

With the $80,000 mark getting farther and farther out of reach, Bitcoin's most recent price action is beginning to resemble a rejection phase rather than a recovery attempt.

Following a brief surge toward the mid-$70,000s, Bitcoin was unable to maintain its momentum and is currently stagnating just below a declining resistance trendline that has been capping the price for months.

The structure is obvious: Bitcoin is trading inside a tightening formation, but it keeps failing at lower highs rather than creating pressure for a breakout. The notion that sellers continue to control the larger trend is reinforced by the fact that every attempt to recover higher levels is sold into.

The inability of Bitcoin to clearly break and hold above the 100 EMA is a serious warning sign for bulls, as it continues to be a significant barrier overhead.

As far as trends go, nothing has changed. Both the 100 and 200 EMAs, which slope downward, are still locked above the asset. Instead of a reversal, that alignment indicates a continuation bias.

The recent recovery from the $60,000-$65,000 range offered some short-term respite, but it has not resulted in a structural change. Nor does volume lend credence to a breakout story. Although there was some expansion during the initial rebound, there hasn't been consistent follow-through volume, indicating that the move does not have strong institutional support. In the short term, recovering $80,000 becomes increasingly implausible without that.

Expectations of a return to $80,000 should be lowered unless Bitcoin can confidently reclaim the 100 EMA and break above the declining resistance.

For the time being, BTC is essentially saying goodbye to that level. The likelihood that the market will turn its attention to consolidation or another downward leg increases with the length of time it remains below resistance.

Shiba Inu's worrisome signal

At a time when price action is still structurally weak, Shiba Inu is displaying a well-known but unsettling signal: increasing exchange netflows.

More than 10 billion SHIB are reportedly shifting toward centralized exchanges, according to the most recent data. This trend usually corresponds with rising sell-side pressure rather than accumulation.

In terms of price, SHIB remains trapped in a wider downward trend. The 100 and 200 EMAs serve as dynamic resistance overhead as the asset continues to trade below its major moving averages. The market has entered a low-volatility consolidation phase close to local lows after recent attempts to push higher were swiftly capped.

This type of compression frequently precedes a more significant move, but the likelihood of a downward continuation is skewed with increasing exchange inflows.

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Exchange netflows are important because they reveal intent. Tokens that leave exchanges typically indicate long-term holding behavior. Moving on to exchanges, particularly in large quantities, suggests getting ready to sell or reposition. Reaching the 10 billion mark is a significant liquidity event that expands the market's supply, not just noise.

The weak demand absorption is what makes this configuration more vulnerable. During recent bounces, volume has not significantly increased, indicating that buyers are not intervening forcefully enough to offset incoming supply. Even mild selling pressure can drive down the price in the absence of that demand.

This is not a time for investors to believe that the bottom is in. Although the sideways movement may appear stable, distribution rather than accumulation is more likely.

XRP goes live on Solana

The integration, powered by LayerZero and Hex Trust, brings wrapped XRP (wXRP) into Solana's expansive decentralized finance ecosystem.

The Solana network has integrated XRP, according to a Friday announcement. The integration, which has been in the works for several months, bridges the gap between two of the cryptocurrency industry's most prominent ecosystems.

The asset has been launched as a wrapped token, designated as wXRP. The Solana Foundation partnered with LayerZero and Hex Trust, two major infrastructure providers, in order to be able to facilitate this massive cross-chain move.

The announcement has noted that the XRP Ledger is specifically designed for "fast" and "low-cost" transactions. Now, XRP holders will be able to get exposure to Solana's vast DeFi ecosystem.

Bitcoin ETFs back on track with biggest inflows since January

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw their strongest weekly inflows since January, pulling in nearly $1 billion as institutional demand accelerates.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded their largest weekly inflows since January, signaling a renewed wave of institutional demand, according todata from Farside Investors.

Total net inflows reached $996 million over the past week, marking the strongest performance since early January, when inflows approached $1.4 billion.

The surge was driven by a standout Friday session, which alone brought in $663.9 million, the highest single-day inflow of the week.

Last week, ETFs saw $411.5 million in inflows on Tuesday and $186 million on Wednesday, followed by a modest $26 million on Thursday. The period began with a $291 million outflow on Monday, making the rebound particularly notable as momentum quickly reversed.

The strong inflow activity pushed total net assets across spot Bitcoin ETFs above $101 billion by the end of the week. At the same time, trading volumes surged, with daily activity nearing $4.8 billion, reflecting heightened participation from both institutional and retail investors.

The data suggests that despite recent market uncertainty, capital continues to rotate back into Bitcoin exposure through regulated investment vehicles, reinforcing the role of ETFs as a primary entry point for traditional investors.SHIB crosses one trillion threshold in outflows

SHIB crosses one trillion threshold in outflows

Shiba Inu is seeing massive exchange outflows, hinting at quiet accumulation despite a still-weak price trend.

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.

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.

As the recent crypto market rally cools, the leading crypto assets are showing mixed price action, and futures traders have also taken a pause, causing a decline in the Shiba Inu derivatives market.

According to data from CoinGlass, Shiba Inu's open interest has dropped by over 7% in the last 24 hours following a sudden shift in investor sentiment that saw the market flip bearish after a major price breakout.

Shiba Inu futures traders commit 9.85 trillion SHIB

Although sentiment is still bullish, the Shiba Inu futures market is severely down, showing a massive decline over the last day.

As such, only 9.85 trillion SHIB are currently sitting in active contracts as of Sunday, April 19, suggesting that traders are suddenly taking caution following the rapid price rally seen in the previous days.

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With this negative trend, activity across the Shiba Inu spot market has also slowed over the last day, seeing the leading meme coin suddenly flip into the red territory.

However, its price has maintained resistance above the $0.000006 mark despite the slowed momentum, retaining decent value despite the weak trading activity.

As such, Shiba Inu has only declined modestly by 0.81% over the last 24 hours, and its price is trading at $0.000006073 as of writing time.

Shiba Inu still 93% down from ATH

Despite the tepid price surge seen in the last few days, Shiba Inu remains far from reaching its all-time high, as data from CoinMarketCap shows that Shiba Inu is still about 93% down from its all-time high.

While the asset is showing signs of a major recovery and the overall sentiment is becoming extremely bullish, market analysts are yet to predict how soon the asset could set a new price milestone.

Cardano recently completed a golden cross on its three-hour chart, but the timing of the appearance raises questions in the market.

On the three-hour chart, the 50 MA has risen above the 200 MA, forming a golden cross, the first of such in April.

However, the appearance of the golden cross coincides with a drop in the broader crypto markets, which have seen $254 million worth of positions liquidated in a 24-hour time frame. Long positions or traders who were anticipating further price increases accounted for the majority of this figure, at $180 million, while short liquidations came in at $74 million.

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Cardano fell for two straight days toward the weekend, and is currently down 1.04% in the last 24 hours to $0.2496. The cryptocurrency is up 4.80% in the last seven days as it extended a recovery from a low of $0.236 on April 13.

Bull trap or setup?

The derivatives market shows traders remain largely defensive. Funding rates for perpetual futures contracts, a key measure of whether leveraged traders are betting on higher or lower prices, stay negative across most crypto assets.

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Cardano has been oscillating between the daily MA 50 at $0.257 and the $0.23 support for the past few days.

The cryptocurrency has been in a larger range between $0.22 and $0.3 since early February. At the moment, Cardano faces a key test at the daily MA 50 after several attempts to breach this level failed in April.

On April 7, 8, 16 and 17, Cardano attempted to surpass this level but retreated afterward. ADA rose to a high of $0.264 on April 17 in one of such attempts but retreated afterward.

Buyers will have to push ADA's price above the daily MA 50 and then $0.3 to signal a potential trend change. ADA may then climb toward $0.36. The RSI at neutral (50) suggests the possibility of sideways trading in the coming days. The current price range has support at $0.22.

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci haspredicted that the flagship cryptocurrency could eventually reach a staggering market capitalization of $21 trillion.

Scaramucci has laid out his thesis for a $1 million per-coin valuation, arguing that Bitcoin has successfully evolved into a globally trusted, institutional-grade store of value that rivals.

Wall Street adoption

Scaramucci opened his argument by drawing a parallel between traditional fiat currency and digital assets. "A dollar bill is made of linen and cotton," he noted, emphasizing that traditional money functions entirely on collective trust.

According to the financier, Bitcoin has spent the last 16 years building its own robust, incorruptible trust system. He took note of the network's core strengths, including decentralization.

Scaramucci pointed to recent moves by Wall Street titans, including Morgan Stanley's official entry into the space.

Bitcoin is rapidly transitioning from a speculative asset to a standard allocation in "model portfolios for individuals and institutions worldwide."

The math behind the target

By design, the network's software dictates that there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins created.

If Bitcoin achieves a valuation of $1 million per coin, its total market capitalization would naturally hit $21 trillion.

Even at a $21 trillion valuation, Bitcoin's market cap would still sit below the total estimated value of all the gold in the world. However, Scaramucci argues that Bitcoin holds distinct operational advantages over the precious metal, noting that the digital asset is significantly "faster to move and easier to store."

CoinGlassrecorded notable activity on Hyperliquid among large traders with balances of $1-50 million, the so-called Tidal Whales. While most participants in this group are positioning for a market decline, one player has rebuilt a large long position in XRP totaling 5.32 million tokens.

The position was opened at $1.4343 using 6x leverage, bringing its notional value to $7.65 million. At the moment, the trade is in loss, generating about $6,300 in unrealized minus.

Particular attention should be paid to the liquidation level — $0.8652. Such a conservative setup confirms that the whale is not targeting short-term speculation on lower time frames but is prepared to hold the position through volatility, focusing on the broader upward trend inXRP.

Why $7.6 million whale long is defying Hyperliquid's bearish trend

CurrentHyperliquid data reveals a deep division of opinions within the Tidal Whales segment. Across the platform, these investors are generally bearish. The volume of their short positions stands at $854.47 million, exceeding long positions worth $754.72 million by nearly $100 million.

Despite this overall pessimism, the situation in XRP is different. Here, whales favor longs: $17.74 million versus $16.68 million in shorts.

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Why may the XRP long be justified? A strong news backdrop supports the buyer’s confidence:

Record ETF inflows: Over the past week, U.S. spot XRP ETFs recorded net inflows of $55.39 million.Scaling in Asia: XRP has been integrated into the ecosystem of Japanese giant Rakuten with an estimated base of 44 million users.XRP chart resilience: The token continues to hold above key moving averages, maintaining its growth structure even after local profit taking near $1.50.

One thing to keep in mind too is that if the market moves higher, a wave of short liquidations among Tidal Bears could provide additionalupside acceleration for XRP.

Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, the world's largest stablecoin firm, has reaffirmed his bullish stance on Bitcoin, sparking reactions as all eyes appear to be on Bitcoin following the recent market rally.

In his post, Ardoino declared that Bitcoin is resistant after a viral artwork shared by Satoshigallery sparked the attention of the crypto community.

The image features a striking human-form statue forged from steel, and the sculpture was shared with a caption that says, "You can bend the steel but not its meaning."

Although the statement was not extremely clear, Ardoino has related it to Bitcoin's nature, interpreting the image as a representation of Bitcoin's resistant nature.

Ardoino stirs debate

Ardoino's interpretation of the image has received mixed reactions across the crypto community as some commentators agreed that the image is significant in representing Bitcoin's true nature as being resistant.

However, others have criticized the leading cryptocurrency as some named it as a scam even as Bitcoin continues to show signs of a major recovery.

Nonetheless, the criticism was outweighed by more supportive remarks from other commentators as one user described the piece as one of the most concept-connecting sculptures they had ever seen.

Also, another commentator further stressed that everything else eventually bends, suggesting that Bitcoin endures even in the face of pressure.

Bitcoin stabilizes at $75,000

Ardoino's bullish comment about Bitcoin has come following a recent price rally that has seen the asset surpass the long-lost $75,000 level.

While this has reignited market optimism, investor confidence is growing stronger, and experts are reaffirming their bullish stance on the asset.

While the rally has cooled and cryptocurrencies are currently showing mixed price action, Bitcoin remains stable around the $75,000 mark.

Strategy (MSTR) chairman Michael Saylorerupted the crypto space this Sunday with a concise yet programmatic post on X, accompanying the already-familiar orange dot chart with a “Think Even Bigger” caption. The post comes as data from strc.live and official registries indicates that the company has de facto crossed the 800,000 BTC ownership threshold this week.

Right now the officially confirmedBitcoin balance as of mid-April stands at 780,897 coins. However, the period from April 6 to April 17 became one of the most aggressive in the firm’s history: through the STRC mechanism, an additional 26,377 BTC was absorbed, equivalent to $2 billion.

Think Even ₿igger. pic.twitter.com/0Y8LgpPoFM

— Michael Saylor (@saylor) April 19, 2026

This means the market may already see an updated figure of 807,274 BTC as early as Monday, April 20.

Why "Think Even Bigger" signals Strategy's pivot to 1 million Bitcoin

As things stand, nearly 4% of the total issued Bitcoin supply may already be under Saylor’s control, makingStrategy undoubtedly the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin in the world.

The key intrigue of the week revolves around the average cost that for Strategy currently stands at $75,577. Right now the company is balancing on the edge of break-even, with the currentBitcoin price bringing Strategy's portfolio valuation to approximately $59.12 billion.

Amid the $2 billion purchase, Strategy’s stock (MSTR) showed explosive performance this week, rising 29.45% from $125 to $166.52. Moreover, MSTR entered positive territory for the year at +9.59%.

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The increase in share price allows the company to raise capital under more favorable conditions without critical dilution of shareholders, while the use of perpetual preferred shares through STRC allows Saylor to increase the company’s share without diluting common shareholders.

If the current pace is maintained, the psychological target of 1,000,000 BTC may be reached much earlier than the end of the year.

Ripple Senior Executive Officer and Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Reece Merrick spotlights XRP ETF growth in a recent tweet.

"XRP ETFs, Number dont lie," Merrick wrote in a tweet, which had a three-point highlight.

XRP ETFs - The numbers don’t lie 📈🟢 U.S. spot XRP ETFs did not record a single net outflow day in their first month. 🟢 By December 16, 2025, cumulative inflows had crossed $1 billion, making XRP the fastest digital asset to reach that milestone since Ethereum's ETF launch.…

— Reece Merrick (@reece_merrick) April 18, 2026

The first point refers to the fact that U.S. spot XRP ETFs did not record a single net outflow day in their first month. Second, by Dec. 16, 2025, cumulative inflows had crossed $1 billion, making XRP the fastest digital asset to reach that milestone since Ethereum's ETF launch. Third, by early March 2026, cumulative inflows had grown to over $1.50 billion, with five spot XRP ETFs trading in the U.S. and over 769 million XRP tokens locked across their combined custody arrangements.

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Institutional interest in XRP was expressed through OTC desks, private placements and the kind of quiet conviction that rarely makes headlines for years, with Ripple now indicating that this chapter is over and a new institutional era has begun.

New era begins

Toward the end of 2025, XRP became one of the most actively adopted digital assets in the regulated spot ETF market, attracting capital from some of the most influential names in traditional finance and cementing its place in the institutional allocation conversation.

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CME-listed XRP futures, which launched in May 2025, became the fastest-ever CME cryptocurrency futures contract to reach $1 billion in open interest, a milestone that highlights institutional appetite for XRP.

In March 2026, Goldman Sachs disclosed a $153.8 million position in spot XRP ETFs through its Q4, 2025 13F filing, making it the single largest known institutional holder of XRP ETF shares in the United States. Goldman accounts for roughly 73% of the $211 million in XRP ETF exposure by top 30 institutional holders.

Ripple believes this might just be the beginning, as JPMorgan's forecast of $4-8.4 billion in first-year inflows has not yet been tested by a full bull cycle, and the product landscape will also continue to evolve.

Ethereum became the topic of discussion earlier today after the renowned pro-crypto lawyer Bill Morgan weighed in on a bullish post that addresses Ethereum's potential with banks.

The post, which has sparked debates across the crypto community, claimed that the global banking system would eventually depend on Ethereum at some point in the future.

Community dismisses bold Ethereum claims

The claims were made by Raoul Pal, an Ethereum advocate and macro investor. In his statement, Pal countered the viral narrative that Ethereum is dead, describing the narrative as hilarious.

According to Pal, banks tend to adopt technologies with strong "Lindy effects," noting that they are systems that have proven resilience over time.

He believes that Ethereum fits perfectly into such technologies, which makes it suitable to become the right financial infrastructure for banks.

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As such, he declared that all banks will soon begin to rely on Ethereum for their financial operations.

Morgan reacts

While Morgan's reaction was not entirely direct about whether he is in support or not, commentators disagreed with the narrative, noting that the reverse will be the case. Morgan only quoted the claims in what seemed like sarcasm.

The debate was triggered by an XRP-based developing situation involving FXRP, where cross-network bridging has been temporarily paused as a precaution following an rsETH-related incident.

Notably, the pause affects transfers between networks such as Flare and Ethereum, leaving users unable to redeem FXRP held off the Flare network until assets are bridged back. Despite this, core operations on Flare remain fully functional.

TL;DR

SpaceX mascot confirmed: Elon Musk honors late fan Liv Perrotti by naming "Asteroid Shiba" the official SpaceX mascot, sparking an ETH meme coin surge.Ripple’s Japan expansion: Tottori Bank integrates XRP for cross-border remittances starting April 20 to solve labor shortage payment delays.DeFi crisis: Justin Sun negotiates with a KelpDAO exploiter after a $236M Aave borrow triggered a massive $5.4B Ethereum withdrawal wave.Crypto market outlook: Bitcoin holds steady at $75K. All eyes are on Tuesday’s U.S. Retail Sales data to dictate the next move toward $80K."Ok": Elon Musk's reply turns Asteroid Shiba into SpaceX mascot and ignites crypto market

A story that brought together space, charity and crypto has reached its conclusion — Elon Musk has officiallyconfirmed the plush dog Asteroid Shiba as the mascot of his space company, SpaceX.

The event, which became the main headline of the past 24 hours, traces back to 2022. That year, 11-year-old Liv Perrotti, who was battling osteosarcoma, created the design of a plush Shiba Inu in a spacesuit. The toy, named Asteroid Shiba, was sent into orbit in 2024 during the historic Polaris Dawn mission as a zero-gravity indicator.

After Liv Perrotti’s passing, her mother published a list of eight questions the girl had dreamed of asking the head of SpaceX. On April 19, 2026,Elon Musk responded to them on his social platform X, briefly confirming Asteroid Shiba’s status as SpaceX’s mascot.

Musk’s reply triggered an immediate reaction in the market with multiple coins launched, though none of them is official. Following the news, two main ASTEROID tokens emerged — onSolana and on Ethereum. Despite Solana’s popularity for meme coins, the majority of capital concentrated on Ethereum, where market capitalization surged from $17 million to over $160 million.

On-chain data recorded a transaction that has already become a meme: an unknown holder controlled 1.8% of all Asteroid tokens for two months of quiet. Ironically, the entire position was sold at a slight loss just 24 hours before Musk posted his reply. At peak prices, that stake would have been worth $3.2 million.

Ripple's Japanese expansion continues: XRP may become "bridge" for Tottori Bank

On April 20, Japanese fintech giant SBI Remit will officially launch a cross-border remittance service in partnership with Tottori Bank, according to anSBI announcement. This marks the 26th regional bank integrated into the SBI ecosystem, which uses Ripple’s distributed ledger technology.

For Tottori Bank, this is not a trend-driven move but a matter of survival. Tottori Prefecture faces a record labor shortage, increasingly filled by foreign workers. Traditional transfers via SWIFT have become too costly and slow due to strict AML requirements and the transition to ISO 20022.

XRP Scoop📢Tottori Bank & @SBIRemit start international money transfer services, April 20. This marks the 26th Bank|FI SBI Remit partner, which actively uses @Ripple’s DLT for low-cost, 24/7 remittances. Where $XRP liquidity is ample, XRP can serve as an optional bridge.… pic.twitter.com/Qp7I77nHo6

— 🌸Eri ~ Carpe Diem (@sentosumosaba) April 19, 2026

The partnership allows the bank to offload “micro-remittances” from migrant workers onto SBI Remit’s infrastructure. Here,XRP acts as an optional bridge asset: where liquidity is sufficient, the system converts yen into XRP and then into the target currency such as Philippine peso or Vietnamese dong within seconds, bypassing correspondent banks.

A broader trend is emerging where Japan’s regional banks are effectively outsourcing their international operations toRipple infrastructure, acknowledging the inefficiency of legacy banking for small payments. For the end user, the transaction appears as a standard transfer within an app. XRP operates behind the scenes, enabling 24 by 7 functionality that traditional banking hours cannot match.

TRON founder Justin Sun attempts to negotiate with KelpDAO hacker

The decentralized finance ecosystem has faced a black swan event that exposed vulnerabilities in restaking systems. TheKelpDAO exploit led not only to direct asset theft but also to an unprecedented liquidity crisis in Aave, forcing major market participants, includingJustin Sun, to urgently protect their capital.

The root cause was a misconfiguration in a LayerZero-based bridge. The attacker was able to deceive the protocol and mint 116,500 unbacked rsETH tokens. These assets had no real collateral, yet DeFi risk models accepted them as valid.

The attacker deposited these tokens into Aave V3 and borrowed real WETH worth about $236 million against them. News of bad debt triggered a massive withdrawal wave. More than $5.4 billion was pulled from Aave within hours.

TRON founder Justin Sun was among the first to react, withdrawing 65,584 ETH, about $154 million. Sun moved to public negotiations, offering a deal to the attacker, suggesting that such funds cannot be laundered without attracting law enforcement and that a collapse of major protocols would render the stolen assets unusable.

Wrapped rsETH tokens across more than 20 networks, including Base, Arbitrum and Linea, temporarily lost backing. Multiple DeFi projects began disabling LayerZero integrations pending investigation.

The incident demonstrated that a single compromised cross-chain route can threaten major protocols like Aave when complex derivatives such as LRTs are accepted as collateral. RsETH markets are currently frozen, and teams are preparing liquidity restoration plans, but trust in the liquid restaking sector has been damaged.

Crypto market outlook: Bitcoin at $75K awaits liquidity drivers with major inflation data ahead

Bitcoin has stabilized above $75,000, supported by steady weekly ETF inflows totaling $996 million. Despite a pullback from the local high of $78,000 and uncertainty in energy markets, the asset remains resilient. The current week lacks major inflation data such as CPI or PCE, leaving the market highly sensitive to secondary U.S. macro indicators.

Key checkpoints:

Bitcoin trades around $75,500. After failing to break above $78,000, the price is searching for a new base, with local support formed at $74,000.April 21, Tuesday: U.S. retail sales for March. Markets expect weak data. If figures come in below expectations, it could reinforce expectations of a dovish Federal Reserve and restore risk appetite in crypto.April 22 to 23: labor market and services sector. Reports on initial jobless claims and the S&P Flash U.S. Services PMI. Any signs of economic cooling could push BTC back toward the $76,000 to $78,000 range.

Consensus outlook by analysts including Bitwise and CoinCodex maintains a moderately bullish stance, targeting $76,000 to $80,000 by the end of the month under stable macro conditions. Longer-term projections for 2026 remain in the $120,000 to $189,000 range.

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XRP has just recorded the biggest weekly inflow of the year as the broader crypto market sees sentiment flip extremely bullish, pulling demand from retail and institutional investors.

Following the rapid surge in the price of XRP seen over the last week, institutional investors have also become highly optimistic, doubling down on their investments in the XRP ETF products.

XRP records $55 million in inflows

Over the last week, the XRP ETFs saw strong daily inflows with no withdrawals seen in any of the trading sessions.

On Sunday, April 19, SoSoValue provided data revealing that the XRP ETFs have achieved their strongest weekly inflow of the year.

Notably, they have recorded $55.39 million in total net inflows over the past week, after multiple weeks of extremely negative performance caused by the prolonged market volatility.

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This marks the first time the XRP ETFs hit such an amount this year. The rebound follows a broader crypto market resurgence as XRP also recorded a price increase of over 7% during the period.

Following the resurgence in institutional demand for the XRP-based investment products, the least capital intake the XRP ETFs recorded was $1.46 million on April 13, the rest of the days saw larger inflows.

XRP eyes breakthrough in monthly loss streak

While the positive sentiment seen in the XRP ETF market extends across the broader crypto market, XRP appears to be on track to close the month on a positive note.

This is coming after six consecutive months of steady negative returns, which started in October 2025 due to the extensive volatility caused by the major Oct. 10 crash.

From being one of the best and most eye-catching performers in 2025, RAVE has become a reflection of the vulnerability of meme-driven assets.

What set it all off

In just over two weeks, the token saw an incredible 118x increase before plummeting by about 89% in less than a day. The market reacted appropriately, because that level of volatility is not only extreme, but structurally unsustainable.

ZachXBT explicitly pointed to coordinated pump-and-dump activity tied to specific venues, claiming insiders controlled over 90% of RAVE's supply. He went as far as offering a personal $10,000 bounty for whistleblowers to come forward with evidence.

The whole thing quickly turned into a public cross-exchange accountability investigation that revealed concentrated control and price engineering that made it onto multiple large exchanges.

Fallout

The fallout is reflected in the price action immediately. RAVE's contract value has now fallen to the $3 range, after trading close to $11.8 during the initial breakdown. Derivatives markets saw a sharp decline in liquidity.

RAVE trailed only Bitcoin and Ethereum in forced position closures after open interest on centralized exchanges plummeted and about $43.74 million in liquidations occurred in a single day.

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For what was essentially a meme-driven asset, that level of devastation is ridiculous.

One of the more perplexing aspects is Binance's coin-margined RAVE open interest, which apparently held steady throughout the turmoil. This divergence points to either structural inefficiencies in the way exposure was managed across platforms or delayed positioning adjustments.

The implosion of RAVE is more about the mechanisms that allow these moves to occur than it is about a single coin failing. Answers may come from the investigation, but the harm is already done.