Crypto may have benefited from the failure of the US CLARITY Act, according to Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan.

The CLARITY Act failed to get the 60 votes needed to move forward in the US Senate after years of negotiations. But instead of hurting the crypto market, its failure was followed by a strong rally across several digital assets.

Unexpected Wins in Washington

Both Bitcoin and Ethereum rose about 11% after the vote. Some other tokens posted much bigger gains. NEAR jumped 125%, Uniswap rose 49%, and Avalanche gained 44%, according to Hougan. The reaction may seem surprising because the crypto industry had strongly supported the bill. Hougan said the industry wanted the legal certainty that CLARITY promised. But added that the final version also included several compromises that could have created new restrictions for crypto companies.

One major area is stablecoins. The exec explained that the proposed legislation would have restricted platforms from paying customers interest or rewards on stablecoin balances. With the bill now stalled, existing stablecoin rules remain in place. Hougan said this could benefit companies such as Coinbase, which use stablecoin rewards to attract users.

CLARITY would have created a national licensing system for spot crypto exchanges. It also could have placed limits on the way exchanges combine trading and brokerage services. With the bill gone, established exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken avoid those changes for now.

Instead of waiting for new legislation and lengthy studies, the SEC recently allowed certain tokenized US stocks to trade through blockchain-based systems under temporary rules, which, according to Hougan, could give tokenization companies a chance to test the technology in real markets sooner.

Revenue-generating tokens are another area that has benefited from clearer regulatory guidance. Several tokens, including NEAR and Uniswap, have gained strongly while using protocol revenue for token buybacks. The SEC has also clarified that, once a blockchain network is functional, announcing a buyback program does not by itself turn a token into a security.

There is still a major risk as regulation can change when a new administration takes office. A future SEC or CFTC leadership could take a tougher approach to crypto. Despite this, Hougan expects “crypto to be too big to crush.”

Progress Under Existing Rules

Michael Saylor, co-founder and former CEO of Strategy, also sees the failure differently. He recently argued that crypto may be better served by working with supportive regulators at the SEC, CFTC, Treasury, and banking agencies than accepting the restrictions included in the bill’s final version.

Saylor believes the sector should use the next few years to build compliant crypto products under existing rules instead of rushing to accept a compromise simply to get legislation passed. His focus is on products that can lower costs, expand access, and give users more control over their money.

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Evernorth’s merger with Armada Acquisition Corp. II won shareholder approval on Wednesday, putting its 473 million XRP treasury on course for a Nasdaq listing.

The vote passed with about 20.5 million shares in favor and 1.4 million against, according to Armada II’s filing on Thursday. It came five weeks after the SEC declared Evernorth’s registration statement effective on August 27.

Evernorth expects the deal to close on October 7. The company’s shares should start trading the next day under XRPN, the ticker the SPAC already uses.

Over $1 Billion Raised

The firm said the deal and its private placements have raised more than $1 billion, the total it first put on the merger in October 2025. Investors contributed part of that total as XRP, which the release does not value in dollars.

Evernorth’s release puts about $300 million of the total in gross cash. Private placements supply $225 million of that cash. Another $30 million comes from convertible notes the company agreed to sell in September.

Advance funding investors provided $214 million of the private placement money, according to the proxy statement. Evernorth spent it in late 2025 on 84.4 million XRP, at an average of $2.54 per token. Those tokens are already part of its holdings.

The SPAC’s trust adds about $48 million of cash. That trust held about $241.9 million on the August 20 record date. Public shareholders could redeem their shares from the trust at an estimated $10.52 each until September 28. Neither Thursday’s release nor the vote filing says how many shareholders did.

RippleWorks supplied the largest block of Evernorth’s XRP, 211.3 million tokens, by investing them in the SPAC’s sponsor, Arrington XRP Capital Fund. The sponsor must exchange those tokens for Evernorth shares at closing. It has agreed to vote the shares as RippleWorks directs. Ripple co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen co-founded RippleWorks and sits on its board.

Ripple itself contributed 126.8 million XRP when the merger agreement was signed. A further 50 million comes from the Larsen Lam Children’s Remainder Trust.

Books Carry XRP Below Cost

Evernorth Holdings’ financial statements in the proxy put the cost of 346.3 million of its XRP at $846.6 million. By June 30, 2026, the company carried those tokens at $348.8 million. It recorded impairment charges of $233.7 million in 2025 and $264.1 million in the first half of 2026.

Evernorth books XRP at cost and writes it down to the lowest intraday price seen since it acquired each lot. The written-down value is not adjusted upward when the price recovers.

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Bitcoin outperformed stocks and gold in September as it entered the fourth quarter on a high note, according to Santiment. The world’s largest crypto asset gained around 8% during the month. In comparison, the S&P 500 saw little movement, while gold fell by more than 6%.

Several altcoins also recovered as investor interest returned to the market.

What Changed in September?

Fresh capital inflows supported Bitcoin’s rally. US-listed spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) attracted billions of dollars in September, including several large inflow days toward the end of the month. Meanwhile, Strategy added another 1,665 BTC to its holdings, which was indicative of continued corporate accumulation. Strive also expanded its corporate Bitcoin holdings by purchasing 1,107 for $94.5 million.

Improving economic conditions also helped the market. US inflation data for August came in below expectations, easing pressure on Treasury yields as well as reducing concerns about another Federal Reserve rate hike. While stock markets showed a limited response, cryptocurrencies recorded stronger gains following months of weak sentiment and heavy short positions.

Santiment found that crypto markets are entering Q4 with several potential growth drivers.

“Continued ETF demand, corporate accumulation, improving regulatory clarity, and renewed altcoin participation give traders reasons to stay optimistic.”

But while higher yields and crowded leverage can still create sharp pullbacks, the analytics firm stated that “crypto currently has catalysts that traditional assets simply haven’t matched.”

What’s Next?

Bitcoin is stuck just below $86,000, and Crypto Patel thinks this level could decide where the asset heads next. If BTC breaks above this level and holds, a move toward $100,000 could be back on the table. If it fails, however, traders will be watching $82,886, $80,300, and $76,400 for support. BIT Research’s latest report, meanwhile, has put a much bigger number on Bitcoin’s current cycle. The firm said that the bear market has likely ended and predicted an upside range of $185,000 to $215,000.

Whale wallets are also stacking up. In fact, wallets holding 10 to 10,000 BTC added 41,025 coins in just 10 days, pushing their total holdings to 13.64 million.

Bitcoin’s longer-term setup is still looking healthy as the MVRV Z-Score remained above its 365-day moving average. That level has historically acted as support during broader rallies. It doesn’t mean BTC is guaranteed to keep climbing, though. Short-term pullbacks can still hit, and they could be sharp.

For now, the bigger thing to watch is whether the Z-Score can hold above that average. If it does, CryptoQuant’s analysis states that the broader valuation trend remains supportive of further upside. A sustained break below the 365-day average would be a different story and could signal that the longer-term structure is starting to weaken.

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The altcoin market is showing signs of overheating, as spot trading volume is now four times higher than that of Bitcoin. The sharp rise in activity has also pushed leverage higher across the market.

This has prompted one trader to take profits and reduce exposure to altcoins.

Bitcoin Over Altcoins?

Doctor Profit said ONDO was sold with a 73% profit, while HBAR was closed with a smaller gain. XRP remains on watch, with a possible entry planned at a better price. The trader said there is no interest in buying altcoins while market conditions remain this hot. He also called altcoins a “great distraction and liquidity grab” and went on to add,

“This is why I’m out of Alts!”

Instead, the trader is betting on a Bitcoin correction, reiterating his previous stance. A short position was opened at $86,200, and additional short orders were placed between $86,500 and $89,500.

While he remains bullish overall, Doctor Profit had previously pointed to a potential pullback toward $79,000, near the 50-week moving average, before the broader uptrend continues. The analyst had flagged bearish signals across RSI, MACD/PPO, and MFI, while ADX showed weaker trend strength.

Warning Signs Emerge

A few days earlier, Darkfost also identified a few warning signs. According to the analyst, Total2, which tracks the altcoin market cap including Ethereum, absorbed more than $371 billion in inflows since June 2026. This is a 45% increase in just a few months.

The shift is also visible across Binance, where 87% of listed altcoins are trading above their 200-day moving average. That is a major change from August, when 80% were still below the crucial trend level. Darkfost explained that the move is indicative of a growing euphoria around altcoins, something that has historically been difficult to sustain for long.

Another signal is the rise in altcoin deposits to exchanges. Weekly deposit transactions have climbed above 22,700 on Binance and 8,300 on Coinbase, with another 32,000 or so across other platforms. The numbers are still below the levels seen early in the previous bull cycle. However, Darkfost also pointed to a developing bearish divergence on Total2’s RSI, which suggests that the altcoin momentum could be starting to cool after the recent surge.

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Bitcoin analyst Frank Cappelleri says the OG cryptocurrency’s chart resembles the setup that preceded a 400% rally last cycle.

According to the CappThesis founder, the same technical base could support another leg higher.

Chart Mirrors the 2022 to 2023 Recovery

Speaking on CNBC, Cappelleri compared Bitcoin’s current structure with the period spanning 2022 and 2023, when BTC suffered a decline of about 70%.

He pointed to a chart of Bitcoin’s roughly 54% decline this cycle and set it beside the 70% drop mentioned above. “This also looks like a bullish pattern to me,” he said. That earlier slide ended in a large breakout, and he argued that BTC can move up hard once momentum takes hold.

“Bitcoin can really rally,” the analyst said. “It’s a 400% gain.”

However, he was careful not to project the same return this time. “Not calling for that,” Cappelleri stated, adding that he was instead looking for “a very similar foundation” that could eventually take Bitcoin back to new highs.

Cappelleri also pointed to BTC’s historical response to technical signals, saying, “Bitcoin really does well with technicals,” and arguing that its past price behavior makes those signals difficult to ignore.

BTC was valued at about $84,000 at the time of writing. The cryptocurrency experienced an increase of just over 1% in the last 24 hours and has remained more or less stable during the week. In addition, it has appreciated by about 10% in 14 days and 7% in 30 days but is 27% lower than where it was around the same time last year. Meanwhile, the asset’s third-quarter gain came to about 42%, its best Q3 since 2017.

Other Market Signals Point to a Contested Setup

As CryptoPotato reported yesterday, larger Bitcoin holders have been adding to their balances while smaller wallets have remained relatively unchanged. According to Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC added 41,025 BTC over 10 days, taking their combined balance to 13.64 million BTC, with such scenarios in the past often leading to stronger market conditions.

BIT Research has also argued that the bear market ended after Bitcoin held above $62,900 in late July. Its analysis puts the True Market Mean, an estimate of the average holder cost, at around $76,900, thus taking away another source of selling pressure. The firm outlined a bullish scenario of $185,000 to $215,000, while acknowledging that the timing and path remain uncertain.

But other analysis is less straightforward, such as from Ali Martinez, who noted that BTC had fallen after each of the four previous US midterm elections, with declines ranging from 27% to 72%, adding another source of uncertainty as November approaches.

The post Bitcoin Chart Echoes Cycle That Delivered 400% Gains: Analyst appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin experienced some wild price moves after the release of the US PCE data yesterday, surging to $85,600, where it was rejected and driven south by $2,500.

Meanwhile, BTW continues to produce massive fluctuations, surging by 35% today. NIGHT and STX have seen double-digit increases as well.

BTC Calms After Wild Ride

Bitcoin exploded last Monday to over $87,000, which became its highest price tag since late January. It was stopped there twice in the span of 36 hours, but the second rejection was quite vigorous. BTC dumped to under $83,000 in a day after it topped $87,000 for the last time in September.

The following several days were a lot less eventful. Bitcoin established a well-defined trading range between $83,000 and $85,000, while the lower boundary was tested a few times more than the upper one. BTC even dipped below it on a few occasions, but managed to hold.

A few more fluctuations between the two lines followed before the markets turned their attention to the PCE numbers on September 30. As the final results beat expectations, the cryptocurrency skyrocketed from $83,000 to $85,600 within minutes. However, its subsequent move was just as rapid but in the opposite direction. As such, BTC has returned to $83,600 as of press time after failing to capitalize on the positive PCE news.

It enters its greenest month with a market cap of $1.680 trillion, while its dominance over the alts remains flat at 58.6% on CMC.

NIGHT, BTW, STX on the Rise

Ethereum continues its fight with the $2,700 resistance, but it’s still on the wrong side of it. BNB is above $765, while XRP has dipped slightly below $1.50. SOL, TRX, LINK, RAIN, XLM, and BCH have posted insignificant losses over the past day.

In contrast, HYPE has neared $90 once again after a 3% increase. QNT is above $290 following a similar daily jump. BTW has stolen the show once again, rocketing by 35% to $1.41. NIGHT has surged by 26% and trades well above $0.04, while STX is close to $0.4 after a 22% daily rise.

The total crypto market cap is up by just over 1% since this time yesterday, at $2.890 trillion on CMC.

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Although BTC is still in the red on a YTD basis, the past three months showed a significant improvement in its overall state, with September closing well in the green as well.

The focus has now shifted to October, which has been BTC’s greenest month since data has been tracked on CoinGlass. The question is: will history repeat, or will last year’s edition reign again?

3 In a Row

The primary cryptocurrency bottomed on July 1 at under $58,000 and rebounded in the following month to close with a 7.36% increase. Although the first half of August was quite sluggish, the second was spectacular as BTC exploded above $75,000 and ended the month with a 25% surge – the most since October 2023.

It entered September at around $77,000 before it quickly skyrocketed to $82,000. The bears were quick to reemerge at this point and didn’t allow it to continue further. Just the opposite; BTC slipped by several grand and slumped to $75,000 in the middle of the month as the CLARITY Act failed in the US Senate and the Fed hiked interest rates.

To the surprise of many, given the aforementioned negative developments, the cryptocurrency bounced off immediately and reclaimed the $80,000 line by the end of that particular week. It hasn’t traded below that level ever since. Moreover, it flew to $87,000 on September 22 and 23, but it was stopped. Despite losing some ground by the end of September, it still closed with a 6.33% pump, making it the third consecutive green month and fifth for the year.

Uptober or Redtober Next?

Ever since CoinGlass started tracking BTC’s performance in 2013, October has been the asset’s greenest month. 10 out of the past 13 editions have brought gains, and only three were in the red. When we add the three-month streak bitcoin has been on since July, the expectations for the next 30 days have increased considerably.

Moreover, many analysts have determined that BTC has reclaimed key resistance levels, which now means that the bull market is on, even though CryptoQuant warned yesterday that it might have slowed down.

Speaking to CryptoPotato, Lacie Zhang, Research Analyst at Bitget Wallet, said yesterday that “October has a strong historical track record for bitcoin,” but “seasonality alone is not an investment thesis.” After all, recall that BTC reached its latest ATH precisely last October before it crumbled in the notorious massacre that left over $19 billion in liquidations in 24 hours and went on a months-long red streak.

“Bitcoin’s median October return has historically been around 11%–14%. ETF inflows, declining exchange balances and corporate buying support the bullish case, while high interest rates, oil prices and renewed inflation pressure remain the main headwinds,” Zhang added.

The researcher outlined the base-case range for the month of $78,000-$95,000, but noted that if BTC holds the key $82,000 support and flips $87,500 into one, then $95,000 should be the next major target. On the other hand, a decisive break below $80,000 would “invalidate the seasonal bullish setup.”

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Ripple’s native token just ended September well in the green, extending its streak that began with a minor increase in July. All eyes are now on October on several fronts. The question is: can XRP continue its run, or will the last two October editions take their toll?

XRP Went Hard in September

Recall that August was the cross-border token’s most successful month in over a year, when it skyrocketed by 30% from start to finish. Moreover, it had dipped to just under $1.00 mid-month, which makes its close even more impressive. XRP entered September on a high note, not only because of the spectacular August but because it had closed all four previous Septembers in the green.

The ninth month of the year was indeed positive on a few fronts. First, the price gained just under 10%, and XRP ended it at over $1.50. It tried to take down the $1.60 resistance on several occasions but to no avail. In addition, the spot ETFs tracking its performance marked some major wins.

Only three days were slightly in the red: September 2, 17, and 18. On a broader scale, though, the funds have not seen a single red week since early July. Data from SoSoValue shows that the ETFs closed September well in the green, adding over $120 million. Moreover, the cumulative net inflows reached a new all-time high of nearly $1.8 billion.

What Does October Hold?

October, as a month, holds particular significance in the hearts of the cryptocurrency community. Major gains over the years earned it a well-deserved nickname, “Uptober.” However, there have been major exceptions over the years at the broader market level, while Ripple’s XRP has not always benefited during the month.

For example, the past two editions delivered double-digit losses for the cross-border altcoin. It plunged by 16.7% in 2024 and experienced a mind-blowing correction, alongside the rest of the market, last year, after the notorious October 10 massacre.

Data from CryptoRank shows that only five out of the last 13 Octobers have been in the green for XRP. The last one was in 2023, when the asset jumped by an impressive 16.5%. As such, XRP enters the new month at a crossroads, given its notable three-month green streak but also its controversial October history.

The post XRP in October: Will Ripple’s Streak Continue After 3 Consecutive Green Months? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Robinhood plans to launch perpetual futures for eligible US customers in the coming months.

CEO Vlad Tenev said the company is bringing America “its first true perps” in a post on X, adding that profit and loss will settle every 15 minutes.

Eight Crypto Assets, Up to 10x Leverage

The company announced the product on Tuesday at its HOOD Summit in Houston. Customers will be able to go long or short on BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, DOGE, ADA, LINK, and HYPE.

A perpetual future is a leveraged contract that tracks an asset’s price with no settlement date, so a trader can hold a position as long as they can cover it. Bitcoin and Ethereum contracts allow up to 10x leverage, while the other six are capped at 3x, and Robinhood Derivatives will provide the contracts through Bitstamp.

Trading costs one basis point (0.01%) per trade through the end of the year, which Robinhood describes as some of the lowest fees in the industry. Furthermore, users can set stop-loss and take-profit orders, watch their liquidation price in real time, and get alerts when a position is at risk.

“Ownership doesn’t work without markets, and markets don’t work without traders,” Tenev said. The CEO added that Robinhood wants to be “the best place in the world for active traders” by delivering tools once reserved for hedge funds, big banks and quant firms.

The trading platform also introduced an in-app AI tool called Robinhood Agents that will help customers create strategies, research markets and trade within preset limits, while manual trade approval is turned on by default. According to the firm, more than 15,000 users have opened agentic trading accounts since its May launch, with agents using Robinhood tools almost 30 million times a day.

In addition, the firm is bringing earnings contracts tied to company metrics such as revenue targets and earnings results. Those binary options contracts will be offered through Cboe and require options approval.

Where Robinhood Sits Among Rivals

The broader derivatives push is not limited to Robinhood. As CryptoPotato reported on September 4, Coinbase filed registrations with the SEC to offer single-stock perpetual futures to US investors, although those filings did not guarantee a launch on any set timeline.

Bybit went a different direction on leverage. Its new forex perpetuals, introduced September 8, allow up to 100x and trade around the clock, against Robinhood’s 10x ceiling.

Remember, perpetuals still carry funding costs and liquidation risks, since a position can be closed out when losses grow too large, and Robinhood has also not given an exact launch date beyond “the coming months.”

The post Robinhood to Launch Crypto Perpetual Futures in the US appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains in a bull market after closing above its 365-day moving average last week, but recent on-chain data suggests momentum is slowing. CryptoQuant said in a recent research note that several indicators now point to higher selling pressure and weaker demand.

Despite these concerns, CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin Bull Score Index remains at 90, showing that most tracked indicators still support a bullish structure. BTC recently reached about $87,400, its highest level in eight months, before pulling back toward the low $83,000 range.

Profit-Taking Picks Up

One concern comes from short-term holders, whose unrealized profit margin has risen to 33%. The analytics firm said this is the highest level since December 2024 and that similar levels have preceded profit-taking.

That profit-taking is already showing up in realized gains, with Bitcoin holders cashing out about 25,700 BTC in profit on September 22. It was the largest single-day realized profit figure recorded in 2026, adding to evidence that some holders are selling after the recent price gains.

Selling signals are also appearing beyond Bitcoin, particularly in the altcoin market. Seven-day cumulative altcoin exchange inflows reached 76,000 transactions involving about 51,000 depositors, the highest levels recorded since October 17, 2025.

At the same time, demand is weakening in both the spot and futures markets. Apparent spot demand fell by roughly 170,000 BTC over the past 30 days. Speculative futures demand growth also slowed, dropping from about 164,000 BTC on September 14 to roughly 16,000 BTC more recently.

Key Support Levels Remain

Despite these signals, Bitcoin remains above several important on-chain support levels. CryptoQuant identified the 365-day moving average near $80,000 and the 200-day moving average around $71,000. The firm also identified the trader-realized price near $67,000 as a key level to watch.

According to the analytics firm, a decline toward these levels could signal consolidation. This would not necessarily mean a broader market reversal if support holds. However, continued weakness in demand alongside increased profit-taking could increase the risk of a deeper correction in the near term.

CryptoQuant described the market as still bullish but showing signs of fatigue. The next test will be whether buying demand returns to absorb selling pressure or whether Bitcoin moves closer to those support levels.

The post Bitcoin Bull Market Shows Signs of Cooling: CryptoQuant appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin climbed above $87,400 last week, but the rally has since lost momentum. The world’s largest cryptocurrency then tested the $83,000 range before it surged past the upper boundary of its weekly range at $85,000.

Amidst the stagnation, larger holders are increasing their holdings again.

Whale Accumulation Returns

According to blockchain analytics platform Santiment, wallets holding between 10 and 10,000 BTC added 41,025 units over the past 10 days. Their total balance has now reached 13.64 million BTC, equal to about 67.93% of Bitcoin’s total supply. Santiment explained that these whale and shark wallets are now at their highest holdings since the market rally in mid-August.

There is a clear difference between large and small holders. Wallets holding less than 0.01 BTC have remained mostly unchanged during the same period. Santiment revealed that stronger market conditions have historically appeared when larger holders accumulate while smaller traders sell.

However, the analytics firm said the current pattern is not a guaranteed signal for Bitcoin’s price. Market watchers will likely focus on whether large holders continue adding BTC and whether retail investors begin reducing their positions. The trend could provide another indicator of changing market sentiment in the coming days.

Adding to the bullish picture, BIT Research said Bitcoin’s bear market may have already ended. The firm identified the cycle low in late July after the asset held above $62,900 and showed signs of weakening downside momentum. Since then, BTC has reclaimed key levels, including its 21-week moving average at $69,272, and moved above its March 2024 high of $73,084.

The report also highlighted Bitcoin’s cost basis. The True Market Mean currently stands at $76,897, which essentially means that the typical holder is back in profit. This could reduce selling pressure from investors looking to exit at break-even. The firm expects an upside range of $185,000 to $215,000 in its bullish scenario.

However, crypto analyst Doctor Profit speculated a short-term pullback before BTC’s next move higher. He pointed to bearish signals across several indicators, including RSI, MACD/PPO, and MFI, while also noting weaker trend strength on the ADX indicator.

ETF Inflows and Corporate Buying

Even as the market moves through a quieter stretch, institutional demand is still showing up. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs, for instance, attracted a whopping $2.4 billion last week. This week started at a slower pace, but the flow has remained positive. The funds raked in just over $31 million on Monday and another $66 million on Tuesday.

Corporate buyers have also stayed active. Strategy added another 1,665 BTC over the past week. The company paid an average of $85,681 per coin, taking its total holdings to 847,666 units. Strive has added to the buying activity as well. CEO Matt Cole said the company spent $94.5 million on 1,107 BTC at an average price of $85,400. Its total holdings have now reached 27,462.

The post Bitcoin’s Biggest Holders Ramp Up Buying While Retail Traders Remain Flat appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Security firm SlowMist says North Korean hackers are laundering funds stolen from Bitget by pairing CoW Protocol orders with Chainflip deposit addresses and then converting the proceeds to Bitcoin.

The firm’s founder, who posts on X as Cos, argues that anti-money laundering checks are falling behind automated laundering scripts, even as Chainflip tried to block the flows.

SlowMist Traces the Attack Into Third-Party Systems

In a September 29 post, Cos said SlowMist had detected North Korea-linked hackers using CoW Protocol and Chainflip to move funds from Bitget. An automated script created CoW orders with the receiving address set to a pre-prepared Chainflip deposit contract. After execution, Chainflip handled the cross-chain swap, and the asset was converted to BTC.

Cos later described a broader pattern after tracking the funds for several hours. Chainflip was attempting to block the suspected laundering activity, but automated fragmentation and repeated attempts across different bridges could let the operators try another route when a transfer was rejected or returned.

The funds were ultimately converted to BTC before CoinJoin was used to obscure the movements further.

MistTrack, a crypto tracking and compliance platform built by SlowMist, reported that Chainflip had rejected one attempted deposit. The message returned was “Deposit rejected by the broker,” but the funds were refunded rather than frozen.

Recall that MistTrack had earlier highlighted that funds from the Bitget hack were flowing into THORChain for cross-chain swaps, arguing that the permissionless L1 should bear responsibility for handling stolen funds. However, the DEX claimed it was decentralized and permissionless and “doesn’t censor by design.”

SlowMist’s investigation traced the theft itself to activity that started before the transfers, with the earliest malicious acts in available logs dating back to August 31, when a service on one third-party product was compromised through a zero-day vulnerability.

The attacker later accessed a second product’s management platform on September 25 using an internal employee identity and attempted to inject commands and write malicious files.

Withdrawal Tool Connected the Attack to On-Chain Transfers

SlowMist also recovered a customized withdrawal tool from deleted files that was tailored to Bitget’s wallet withdrawal logic, forging risk-control parameters, constructing withdrawal requests, and invoking the withdrawal process.

Logs show it began executing the theft at 01:49 on September 25, with on-chain activity starting at 02:31 as 93 TRX was sent to the attacker’s address, followed 11 seconds later by 0.84 ETH arriving on Ethereum.

The transfers continued across several blockchains until 05:23, covering about 2 hours and 52 minutes. At the same time, the attacker also attempted to alter withdrawal records and trigger additional BTC withdrawals, according to the SlowMist report.

Bitget attributed the incident to a backend system in its wallet infrastructure rather than a stolen private key, and the exchange has said its User Protection Fund will cover those affected by the incident.

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Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX, told an interviewer at KBW 2026 in Seoul that he expects to see Ethereum hit $10,000 by the end of the year.

That’s more than three times the current price near $2,700, with ETH still trading about 46% below its all-time high.

The $10K Case for Ethereum

In a clip CoinDesk posted on X from the KBW2026 event, Hayes gave a direct answer when asked for his Ethereum price prediction:

“$10,000 by the end of the year.”

He added that he likes ETH because he can put a large amount of money into it without expecting a sudden 75% loss from an exploit. Hayes also addressed why Ethereum has lagged other networks at different points of the cycle, putting it all down to narratives. He pointed to Solana capturing the meme coin narrative and rising quickly, while Ethereum had become slower as competing blockchains took some of the activity.

“Obviously, Ethereum pioneered this whole decentralized computer thing and then was the victim of its own success, was slow and whatever,” he said. “And there were other challengers that picked up the slack.”

Still, he argued that Ethereum remains the most secure layer one because it has the largest market capitalization.

Hayes’s own ETH trades have not always been well-timed. In August, he sold 2,365 ETH at about $1,821, a loss of $241,000, after buying 7,213 ETH at an average of $1,923. And that was not the first time. In July, he sold 5,900 units for nearly $10 million after buying them days earlier for $10.58 million, incurring a loss of more than $600,000.

At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency was down 1% over 24 hours and nearly 3% in the last seven days, but was still up more than 11% across two weeks and 9% higher than where it was a month ago.

The investor’s $10,000 forecast requires ETH to gain roughly 3.7 times its current price, and that gap is notable because the token is still about 46% below its $4,946 all-time high.

ETF Flows Keep Ethereum in Focus

Ethereum’s quarterly record looks different from its short-term pullback. Coinglass data shows it gained just under 70% in the third quarter of 2026 after falling 29.26% in Q1 and 25.28% in Q2.

Meanwhile, spot ETF activity added another source of buying, with Ethereum ETFs recording $892 million in net inflows during September, with only one trading day left in the month.

However, the streak of daily inflows that started on September 18 ended yesterday with a $2.8 million outflow, while the previous week brought $689.9 million of net inflows. The activity has lifted cumulative inflows to $13.95 billion.

The post Arthur Hayes Predicts Ethereum Will Reach $10K by Year-End appeared first on CryptoPotato.

Bitcoin continues to trade sideways within a well-defined range between $83,000 and $85,000, with the former providing strong support after another dip earlier today.

Most larger-cap alts are slightly in the red today as well, with ETH sliding below $2,700 again, while LINK has plummeted by over 7%. NEAR and QNT are in the green again.

BTC Consolidation Continues

Last week was a lot more eventful for the primary cryptocurrency, especially its start. BTC stood at $80,000 last Monday before it exploded by seven grand in less than 12 hours and topped $87,000 to mark an eight-month peak. Although it was stopped there at first, the bulls initiated another leg up a day later, which resulted in it touching the same local high.

However, the bears finally stepped up at this point and didn’t allow another breakthrough attempt. Just the opposite; BTC started to correct hard and slumped to $83,000 within 24 hours. Since then, it has been mostly sideways trading between $83,000, which serves as the lower boundary of this range, and the upper one at $85,000.

The lower boundary has come under fire a lot more in the past several days, including a couple of dips to $82,400. Nevertheless, it has been able to hold strong, at least for now. The latest rebound came earlier today when bitcoin dropped to $82,850. It trades almost a grand higher now, but it’s still slightly in the red on a 24-hour scale.

Its market capitalization remains at around $1.680 trillion on CMC, while its dominance over the alts is at 58.6%.

Big Altcoin Gainers

ETH was stopped at $2,700 once again and now sits slightly below it after a 1% daily decline. BNB is down to $764, while XRP fights to stay above $1.50. Yesterday’s high-flyer LINK is down by over 7% now and sits below $14.5 after some profit-taking from investors. CRO, ONDO, BTW, CC, HBAR, and LIT are also well in the red, some by double digits.

In contrast, QNT has rocketed by 13% once again, currently trading at $290. PUMP has pumped by 15% as well and now sits close to $0.006. NIGHT is today’s top performer, jumping by over 17.5% to $0.035.

The total crypto market cap has declined slightly and sits at $2.870 trillion on CMC.

The post These Altcoins Pump With Double Digits as Bitcoin (BTC) Consolidation Continues: Market Watch appeared first on CryptoPotato.

BIT Research published a report on Wednesday arguing that Bitcoin’s bear market is over, with one upside scenario for this cycle running from $185,000 to $215,000.

The primary cryptocurrency is trading above $83,000 and looks set to finish its third straight month in the green, pushing quarterly gains to 42%.

BIT Calls the Bottom on Holder Profits

The firm says it called the cycle low in late July, after Bitcoin hit a downside target from Elliott Wave analysis and held above $62,900.

Weekly RSI, a gauge of how hard prices are falling, stopped dropping in June and July even as price made new lows, a split the report compares to the 2022 bottom. BTC then crossed its 21-week moving average at $69,272 and reclaimed $70,000. It now trades around $83,000, above its March 2024 high of $73,084.

The report leaned on cost basis, with the True Market Mean, the estimated average price holders paid, sitting at $76,897, so the typical holder and the average spot ETF buyer are back in profit; therefore, in the analysts’ view, this removes a source of selling pressure.

Another thing BIT considered was the fact that US federal debt has passed $40 trillion, and rising Treasury yields caused by worries over government finances can send money toward gold and BTC.

Its debt model gives a reference valuation near $105,000, but the main headwind is a stronger dollar, with traders pricing in more Fed rate hikes and the Strait of Hormuz still closed. However, the firm does not expect it to derail the rally, since past dollar strength has hurt gold more than Bitcoin.

The OG crypto has traded between $83,000 and $85,000 since a rejection near $87,000 last week, and at the time of writing, CoinGecko showed it just above that $83,000 level, although it represented a dip of over 4% in seven days.

Still, that price is a nearly 10% improvement across two weeks and more than 7% higher than where it was 30 days ago. Coinglass data puts the third quarter at +42.22%, the best quarter since Q4 2024 and the best Q3 performance since 2017.

ETF flows have also improved, with the funds recording $2.8 billion of net inflows in September so far, taking cumulative inflows to $57.6 billion and total net assets to about $108 billion.

How the Range Gets to $215,000

In past cycles, Bitcoin climbed at least 85% above the average holder’s cost, which is about $142,000 today.

“This is a reference level for tracking the bull market, not a minimum target or a final top,” BIT’s market watchers clarified. “Historically, price has kept rising after crossing it, but there’s no guarantee that repeats.”

Last cycle, it first reached the 85% mark near $73,000 in March 2024 and peaked at $126,000, roughly 1.7 times higher. If the multiple shrinks to 1.3 to 1.5 times on a $142,000 base, the result is $185,000 to $215,000.

Timing is looser. The last cycle took about 19 months to go from the 85% level to the peak, so a similar pattern would put $200,000 around 2028 or 2029, but the analysts called that pattern-matching and described timing as highly uncertain. Closer to now, they say the asset looks stretched after a fast climb, so a pause or a larger pullback is still possible.

The post Bitcoin $215K Scenario Emerges as BTC Reclaims Key Market Levels appeared first on CryptoPotato.

CSD BR and Ripple have partnered to use blockchain technology in Brazil’s financial market infrastructure.

In the first phase, the XRP Ledger will be used to record and audit financial assets.

Ripple-CSD BR Deal

The project will initially focus on investment fund shares from BTG Pactual. Under the new model, selected financial assets will be tokenized and mirrored on the XRP Ledger. The assets will use the Multi-Purpose Token (MPT) standard. The blockchain will not replace CSD BR’s existing infrastructure but will provide an additional way to check and audit asset records.

Authorized participants will be able to verify records on the blockchain in near real time. The companies said this is expected to improve transparency and traceability. It could also support more automation and efficiency in financial market processes. The system will operate on a permissioned basis. Access will be limited to eligible corporate and banking clients in Brazil. Participants will also be subject to Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.

CSD BR will retain control over the issuance and administration of the assets. It will also handle important governance functions, such as authorizing participants, freezing individual assets, and reversing transactions when regulators or courts require it.

Ripple’s custody infrastructure will work with the native capabilities of the XRP Ledger. The goal is to create an environment where tokenized financial assets can be handled while existing regulatory requirements remain in place.

Further expansion beyond the initial mirroring phase is also in the cards. The two companies plan to assess the use of blockchain for native asset issuance and trading between authorized participants. Future assets could include Real Estate Receivables Certificates, known as CRI, and Agribusiness Receivables Certificates, or CRA. Both are important parts of Brazil’s fixed-income market. Adding stronger confidentiality features is also part of the platform’s future development plans.

In a statement, Silvio Pegado, Managing Director of Ripple for Latin America, said,

“Moving beyond pilots and proofs of concept to a live record-keeping infrastructure in a national capital market is a major milestone for the industry. This partnership shows how distributed ledger technology can be safely incorporated into critical financial infrastructure in a regulated way.”

AI Push

Ripple has also been expanding its use of AI in corporate treasury operations through GSmart. As CryptoPotato reported earlier this month, the platform now covers forecasting, liquidity, risk, reconciliation, and reporting. Its approach keeps financial calculations separate from AI analysis. Deterministic engines handle the calculations, while AI reviews company policies, identifies patterns, and explains recommended actions.

The system does not execute those actions without human approval.

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