Crypto World
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Another Ceasefire, Another Rally
Bitcoin price jumped 2.5% today after President Trump confirmed an extension of the Iran ceasefire, and the market moved exactly as the prediction suggests. BTC touched $77,500 in early Asia trading, its highest print since Friday’s two-month peak of $78,300.
Equities are mirroring, S&P 500 down by 0.5% on last night’s close, erasing $500 billion in the process. Ether climbed as much as 2.5% too, tracking BTC tick for tick. Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows have been providing a consistent institutional bid beneath recent price action, and today’s geopolitical relief added the external catalyst.
— Crypto Rover (@cryptorover) April 21, 2026
CRASH:
$500,000,000,000 wiped from the U.S. stock market in just 90 minutes after Kevin Warsh’s statements. pic.twitter.com/uED5gQa0AF
“Crypto has been in a bullish mood in the past few weeks, often shrugging off bad news and climbing on good news,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets.
The asymmetry shows structural demand for crypto.
Discover: The best pre-launch token sales
Bitcoin Price Prediction: $80,000 This Week
Wednesday’s spike put BTC back inside a decisive range. Most prediction projects Bitcoin at $75,000 over the next 10 days, with a weekly forecast of $77,300, which puts the current price bullish. More optimistic predictions have April 22 ceilings as high as $85,800, though that sits well outside the technical consensus.
The critical levels are clean. Paul Howard, senior director at Wincent, put it plainly: $72,000 is the key support zone, and $79,000 is where profit-taking has repeatedly capped the rally. But $75,000 should hold as a solid floor, and a clean close above $80,000 would “unlock significant further upside.”
Technically, RSI sits high neutral at the 50 area, while the EMA composite leans bullish with 11 of 23 tracked indicators flagging buy signals. If the ceasefire extension holds, BTC could close above $79,000 this week, and momentum funds pile in, sending it to above $80,000.
Bitcoin has outperformed gold by a wide margin since the end of February, up more than 15% while bullion dropped 10%. This is not accidental.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early Mover Upside as Bitcoin Tests Key Levels
Bitcoin at $77,500 sounds bullish. But at this market cap, the math for multiples gets harder. Early-stage infrastructure plays inside the Bitcoin ecosystem are where asymmetric upside still exists — and that’s exactly the thesis behind Bitcoin Hyper.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning as the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration with faster transaction throughput than Solana, paired with Bitcoin’s underlying security. The pitch addresses Bitcoin’s three core bottlenecks: slow transactions, high fees, and limited programmability.
Current presale price sits at $0.0136, with $32 million raised to date. Staking rewards are live with 36% APY bonus. The project includes a Decentralized Canonical Bridge for BTC transfers and high-speed smart contract execution via SVM. Institutional Bitcoin demand signals suggest the broader ecosystem is entering a higher-activity phase, which historically lifts infrastructure tokens alongside BTC.
Research Bitcoin Hyper before the presale closes.
The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: Another Ceasefire, Another Rally appeared first on Cryptonews.
Crypto World
Tesla Reports Earnings After the Bell: Will Elon Musk’s AI Roadmap Trigger a Crypto Rally Before Midnight?
Tesla reports Q1 2026 earnings after market close today, and the AI roadmap update could move crypto markets before midnight.
The live Q&A webcast kicks off at 5:30 p.m. Eastern, with analysts watching every word on robotaxi expansion and Optimus progress.
Wall Street consensus sits at $0.30 EPS, a steep drop from Q4’s $0.50 beat, leaving the bar low enough that almost any positive AI catalyst could trigger a sharp move.
Cross-chain liquidity plays are already seeing elevated attention as institutional money rotates into infrastructure narratives ahead of the print.
Tesla’s April 2 production release confirmed 408,000+ vehicles built and 358,000+ delivered in Q1, alongside 8.8 GWh of energy storage deployed, steady numbers that kept the stock from collapsing pre-earnings.
The shareholder deck is expected to detail robotaxi expansion to nine cities in H1 2026, Cortex 2 compute buildout at the Texas Gigafactory, and a belated Optimus Gen 3 update after Q1’s promised unveil quietly didn’t happen.
A live earnings stream is already pulling significant viewer traffic ahead of the 4:30 p.m. CT call. The broader question isn’t whether Tesla beats — it’s whether the AI narrative holds up under analyst questioning. That answer will ripple well beyond TSLA.
Can TSLA’s AI Reveal Spark a Broader Risk Rally This Week?
With Q1 EPS projected at $0.30 against Q4’s actual $0.50 — a 25% beat over the $0.40 estimate, the year-over-year earnings compression is real.
The question is whether Tesla’s AI pipeline reframes the valuation story fast enough to matter. Robotaxi revenue is pre-commercial. Optimus is still pre-scale. Cortex 2 is burning capex. None of that is cheap.
Technically, TSLA has been consolidating in a wide range ahead of the print, with momentum indicators suggesting indecision rather than conviction.
The bull case: a strong AI update, new robotaxi city timelines, Optimus production numbers, or Cortex 2 milestones, pushes sentiment into breakout territory and drags high-beta tech and crypto assets with it. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have already recorded $1B+ weekly inflows, signaling institutional appetite that a TSLA AI pop could amplify.
Base case: Tesla meets the $0.30 EPS print, management delivers cautious optimism on robotaxi rollout, and markets grind sideways into the weekend.
Bear case, and the genuine invalidation, is any hint that Full Self-Driving timelines are slipping further, Optimus production targets are being walked back, or Cortex 2 costs are running over. That scenario pressures AI-adjacent assets across the board. Three numbers to watch at 5:30 Eastern: gross margin, energy storage revenue, and any hard robotaxi fleet figure.
LiquidChain Targets Early-Mover Upside as TSLA Tests Key Catalyst Levels
Here’s the uncomfortable truth about chasing TSLA post-earnings: at any size, the asymmetric upside is gone before retail gets in.
The move happens in the first 90 seconds. On-chain liquidity signals are spiking ahead of tonight’s call, and that capital is increasingly looking for early-stage infrastructure plays where the entry point still exists.
LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project built around a single proposition: fusing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana liquidity into one unified execution environment. Developers deploy once, access all three ecosystems. The architecture includes a Unified Liquidity Layer, Single-Step Execution, Verifiable Settlement, and Deploy-Once infrastructure, targeting the fragmentation problem that costs DeFi protocols billions annually in lost efficiency.
The presale is currently priced at $0.01452, with $691,470.51 raised to date. That’s early by any measure.
Institutional narratives around BTC are accelerating, and a project merging BTC, ETH, and SOL liquidity rails is positioned directly inside that thesis. Risk is real — presales carry no liquidity guarantees, and token value is speculative until mainnet.
Research LiquidChain here before the next presale stage opens.
The post Tesla Reports Earnings After the Bell: Will Elon Musk’s AI Roadmap Trigger a Crypto Rally Before Midnight? appeared first on Cryptonews.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Utility-driven new crypto coins gain momentum as investors target early-stage opportunities in 2026.
Summary
- DOGEBALL raised $200K+ in Stage 2, combining payments, gaming, and staking in one Layer 2 ecosystem.
- Built on DOGECHAIN, DOGEBALL enables crypto-to-fiat transfers with near-instant payments and zero FX fees.
- At $0.0004 presale price, DOGEBALL offers strong ROI potential before its planned $0.015 launch price.
The biggest winners in new crypto coins 2026 are emerging from projects that combine real-world utility with strong early-stage entry opportunities.
As innovation accelerates, investors are focusing on tokens that solve actual problems while offering measurable upside. This list highlights six projects shaping the next phase of blockchain adoption, including DOGEBALL, Celestia, Starknet, LayerZero, Sei, and zkSync.
Each of these coins brings a distinct advantage, from scaling infrastructure to enabling seamless global payments. Among them, DOGEBALL stands out with a live crypto presale that combines payments and gaming into a revenue-driven ecosystem. Let’s break down how these projects are positioning themselves for growth in 2026.
DOGEBALL presale gains momentum with $200k raised and real payment utility
DOGEBALL is a high-utility ecosystem built on its custom Ethereum Layer 2 called DOGECHAIN. It combines GameFi and PayFi to enable users to send crypto while recipients receive fiat directly into their bank accounts worldwide. With zero FX fees, no intermediaries, and near-instant transfers, DOGEPAY solves real problems in global remittances and digital payments.
Within the new crypto coins 2026 category, DOGEBALL stands out due to its direct link between usage and token demand. The DOGEBALL token powers transaction fees, gaming rewards, and staking, creating consistent buy pressure. The presale is currently in Stage 2 at $0.0004, with $200K+ already raised from 750+ participants, signaling strong early adoption ahead of its closing date on 2nd May 2026.
DOGEBALL crypto presale 2026 roi potential and bonus strategy
The DOGEBALL crypto presale 2026 offers a clear, data-driven entry point for investors. With a current price of $0.0004 and a confirmed launch price of $0.015, early buyers could see a potential ROI of 3650% within the 4-month presale period. This timeline started on 2nd January 2026 and creates a focused window to accumulate tokens before public listing.
Using the PAY35 bonus code gives an immediate 35% increase in token allocation, improving entry value from day one. On top of that, the Buyer of the Week competition adds another layer of incentive, where top buyers receive a 100% bonus on their weekly spend. The competition is intense, with last-minute buys of $2131 at 23:58 UTC and $2320 at 23:59 UTC securing the top spot, reinforcing urgency and strong demand.
Celestia expands modular blockchain adoption with new rollup integrations
Celestia is gaining attention for its modular blockchain design, which separates execution from consensus and data availability. This allows developers to deploy scalable rollups without building full blockchain stacks. Recent updates include enhanced data availability, sampling, and new integrations that make deployment faster and more cost-efficient.
This approach is attracting developers who want flexibility and scalability without high infrastructure costs. As more projects adopt modular architecture, Celestia is positioning itself as a foundational layer for the next generation of decentralized applications.
Starknet strengthens ZK rollup scaling with improved developer tools
Starknet continues to push forward as a leading ZK-rollup solution built on STARK proofs. Its ability to process high volumes of transactions while maintaining Ethereum-level security makes it a key scaling solution. Recent upgrades have focused on improving developer tools and reducing transaction costs.
Adoption is growing across DeFi and NFT ecosystems as projects look for scalable and secure infrastructure. Starknet’s continuous improvements are helping it maintain a strong position in the Layer 2 space.
LayerZero drives cross-chain growth with omnichain interoperability
LayerZero is solving the problem of blockchain fragmentation by enabling seamless communication across multiple networks. Its omnichain protocol allows assets and data to move without relying on centralized bridges, reducing risk and improving efficiency.
Recent partnerships and integrations have expanded its ecosystem, making it easier for developers to build cross-chain applications. This positions LayerZero as a critical infrastructure layer in a multi-chain future.
Sei Network accelerates trading with a high-speed execution architecture
Sei is designed specifically for trading applications, offering high-speed execution and low latency. Its parallelized architecture allows multiple transactions to be processed at the same time, making it ideal for DeFi trading platforms.
The network is seeing increased adoption from trading-focused projects and liquidity providers. Its performance-driven design gives it a competitive edge in sectors where speed and efficiency directly impact user experience.
zkSync enhances user adoption with low fees and seamless experience
zkSync is a Layer 2 solution that uses zero-knowledge proofs to scale Ethereum while keeping fees low. Its focus on user experience has led to improvements in onboarding, wallet integration, and transaction simplicity.
Developers are increasingly choosing zkSync for consumer-facing applications due to its balance of scalability and usability. Continued ecosystem growth is expected to drive further adoption in 2026.
Why DOGEBALL presale stands out among new crypto coins 2026
The new crypto coins 2026 list includes strong infrastructure projects, but DOGEBALL offers a unique advantage by combining real-world payments and gaming into a single ecosystem. Its ability to convert crypto to fiat instantly, eliminate fees, and enable global transactions gives it a practical use case that directly drives demand.
The DOGEBALL presale provides a limited 4-month opportunity to enter at $0.0004 before the expected $0.015 launch. With $200K+ already raised, strong competition for weekly bonuses, and the PAY35 code offering 35% extra tokens, the project presents a structured and high-potential entry point for investors seeking both utility and returns.
For more information, visit the official website, Telegram, and X.
FAQs for new crypto coins 2026
What are the top new crypto coins to invest in in 2026?
DOGEBALL, Celestia, Starknet, LayerZero, Sei, and zkSync are among the most promising projects due to their strong utility, scalability solutions, and growing ecosystems.
How does the DOGEBALL crypto presale 2026 work?
Investors can buy DOGEBALL at $0.0004 during the presale phase. The token is expected to launch at $0.015, offering significant ROI potential along with bonus incentives like PAY35 and weekly rewards.
Why do crypto presales offer high returns?
Crypto presales provide early access to tokens at lower prices before public listing. If the project gains traction and lists higher, early investors benefit from the price difference and additional incentives.
Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.
Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) already pays 11.5% annualized dividends on its ultra-risky Stretch (STRC) but DeFi users are now adding risks and leverage to crank that up to 39%.
In finance, interest rates are often dictated by the risk of total loss. With very few exceptions, when someone offers a higher interest rate, it’s because they’re much more likely to not pay you back.
Unbothered, traders are now re-routing Strategy’s dividend payouts through multiple blockchain protocols to manufacture yields of double, triple, or more what STRC actually pays.
They add future obligations in exchange for near-term payouts, take advantage of temporary incentives for obscure DeFi protocols, and add exotic forms of leverage to amplify the notional exposure of an otherwise small investment.
In the curious underworld of tokenized STRC, there are at least five protocols offering the financial machinery for DeFi yield farmers, not to mention the risks of the custodians and technology providers involved with these protocols.
A daisy-chain of DeFi risks to amplify STRC
Apyx wraps roughly $136 million of STRC into a synthetic stablecoin-like token called apxUSD. Saturn packages approximately $85 million worth of STRC into its USDat product. Another tokenization protocol xStocks put approximately $53 million worth of STRC on-chain.
Meanwhile, Pendle Finance splits these STRC tokens and the dividends paid to STRC stockholders into separately tradable, fixed-rate and floating-rate components, and Morpho provides the loan-looping mechanism at the end to add even more financial leverage on these instruments.
Depositing assets to borrow these tokens, which trade under a variety of ticker symbols like STRCx, apyUSD, apxUSD, USADT, sUSADT, strcUSX, traders borrow tokens, re-deposit some portion of those loan proceeds to take out more loans, re-deposit some portion of those loan proceeds to take out more loans, and so on.
The more loops and the smaller the range of prices that a user collateralizes, the higher the probability that the protocol will forcibly liquidate the position.
Irresponsible dividends, amplified
The base yield of STRC with no tokenization whatsoever is already extreme. STRC pays 11.50% annualized, roughly 450 basis points above the average junk bond.
Indeed, Strategy has hiked its dividend rate seven times since launching STRC at 9% in July 2025.
Each hike tacitly admitted that demand at the prior rate was too weak to hold up STRC’s secondary trading on Nasdaq at its intended $100 per share.
Read more: We calculated the present value of STRC — it’s bad for MSTR
Rather than ease up on leverage in light of the thinning air, DeFi’s response has been to treat 11.5% as a stable case on which to construct even higher artifices.
Apyx Finance closed a $300 million valuation round in February as a self-described dividend-backed stablecoin protocol.
It issues apxUSD backed by STRC and a related preferred like Strive’s STRC-like SATA, with apyUSD as the yield-bearing version of the same claim. Saturn Credit raised $800,000 from Sora Ventures and Changpeng Zhao’s YZi Labs in January to run the same play through USDat and sUSDat.
Both of these STRC tokenizers wrap their resulting tokens into Pendle, where PT-apyUSD locks in fixed yields of roughly 14.84%.
Users then deposit those PT tokens on Defi protocol Morpho as collateral to borrow USDC at rates as low as 1.59%.
The arithmetic isn’t subtle. A 5x leverage loop landed on a 64% APY. A separate analyst account documented 39% APY.
Hoping and praying STRC never de-pegs for long
On April 14, STRC was approaching its monthly dividend snapshot date, going “ex-dividend” in the parlance of Wall Street, causing its price to decline. That sag dragged sUSDat’s exchange rate below the high-water mark Pendle uses to govern yield accrual for the Saturn token.
Pendle had to explain this basis phenomenon to its users. “Yield accrual on YT-sUSDat is currently paused due to STRC’s ex-dividend event on 14 April, which pushed the exchange rate below the watermark,” it said.
It reassured holders that “If STRC recovers to $100, the watermark is recaptured, yield accrual resumes, and your total earnings will be ultimately unaffected.”
As always, the conditional “if” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Indeed, if STRC trades near $100 and pays dividends near 11.5% forever, everything will work out wonderfully.
In fact, STRC fell to $90.52 on November 21, 2025, and to $93.10 in February 2026. That’s why the dividend rate is where it is. It shouldn’t be a mystery as to why Strategy needs to pay such as higher dividend rate.
Unfortunately for STRC traders in DeFi, neither is guaranteed. The quasi-peg has already failed twice in the last six months. Moreover, Strategy’s board of directors can cut the dividend at its discretion.
DeFi traders are also exposed to countless numbers of protocol, blockchain, smart contract, and custodian risks that multiply these risks even higher.
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Bitcoin pushed above $78,000, lifting the broader crypto market. The move came as risk sentiment improved after U.S. President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran. Stock index futures also gained.
The cryptocurrency’s ascent ended the weeks of choppy trading between $65,000 and $75,000 that defined March and early April, finally giving momentum traders the green signal they had been waiting for.
Momentum traders buy when they see proof that an upward trend is underway. Bitcoin’s breakout is exactly that, and more buyers could pile in as a result, adding to the momentum. As the first law of motion says: An object in motion stays in motion until an outside force acts upon it, though Sir Isaac Newton may not have been thinking of financial markets at the time.
“The market spent months capped in the 65 to 75 box. Breaking out of that kind of range matters because it changes behavior. Sellers who were comfortable fading rallies above 74 now have to reassess. Momentum buyers who were waiting for confirmation finally have something to lean on,” analysts at Marex said.
Onchain indicators suggest the same. For instance, the number of coins held in wallets tied to centralized exchanges has dropped to a fresh multiyear low of 2.67 millon BTC, according to data source CryptoQuant. It points to continued investor accumulation, which could culminate in a supply shock.
“Bitcoin supply on exchanges continues to shrink, with fewer coins available to sell, more BTC moving to long-term holders, and liquidity tightening. Bitcoin is becoming increasingly scarce – supply down means volatility up,” Delta Exchange said on X.
Still, QCP Capital is urging caution, noting the persistent relative richness of bitcoin put options on Deribit. Puts are used as a hedge against potential price drops in the underlying asset. It added that crypto trends currently seem tied to the price of oil and the interest-rate outlook.
“The path forward remains anchored to oil and policy. A move lower in crude or clearer Fed signaling would support risk. Absent that, markets are likely to remain in a holding pattern, pricing uncertainty rather than resolution,” the Singapore-based firm said in a market update.
In traditional markets, WTI crude futures are trading around $90, having bounced from a low of $78 on Friday.
In the broader market, DeFi security risks remain an issue as hacks proliferate. Early today, the Sui-based Volo protocol was drained of over $3 million just days after the KelpDAO event that caused collateral damage across the sector. Stay alert!
Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”
What’s trending
This is an excerpt from CoinDesk newsletter ‘Daybook.’ Sign up here, if you haven’t already.
Today’s signal
The chart shows bitcoin’s daily price movements in candlestick format, with lines indicating the 100-day and 200-day average prices.
BTC’s price has established a firm foothold above the 100-day average, represented by the white line. This is pivotal because the 100-day average capped the bounce in January, following which sellers re-established control, leading to a deeper crash to nearly $60,000.
Now the price has pierced through, which typically signals a strengthening of bullish momentum, focus shifts to the 200-day average, currently positioned at $85,900.
Crypto World
WOJAK Crypto Meme Coin Pumps 87% as MAXI Targets $5M: Analyst Calls Most Obvious Trade of 2026
WOJAK crypto is moving again, and the meme coin faithful are paying attention. The original despair-fueled token surged as much as 87% in a 24-hour window, reigniting a sector that many had written off after months of sideways consolidation.
Whether this leg holds or fades fast is the question every trader is asking right now.
The rally appears supply-driven. On-chain data tracked by MEXC shows aggressive accumulation alongside a tightening circulating supply, with whale wallets absorbing selling pressure at key floor levels.
Volume spiked into the move, a distinction that separates genuine breakouts from low-liquidity noise. One chart making rounds on Crypto Twitter shows WOJAK printing its highest weekly close since its 2023 peak. That kind of structure demands a closer look.
The broader ETH memecoin sector is catching a bid at the same time, suggesting this isn’t an isolated pump. Ethereum-based meme tokens are drawing renewed capital as gas conditions improve and risk appetite expands, a context that matters when sizing any position here.
Can WOJAK Crypto Price Sustain Its Breakout or Is a Reversal Imminent?
WOJAK crypto is currently priced at approximately $0.0₆1021, sitting on a market cap of roughly $41.5M after the multi-day surge. That’s a meaningful number, small enough to move fast, large enough to attract institutional-grade meme traders who track this tier specifically.
The move here is not just a one-candle spike; it looks like sustained buying over a short window, with volume well above average, which usually signals real interest rather than a quick pump.
The structure is pretty clean when viewed in market-cap terms. Right now, the key resistance sits around $50M, and that is the level that decides whether this continues or stalls.
If it breaks above $50M with volume holding, that is where momentum can expand fast and open the path toward $100M as the next target, especially with traders chasing strength.
If it gets rejected there, the more realistic outcome is a cooldown, with price settling and accumulating around the $30M area while the market digests the move.
The risk is that it starts losing structure rather than consolidating, because once distribution kicks in, these moves unwind quickly.
And at this size, the further it runs without a reset, the worse the risk-reward gets, so anyone entering now is chasing momentum, not early positioning.
Maxi Doge Presale Nears $5M as WOJAK Traders Hunt Earlier-Stage Upside
WOJAK’s surge is validating the meme coin thesis — but at $21.5M market cap and already up 187%, the easy money has cleared the table (that’s just math). Traders who want the next WOJAK-style move, not the current one, are looking earlier in the funnel.
Maxi Doge ($MAXI) is currently the presale generating the most discussion in that context. Built on Ethereum as an ERC-20, the project has raised $4,748,137.43 at a current price of $0.0002814 — closing in hard on the $5M milestone.
The concept is built around a 240-lb canine juggernaut embodying a 1000x leverage trading mentality: gym-bro energy meets aggressive market culture, packaged into holder-only trading competitions with leaderboard rewards and a Maxi Fund treasury backing liquidity and partnerships.
Recent coverage confirms the presale’s momentum toward that $5M threshold. Dynamic staking APY is live for current holders. The tagline, never skip leg-day, never skip a pump, is aggressively on-brand for the audience it’s targeting.
Presales carry real risk: no secondary market liquidity until launch, and meme projects live or die on community velocity. Do the work. But for traders who missed WOJAK’s entry, Maxi Doge is worth researching before that $5M milestone closes the current tier.
The post WOJAK Crypto Meme Coin Pumps 87% as MAXI Targets $5M: Analyst Calls Most Obvious Trade of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.
Bitcoin (BTC) price metrics are showing relief this month, but the risk of repeating the 2022 bear market remains.
Key points:
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Bitcoin’s Bull Score Index combined price metric reaches its highest levels since October last year.
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The relief may be short-lived, analysis warns, pointing to the 2022 bear market.
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Crypto sentiment reaches its most bullish since January, per the Crypto Fear & Greed Index.
Bitcoin Bull Score Index ditches “bearish” zone
New data from onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant place the spotlight on the Bitcoin Bull Score Index (BSI).
Bitcoin has finally entered “neutral” territory with its push to $78,000, the latest BSI data confirms, with the Index climbing to its highest since October 2025.
BSI incorporates nine price metrics to give an overall impression of performance. Since the bear market began, it has been sharply bearish — just as in the early stages of the previous bear market four years ago.
“First time in this bear market that the Bull Score Index enters neutral zone (50),” CryptoQuant contributor Julio Moreno noted in an X post on Wednesday.
Moreno cautioned that despite the pressure being off for now, BSI also had a brief cooling-off period before the 2022 bear market continued.
“In March 2022, the Bull Score entered neutral territory for about a week, and then the price resumed its decline,” he added.
Should history repeat, attention will be on the Index’s performance into the April monthly close, as BTC/USD attempts to break out of a multi-month range.
Examining BSI readings last week, with price around $74,000, CryptoQuant contributor Arab Chain described a “balance between supply and demand forces.”
“On the other hand, the current BSI reading shows that the market is still far from the area of strong optimism (above 60), which typically indicates strong bullish conditions, while also remaining above the zone of extreme pessimism (clearly below 40),” they wrote in a “QuickTake” blog post.
“This places the market in a transitional phase, as investors await new catalysts to determine the next direction.”
Sentiment edges to most bullish since January
Other signs of a broader market recovery come from crypto trader sentiment.
Related: BTC price due new highs: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week
🚨 UPDATE: Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 32 (Fear) today, a notable recovery from Extreme Fear at 23 last week. pic.twitter.com/lmjfjh0Ui3
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 22, 2026
According to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a classic lagging indicator that uses a basket of factors to reflect the mood among investors, conditions are at their least negative since mid-January.
Fear & Greed measured 32/100 on Wednesday — still within its “fear” zone while like BSI also approaching the “neutral” bracket.
The Index value has nearly tripled in a little over a week.
This article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investments and trades carry risk; readers are encouraged to conduct independent research before making any decisions. Cointelegraph makes no guarantees regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information presented, including forward-looking statements, and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this content.
Stablecoin Dispute Blocks Legislative Progress
The CLARITY Act remains stalled in the Senate Banking Committee despite earlier bipartisan support. The bill passed the House in July 2025 with a 294–134 vote, signaling strong initial backing. However, disagreements over stablecoin yields have created a major obstacle.
Banks argue that allowing crypto platforms to offer yield-like rewards could trigger deposit outflows. They warn that reduced deposits may weaken lending capacity. Crypto firms, on the other hand, maintain that stablecoin rewards support their revenue models and user growth. This conflict has prevented consensus, as both sides continue to resist compromise.
The dispute reflects broader tensions between traditional finance and digital asset platforms. Lawmakers must balance financial stability concerns with innovation demands. Without agreement on this issue, the bill cannot advance to the next stage.
Industry Pushback and Senate Delays
Momentum weakened further in January 2026 when Brian Armstrong withdrew support for the Senate draft. He criticized provisions affecting stablecoin rewards and other industry concerns. Shortly after his statement, the Senate Banking Committee postponed its markup vote indefinitely.
This decision disrupted the legislative timeline and delayed progress by several months. The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its portion of the bill in January, yet the Banking Committee has not scheduled a new markup date. Ongoing negotiations continue, but lawmakers have not finalized key provisions.
The absence of a scheduled vote keeps the bill in legislative limbo. Each delay reduces the likelihood of timely passage. Industry divisions also complicate negotiations, as stakeholders push for favorable terms.
Time Pressure and External Priorities
The legislative calendar now poses a serious challenge. Lawmakers must move the bill through committees, secure Senate approval, and reconcile it with the House version. These steps require time and coordination.
However, attention is shifting toward the 2026 United States midterm elections. As election season approaches, legislative priorities often change. If the Senate does not act soon, the bill may face further delays or lose momentum entirely.
At the same time, geopolitical tensions, including issues involving Iran, have redirected focus toward national security matters. This shift reduces the time available for financial legislation.
The CLARITY Act now faces overlapping challenges. Policy disagreements, industry resistance, and limited legislative time continue to slow its progress.
Crypto World
BTC price stalls at $78,000 as traders brace for liquidation-driven breakout: Crypto Markets Today
The crypto market is on the brink of a major breakout with bitcoin trading at $78,000, the level it failed to breach on Friday and a price it has not topped since January.
A break above this level would trigger upside momentum to $80,000 as $180 million worth of futures positions are due to be liquidated between $77,000 and $78,000, according to CoinGlass’ liquidation heatmap.
However, there is also a $71 million long position that will be liquidated if the price fails to gain and descends back below $77,300, creating a defensive trading environment on both sides.
The market is higher after U.S. President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire in Iran, saying that country’s government was “seriously fractured.”
Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures rose by 0.77% and 0.6%, respectively, since midnight UTC following the announcement, suggesting improving broader market sentiment.
Derivatives positioning
- BTC’s breakout to $78,000 caught the bears off guard, leading to $286 million in marketwide short liquidations on derivative exchanges. Longs, or bullish plays, suffered liquidations of just $132 million.
- Still, overall crypto futures open interest (OI) has increased by over 4% to $126 billion in 24 hours. Notably, OI grew across the major tokens, including bitcoin and ether (ETH), outpacing spot price gains, indicating renewed capital inflows and rising demand for leverage.
- Funding rates have flipped positive for most tokens, including BTC, indicating a renewed bias for bullish bets. The 24-hour cumulative volume delta also paints the same picture.
- M token stands out with annualized funding rates above 200%, signaling an overheated market crowded with bullish bets. Meanwhile, the HYPE and XML markets show a bias toward bearish short plays.
- Broadly speaking, crypto futures activity suggests scope for further market gains. Also supporting the bull case are bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indices, which remain under pressure, pointing to market calm.
- On Deribit, bitcoin and ether risk reversals continue to print negative values across all time frames. That’s a sign of the richness of protective put options relative to calls.
- Block flows featured investor bias for call ratio spreads, a strategy used by traders to profit from a moderately bullish, sideways or slightly rising market. Traders also chased bitcoin and ether straddles, a volatility strategy.
Token talk
- The altcoin market was also in a buoyant mood on Wednesday, with all major CoinDesk indexes posting gains of at least 1.5% since midnight UTC.
- The CoinDesk MemeCoin Index (CDMEME) was the top performer, rising 3.4%, with one person turning $575 into more than $1 million on recently released token ASTEROID.
- Popular memecoins TRUMP and DOGE added 6% and 3.8%, respectively, reflecting broader optimism across the sector.
- There was also a boost in privacy coins DASH and XMR, both of which gained 6%-7% over the past 24 hours before tailing off slightly since midnight.
- CoinDesk’s overnight rate (CDOR) for USDC rose to the highest level since 2024, hitting 15%. CDOR measures stablecoin lending & borrowing activity on the Aave platform, which spiked following the weekend’s $290 million exploit on KelpDAO. A high interest rate reflects high demand.
Crypto security programs are rethinking vulnerability disclosure as AI tools flood bug bounty submissions across the industry. While bug bounties reward researchers for responsibly flagging flaws, the surge in AI-assisted reports is both an aid and a challenge—helping teams comb through code faster, but also increasing false positives and noise.
Industry voices say AI-assisted analysis is changing how programs must triage and verify findings, a shift with potential implications for developers, operators, and users of decentralized protocols.
Key takeaways
- AI-enabled tooling is accelerating bug-bounty submissions, expanding both legitimate reports and noise that security teams must sort through.
- Cosmos Labs reports a roughly 900% jump in submission volume, translating to about 20–50 reports per day and a mix of valid findings and false positives.
- Leading researchers note rising low-quality submissions and AI-sourced noise, prompting calls for smarter triage and stricter reporting standards.
- Industry data from HackerOne indicates 85,000 valid bounty submissions in 2025, up 7% from 2024, underscoring growing engagement in bug bounty programs.
AI-driven flood tests bug bounty programs
Co-CEO Barry Plunkett of Cosmos Labs described a dramatic change in how bug bounty programs operate. “Our program has seen a 900% increase in submission volume from last year, on the order of 20–50 per day,” he said, noting that the influx encompasses both credible vulnerability reports and a significant amount of noise. The volume surge has pushed teams to deploy more stringent triage and verification workflows to separate real threats from false alarms.
Across other organizations, developers have reported a similar pattern. Kadan Stadelmann, CTO at Komodo Platform, told Cointelegraph that bug bounty submissions and payouts have risen notably, with a noticeable uptick in low-quality reports and false positives. He suggested that AI-driven tooling may be lowering the cost of producing vulnerability submissions, thereby fueling the higher throughput.
The phenomenon isn’t isolated to crypto software. In January, Daniel Stenberg, the creator of curl—a widely used open-source tool responsible for data transfers in many blockchain infrastructures—announced he would end his personal bug bounty program due to an overwhelming tide of “AI slop in vulnerability reports,” making it exhausting to sift through submissions.
HackerOne, one of the largest bug bounty platforms, also highlighted the broader trend, reporting that 85,000 valid bounty submissions were filed in 2025, up 7% from the previous year. The data underscores how AI-enabled automation is reshaping the volume and pace at which researchers engage with security programs.
AI could be both the cause and the solution
Cosmos Labs has begun adapting in response to the surge by tightening its scoring framework and prioritizing trusted researchers with proven track records. Plunkett said the team is collaborating with other bug bounty providers that offer more advanced triage capabilities, aiming to separate signal from noise more efficiently as volumes rise.
Stadelmann similarly underscored the potential of defensive AI to help teams withstand the deluge. “Blockchain teams will have to create AI deterrents to sift through incoming bug bounties. The smaller the team, the bigger the problem of increased bug bounties will become. Software engineers won’t have the capacity to examine everything,” he cautioned. A defensive AI approach could automatically filter and rank reports, reducing the burden on human reviewers.
“This is where defensive AI systems to automatically sift through incoming bug bounties will be crucial. Teams dependent on bug bounties will need to develop stricter standards on their bug bounty programs as a means of lowering the number of incoming reports.”
Taken together, the episode highlights a central tension in bug bounty ecosystems: AI can amplify vigilance by widening the net for vulnerability discovery, but it can also swamp teams with untenable volumes of reports. The path forward appears to hinge on smarter triage tools, more rigorous reporter verification, and standardized quality controls across platforms.
What this means for developers and ecosystems
Bug bounty programs have long been a cornerstone of security for decentralized networks, offering a carrot for researchers to disclose flaws before attackers can exploit them. The current spike in AI-assisted submissions tests the sustainability of those programs, especially for teams with limited security staff. The emerging consensus among practitioners is that AI will be a necessary ally, but only if paired with robust triage protocols and tighter verification standards.
For builders and operators, the development suggests several practical shifts: invest in AI-enabled triage that can coarsely filter reports, cultivate a trusted researcher network to fast-track credible findings, and align with bounty providers that offer deeper automated review capabilities. These moves can help ensure that the bounty ecosystem remains a reliable line of defense rather than a flood of trivial or erroneous submissions.
As the industry experiments with stronger screening and smarter automation, observers will want to watch for how quickly bug bounty platforms roll out standardized quality controls and how crypto projects adapt incentive structures to maintain high signal-to-noise ratios. The degree to which smaller teams can implement effective defensive AI and whether regulators begin to steer disclosure practices will shape the resilience of crypto security in the near term.
Readers should stay tuned for updates on AI-driven triage innovations, platform policy changes, and real-world outcomes from ongoing vulnerability disclosures across leading DeFi and non-DeFi protocols.
Looking ahead, the balance between rapid vulnerability discovery and manageable review workloads will determine how bug bounty programs influence security in an increasingly automated landscape. The next few quarters could define whether AI remains a force multiplier for defense or becomes a bottleneck that teams must outpace with smarter tooling and stricter reporting standards.
Ethereum price is about to breach $2,400 as an institutional prediction lands with unusual force this week. Etherealize, an institutional Ethereum advocacy group, published a revised long-term price target of $250,000 per ETH, arguing the network is positioned to absorb the combined $31.1 trillion market premium currently held by gold and Bitcoin.
100X move from current levels sounds crazy, but Fundstrat’s Tom Lee independently echoed the same $250,000 “supercycle” figure, citing accelerating institutional accumulation. The thesis: Ethereum’s proof-of-stake yield model and role as DeFi’s primary settlement layer give it structural advantages neither gold nor Bitcoin can replicate.
Short-term technicals, however, tell a complicated story, a gap between macro vision and current price action.
Discover: The best pre-launch token sales
Forget The $250K Ethereum Price Prediction: Can Ethereum Break $2,600
ETH sits just under $2,400, between two forces pulling in opposite directions. The funding rate has turned negative at -0.0033%, a signal that traders are leaning short.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index reads 32, firmly in fear territory, though getting better than the last 30 days. Bitcoin dominance has climbed back above 60%, compressing altcoin liquidity across the board and creating a supply-demand stagnation that makes clean breakouts difficult to sustain.
The immediate battleground is the $2,200 support level now. Hold it, and a breakout toward $2,500 becomesan easy target. Clear that resistance convincingly, and the next logical destination is $2,800 as a level that, if reclaimed and consolidated, would technically confirm a shift toward a macro-level uptrend.
However, if support at $2,200 breaks. The next meaningful floor appears at $2,000, with a structural correction potentially extending to $1,900 as a consolidation zone. Risk management is not optional here.
The Etherealize report offers no timeline on the $250,000 target, so it’s a price destination, not a trade. What it does provide is a structural argument: 121 million circulating ETH capturing even a fraction of gold’s store-of-value premium implies a repricing event that would dwarf any previous crypto cycle.
Institutional buyers are already moving with BitMine Immersion Technologies, which purchased 32,977 ETH ($104 million) last week alone, bringing its holdings to 4.14 million ETH, or 3.4% of total supply. Conviction capital.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
LiquidChain with Big Upside Potential Bridging ETH, SOL, and BTC
Even if the $250,000 thesis is correct for ETH, getting there from $2,300 requires holding through multi-year drawdowns, regulatory headwinds, and multiple altcoin winters.
Ethereum’s institutional narrative is strengthening, but the asymmetric upside that defined early ETH buyers no longer exists, not without big capital. That’s where early-stage infrastructure plays enter the picture.
LiquidChain ($LIQUID) is a Layer 3 infrastructure project built around a specific and underserved problem: fragmented liquidity across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Its Unified Liquidity Layer fuses BTC, ETH, and SOL ecosystems into a single execution environment.
The LiquidChain library is home to the entire foundation of the LiquidChain L3. — LiquidChain (@getliquidchain) April 22, 2026
Knowledge this powerful needs to be under lock and key 
https://t.co/vqvBcdSQYC pic.twitter.com/YHwkivyZcC
With Liquid, developers only need to deploy once and access all three networks simultaneously. Single-Step Execution and Verifiable Settlement are the architectural pillars.
The presale has raised somewhere close to $700K, with $LIQUID currently priced at $0.01452. That’s a early-stage entry point on infrastructure that sits directly beneath the kind of cross-chain capital flows an Ethereum supercycle would generate.
Research LiquidChain thoroughly before the next priceincrease.
The post Ethereum Price Prediction: $250,000 per ETH as Global Finance Backbone appeared first on Cryptonews.
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