Crypto World
Bitcoin Eyes Key Weekly Close After Failing to Revisit $80K
Bitcoin (BTC) eased from a brief run of near three-month highs on Thursday as traders shifted focus to the weekly close and the broader macro backdrop. After punching higher earlier in the week, the flagship crypto retraced toward the mid-to-upper $70,000s, with the market eyeing whether the next weekly candle can sustain the ascent or mark a pause before the next leg.
Trading data pointed to BTC/USD hovering around $77,200 ahead of the U.S. session, following a surge to around $79,500 the day prior. The $80,000 level remained a stubborn hurdle, keeping a decisive breakout out of reach for now. In this context, the weekly close looms large, serving as a potential referendum on whether the rally has enough momentum to break into a new phase or whether liquidity needs another catalyst before meaningful upside ensues.
Key takeaways
- BTC/USD retraced after trading near multi-month highs, slipping to about $77,200 before the New York open, with intraday peaks around $79,500 and a stubborn barrier near $80,000.
- The weekly candle close takes on heightened importance as traders gauge whether upside momentum can be sustained beyond a short-term liquidity pullback.
- The bull market support band—defined by the 21-week EMA and the 20-week SMA—has re-emerged as a focal point after a six-month absence from strong support, with traders watching for a sustained move back above this zone.
- Macro drivers remain in focus, with the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision and oil prices cited as key catalysts. CME’s FedWatch Tool points to a very low probability of an imminent policy change, while oil’s trajectory could influence inflation expectations and risk appetite.
Reasserting the bull market band: a technical crosshair reappears
Market technicians highlighted the return of Bitcoin’s bull market support band, a price corridor formed by the 21-week exponential moving average and the 20-week simple moving average. This band previously provided a cushion for Bitcoin during prior upswings but fell away as the market challenged new highs earlier this year. In the latest cycle, observers noted that BTC has again flirted with reclaiming the band, signaling a potential shift in the longer-term technical landscape.
“Bitcoin is attempting to break back above the bull market support band,” commented a trader tracking the charts. The focus now shifts to the weekly close, with several analysts noting that Bitcoin has not traded above this band since October 2025. A sustained move above the band could be interpreted as renewed demand and a possible confirmation of a broader uptrend, while a failure to hold could invite renewed caution among risk markets.
In this context, sentiment hinges on how the weekly candle closes, rather than a single daily print. The pattern underscores the ongoing tension between near-term price action and longer-term structural levels that have historically helped define the market’s trajectory.
Macro catalysts in view: policy, oil, and the path ahead
The immediate calendar offers limited volatility from macro headlines, but the coming week is expected to bring a fresh wave of U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s policy decision. Market participants have largely priced in a steady stance from the Fed, with tools tracking percentage chances of a rate move pointing to a negligible probability of policy change at the next meeting.
As noted by market observers, the “oil and policy” dynamic remains a principal driver. Oil’s trajectory—whether it remains below a critical threshold or breaches higher—can influence both inflation expectations and the risk appetite across asset classes, including crypto. A vendor note from QCP Capital summed up the sentiment: “The cleanest tells from here are still oil and policy. Oil below $100 would support the relief case, while clearer Fed signalling would help compress the policy premium.”
Meanwhile, traders and analysts continue to weigh the persistence of macro headwinds against the potential for a softer inflation backdrop to unlock policy accommodation later in the cycle. The balance between geopolitical risk, energy prices, and macro cooling will likely shape BTC’s trajectory in the weeks ahead.
What this means for traders and investors
For market participants, the key takeaway is the careful watch on the weekly close as a potential inflection point. If Bitcoin can sustain above the bull market band and close the week with strength, it could lay the groundwork for renewed upside momentum. Conversely, a rejection at these levels or a downside break could signal renewed consolidation risk or a retest of nearby support zones.
From a risk-management perspective, the coming data prints and the Fed’s stance will be critical. A clear shift in policy expectations or a decisive signal on inflation could recalibrate risk premia across markets, including crypto, potentially amplifying volatility around price levels that have historically been pivotal for trend direction.
Investors should also monitor liquidity dynamics around major milestones. As traders have observed in prior cycles, price moves that “take out highs” without immediate follow-through may indicate liquidity is being reallocated toward larger positions, which could translate into sharper moves once buyers decide to step in. In this context, the next weekly close and the alignment (or misalignment) with the bull market band will be important barometers of where Bitcoin’s trend stands as the market navigates a still-uncertain macro environment.
This article is provided in accordance with editorial guidelines and is intended for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consider their risk tolerance before engaging in crypto markets.
Looking ahead, market watchers will be keen to see whether the weekly close confirms the reestablishment of the bull market band as a structural support zone and how the macro backdrop evolves with Fed expectations and energy prices. The coming days should offer clearer signals on Bitcoin’s longer-term direction as traders weigh technical signals against the evolving macro narrative.
Crypto World
NYC Mayor Mamdani knocked Ken Griffin in pied-a-terre tax promo. His firm calls the move ‘shameful’
Citadel CEO Ken Griffin speaks during the Semafor World Economy Summit 2025 at Conrad Washington on April 23, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kayla Bartkowski | Getty Images
Citadel rebuked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani for singling out Chief Executive Officer Ken Griffin in a push for a new pied-à-terre tax, escalating a public dispute over how aggressively New York should target wealthy non-resident homeowners.
In a social media video filmed outside Griffin’s residence at 220 Central Park South and timed to tax day, Mamdani unveiled a proposed levy that would impose an annual surcharge on one- to three-family homes, condominiums and co-ops valued above $5 million when the owner’s primary residence is outside New York City.
Citadel denounced the mayor’s move with Chief Operating Officer Gerald Beeson saying in an internal memo obtained by CNBC that targeting Griffin showed “ignorance and disdain” toward contributors to the city’s economy.
“It is shameful that he used Ken’s name as the example of those who supposedly aren’t carrying their fair share of the burdens associated with New York City’s often costly and wasteful spending,” Beeson wrote. “In doing so, the mayor has once again manifested the ignorance and disdain of the elite political class towards those who have been consistently committed to building one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Beeson said Citadel’s principals and employees — including non-residents — have paid nearly $2.3 billion in New York city and state taxes over the past five years. He also pointed to the firm’s planned redevelopment of 350 Park Avenue, a project expected to generate about 6,000 construction jobs and more than 15,000 permanent roles, with spending projected to exceed $6 billion.
Griffin moved Citadel headquarters from Chicago to Miami in 2022 and he has made Florida his primary residence.
The memo also highlighted that nearly 200 Citadel employees serve on boards of New York charitable institutions, while Griffin himself has directed roughly $650 million in philanthropic donations to the city.
“We understand that our hard work and success will, on occasion, make us targets for political rhetoric. But it should not diminish the pride we take in building firms that will continue to help New York City thrive for decades ahead,” Beeson wrote.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the memo earlier Thursday.
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Lido is the first service provider to publicly announce its participation in the relief fund via a governance proposal requesting up to 2,500 stETH.
Aave is rallying the DeFi ecosystem under a coordinated effort it’s calling “DeFi United” to help make users whole after the April 18 Kelp bridge exploit left rsETH — a liquid restaking token — underbacked, putting funds at risk across multiple lending markets.
Aave announced on X today, April 23, that “multiple strong indicative commitments are now in place” to join the recovery effort, with Lido Finance named as the first public participant.
The announcement came just after Lido contributors submitted a governance proposal to contribute up to 2,500 Lido Staked Ether (STETH), worth appoximately $5.7 million, to the dedicated relief fund “to be used solely to reduce the rsETH deficit.”
Per Lido’s proposal, the total deficit exceeds 100,000 ETH, and both Aave and Lido noted that there are already indicative commitments from other service providers for the fund.
Without full coverage, Lido warns that EarnETH vault depositors could face losses of up to approximately 9,000 ETH.
Earlier today, Aave also announced on X that it had paused rsETH reserves across Ethereum Core, Arbitrum, Base, Mantle, and Linea to support recovery efforts.
Aave said in its X post that further commitments will be announced as they are formalized.
This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.
Pi Network has introduced PiRC1, a new token issuance framework launched under Protocol 22 on April 22, that bars projects from issuing tokens unless they can first demonstrate a functioning application with real user demand, a direct attempt to filter out speculation-driven launches from the ecosystem.
Summary
- Pi Network launched PiRC1 on April 22 under Protocol V22, requiring any project seeking to issue ecosystem tokens to demonstrate a real, functioning application with genuine user demand before launch.
- Token proceeds under PiRC1 are routed to permanent liquidity pools rather than directly to project teams, adding a structural safeguard against misuse of raised funds.
- The framework arrives alongside an April 27 node upgrade deadline for Protocol 22, with full smart contract functionality expected to follow under Protocol 23 in May.
Pi Network launched PiRC1, its Token Design Framework, on April 22 as part of the Protocol V22 upgrade. As HOKANEWS.COM reported, the core principle of PiRC1 is straightforward: only applications that demonstrate genuine use cases and tangible user demand within the Pi ecosystem will be eligible to participate in token issuance. The framework is designed to address one of the crypto industry’s most persistent problems, the proliferation of low-value tokens created primarily as speculative instruments rather than functional components of a real digital economy.
Pi Network PiRC1 Token Issuance Framework Sets a New Standard for Ecosystem Projects
Under PiRC1, no project can launch a token without first having a working application. Token proceeds do not go directly to project teams but are instead routed into permanent liquidity pools, anchored to Pi Coin as the ecosystem’s foundational currency. This design separates fundraising from direct project control, introducing a structural safeguard that prevents teams from pulling liquidity after launch, a pattern that has caused widespread losses across Web3. Pi’s network of KYC-verified users adds an additional accountability layer, since developers and users operate under verified identities rather than anonymously. As crypto.news reported, PiRC1 was released alongside a new PiRC2 document opening the subscription smart contract model to technical review and community feedback. PI traded at approximately $0.1687 as of April 23, with a $1.73 billion market cap and a 24-hour volume of $11.17 million.
How PiRC1 Fits the Broader Protocol Upgrade Roadmap
PiRC1 was introduced under Protocol V22 as a direct follow-on to the V21 and V21.2 network upgrades that strengthened Pi’s infrastructure and prepared it for smart contract readiness. Protocol 22 also carries an urgent node deadline: as crypto.news tracked, Mainnet node operators must upgrade to Protocol 22 by April 27 to remain connected to the network. The next major milestone is Protocol 23, expected in May 2026, which will introduce full smart contract functionality for developers. Together, the PiRC1 token framework and Protocol 23 smart contract tools represent what Pi Network is framing as the transition from a mining-focused network to a structured Web3 ecosystem capable of supporting real commercial applications.
What PiRC1 Means for PI’s Market Position
Pi co-founder Chengdiao Fan first introduced PiRC1 as a proposal in late February, emphasizing that tokens should function as tools within applications rather than as stand-alone financial instruments. The framework’s open review period on GitHub and Google Forms gave the developer community a chance to shape the final design before it launched. As crypto.news documented, PI’s market trajectory in 2026 has been heavily dependent on whether the network’s technical milestones translate into actual on-chain usage. Each prior roadmap release has been treated largely as a sell-the-news event by the market. Whether PiRC1 changes that dynamic will depend on how many developers build functioning applications under the framework and how quickly user engagement on those apps becomes measurable.
Pi Network said it plans to continue expanding the PiRC1 framework with feedback from its developer community, and has flagged Protocol 23 smart contract support as the next major technical deliverable expected in May.
One AI stock reports earnings on May 4, three weeks before Nvidia prints, and the technical setup is the most oversold it has looked in a year.
Palantir (PLTR) closed above $143 on April 23, down about 30% from its November peak and roughly 15% year-to-date. The stock has been stuck inside a falling channel since early November, rejected at every bounce. But under the surface, the signals are flipping.
A bullish divergence has played out, institutional money has turned positive, and options traders are quietly setting up for a squeeze. Here is why the May 4 print matters more than Nvidia’s, and where the price has to go.
Palantir Shares are Deeply Oversold
The calendar is the first edge. Palantir (PLTR) reports Q1 2026 earnings on Monday, May 4, 2026, after the close. Nvidia (NVDA) does not report until late May.
That three-week gap makes Palantir the first major enterprise AI stock to print earnings this season. Whatever number it delivers sets the tone that carries into Nvidia’s report. It also shapes how the entire AI trade is priced through mid-May.
The setup is oversold. PLTR is down 30% from its November high and still stuck inside a falling channel on the daily chart. Part of that pressure stems from investor Michael Burry’s April 9 post, in which he claimed AI startup Anthropic was “eating Palantir’s lunch,” citing its surge from $9 billion to roughly $30 billion in annual recurring revenue.
Shares dropped as much as 7% that day. But the Anthropic scare is now priced in, and the bigger picture has not changed.
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Wall Street has not blinked. Morgan Stanley analyst Sanjit Singh flagged on April 16 that this AI stock could “modestly accelerate growth and raise its full-year guidance” on the May 4 call.
In plain terms, that means posting numbers better than promised AND raising the forecast for the rest of the year, the combination investors reward most.
They are pricing a re-rating that a clean May 4 print would unlock. That oversold price, combined with a likely beat-and-raise, is the first half of the setup. The second half is what the chart already shows.
Chart Signals Say the PLTR’s Oversold Setup Is Turning
Nvidia looks stronger on the surface. The stock trades near $201, and its Chaikin Money Flow (CMF), an indicator of institutional money flow, is 0.30.
Palantir’s CMF just crossed back above zero at 0.04. The simple read says Nvidia has heavier buying. The deeper read says Nvidia is overheated.
Between September 5, 2025, and March 30, 2026, Nvidia’s price returned to the $164 level at both endpoints, while CMF trended lower over that span. That is a hidden weakness signal.
The April rally has shot CMF up to 0.30, but the structural picture shows NVDA running hot into its May 27 print with little room for upside surprise.
Also, between February 24 and April 10, PLTR price made a lower low while its Relative Strength Index (RSI), a momentum indicator, made a higher low. That is a standard bullish divergence, and it already played out with a rally off the April low. The moving averages amplify the signal.
PLTR’s key exponential moving averages (EMAs) are all clustered within a tight ten-dollar band above the current $143 price. EMAs are trend lines that smooth out daily noise.
When four of them compress this close together, the next clean break triggers a cascade as each line gets reclaimed in quick succession. The last time PLTR cleanly reclaimed its 20-day EMA, on March 2, the stock rallied 15.75%.
Coming back to the big money flow, between February 12 and April 10, the price trended lower while the CMF trended higher. This second bullish divergence has since triggered CMF’s cross back above the zero line.
The Options Market Could Decide the Rally
The third signal is in the options market. PLTR’s volume put-call ratio is 0.65, indicating calls are outpacing puts on a daily basis. But the open interest put-call ratio is 1.06, meaning there are still more puts than calls in standing contracts.
That gap is short-squeeze fuel. If the May 4 print delivers the beat-and-raise that consensus already expects, trapped short positioning has to cover, and the mechanical flow alone can push PLTR through the channel resistance that has capped every rally since November.
Together, multiple signals, oversold price, positive institutional flow, and short positioning primed to squeeze, converge on one level that has to break.
Break $155 to Flip the Trend, Lose $142, and the Decline Continues
The first hurdle is $155. A daily close above that level takes price through all four stacked EMAs at once, the same cascade that delivered the 15.75% rally after the March 2 reclaim. That break opens a path toward $165 and then the bigger test at $175.
The $175 level is where the setup earns its edge. It aligns with the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement and the upper trendline of the falling channel that has capped every rally since November 3. A break above $175, especially if the May 4 print delivers the beat-and-raise Morgan Stanley has flagged, clears the channel and exposes $189 and the November peak at $207 as the next upside targets.
The invalidation is clean. A daily close under $142 breaks the setup and reopens the downside. That exposes $122, the recent April low. If Palantir delivers the beat-and-raise the tape is already setting up for, the signals that have been stacking up for weeks will finally clear the resistance that has capped the stock for six months.
The post Palantir Earnings Could Ignite AI Stocks Before Nvidia appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Everyone on a liquidity route in Bitcoin’s Lightning Network wants the same rebalance of funds to happen, but none of them wants to be the first person to pay.
The tenuous impasse is a classic Mexican standoff.
When this situation occurs, Lightning node operators can neither pay nor not pay first without harming themselves, so nobody moves, and nobody wins. It has been a recurring problem for years.
After almost a decade of tools and research chasing this problem, the network’s routing nodes remain locked in a standoff that quietly erodes routing reliability of bitcoin (BTC).
The Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s largest layer 2 network with no connection to an altcoin, has a structural bias toward channel depletion.
That is, money tends to flow in one direction along channels from senders toward structural receivers, such as merchants receiving BTC who deliver goods and services to customers.
Routing nodes are left with channels that are stuffed with BTC on one side and depleted of BTC on the other. A channel that cannot send in both directions is effectively half-broken for routing purposes.
Lightning’s total capacity set a fresh all-time high of roughly 5,600 BTC in December 2025, but that surge arrived almost entirely through institutional deposits from Binance and OKX into existing channels. Year-to-date data tells a different story.
BTC capacity from December’s high above 5,600 has declined to 4,884 today, and payment channels have declined from more than 80,000 in mid-2023 to about 45,000 today, nearly halving as liquidity consolidated into lopsided channels on a shrinking graph.
The cheapest fix is the one nobody will start
René Pickhardt, one of the network’s most prolific routing researchers, wrote that most channels “are expected to be depleted over time, primarily due to selfish routing behavior within the current protocol design.”
By his accounting, any given payment link has roughly a coin-flip chance of avoiding long-term depletion.
Researchers have described the embarrassingly simple yet elusive solution.
Presenting several nodes sitting on a circular payment path connected to one another by payment channels and all lopsided in the same direction, each could push BTC around the loop and finish a complete cycle with healthier channels as a result.
Everyone would benefit if everyone cooperated at the same time.
The problem, as with every Mexican standoff, is who pays first.
Routing BTC over Lightning costs money. Whichever node kicks off the rebalance owes routing fees to every other hop on the loop. If they wait, other nodes can receive their rebalancing for free and pocket the fee.
Although every node operator on the ring would benefit most as a collective if they all pushed BTC around for a single sending plus a single receiving fee — i.e. for nearly free in net — each operator also has the rational choice to wait for someone else to send first so they can collect without sending.
Wait for someone else to move first. It is a Mexican standoff.
Read more: Why two-party Bitcoin Lightning channels keep failing
A graveyard of fixes for Lightning channel imbalances
The industry has thrown nearly a decade of engineering at channel imbalances without solving these types of standoffs.
Alex Bosworth’s submarine swaps, announced in August 2018, let operators shuffle BTC between on-chain and Lightning to reload channels.
It helped a bit, but every swap burned a real BTC transaction fee, so adoption didn’t pick up enough to solve many of the network’s recurring Mexican standoffs.
Lightning Labs packaged the idea into Loop and, later, into Lightning Pool, a non-custodial marketplace for inbound channels since at least November 2020.
Lightning Pool activity declined within roughly a year, and the product faded from the ecosystem.
Core Lightning’s Liquidity Ads, the closest protocol-native alternative, sees fulfillment that one recent analysis described as sporadic at best.
Amboss Technologies launched Magma in April 2022 to let operators buy and sell inbound liquidity peer-to-peer. Other rebalancing scripts like C-Otto’s rebalance-lnd and Bosworth’s Balance of Satoshis let operators pay themselves through loops when fees permit.
A new proposal this week aims to encourage cooperation at a protocol level.
A perennial problem with Lightning
None of those efforts have prevented standoffs from recurring.
Protos has previously documented Pickhardt’s argument that depletion is a structural property of the two-party channel itself, not an operational hiccup.
His January 2026 paper identified three possible mitigations: symmetric fees per direction, convex or tiered fees, and coordinated replenishment.
The first two require fee structures most routing nodes would reject outright. The third requires somebody to volunteer to coordinate.
Coordination is where Lightning keeps getting stuck. The protocol is supposed to work with nodes routing selfishly without trusting each other.
When channels become lopsided, however, fixing the network’s most persistent liquidity problem requires exactly the type of coordination the protocol was built to avoid.
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- XRP price held support near $1.40 and could eye a retest of $1.50.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum continued to dictate sentiment.
- Cryptocurrencies are showing upside potential despite geopolitical headwinds.
XRP is positioning for a crucial retest of the $1.50 resistance level, buoyed by broader upside signals across the cryptocurrency market.
As Bitcoin stabilizes above $78,000 and Ethereum holds near $2,300, XRP’s price around $1.40 reflects relative stability in today’s trading.
BTC and ETH holding current levels could help reinvigorate capital flows, with top altcoins likely to follow despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainties.
XRP price holds support
As noted, XRP held above key support at $1.40 on Thursday, with a slight uptick to intraday highs signaling a potential move back toward $1.50.
While prices were down about 1.8% at the time of writing, trading volume had also declined by 11%, suggesting bulls are absorbing selling pressure rather than capitulating.
XRP climbed to highs of $1.45, showing resilience as Bitcoin reclaimed $78,600 and Ethereum touched $2,350.
Cryptocurrencies have broadly held key levels despite geopolitical headwinds, including tensions in the Middle East.
“This month’s sustained rebound reflects capital inflows. If macroeconomic pressures bottom out by mid-year, Bitcoin’s bottom will also be confirmed,” analysts at Greekslive wrote on X.
On-chain data points to reduced selling pressure, with whale accumulation increasing in recent weeks. This stability suggests buyers are regrouping and could challenge overhead resistance if momentum continues.
XRP price outlook
XRP’s broader outlook remains tied to movements across risk assets, including recent outflows from crypto ETFs.
Macro factors—such as Federal Reserve hawkishness and equity market pullbacks—could amplify downside risks. If Bitcoin weakens, XRP is likely to follow.
Lingering geopolitical uncertainty, including limited progress from the US-Iran ceasefire, could further weigh on sentiment.
That said, institutional and retail interest remains supportive. Ripple’s ongoing partnerships and expansion in payments adoption continue to underpin fundamentals.
Despite delays in a spot XRP ETF launch, analysts believe Ripple could still attract sustained capital inflows.
Technical setup signals breakout potential
From a technical perspective, a potential cup-and-handle pattern is forming on the daily chart.
The “cup” base developed between $1.10 and $1.65 over the past month, with the handle consolidating in the $1.40–$1.50 range.
A decisive breakout above $1.50 could open the path toward $1.80. However, XRP has struggled to regain momentum after falling below the $2.00 level.
Failure to break resistance may see the token revisit lower support levels around $1.30 or even $1.20, last seen in early April.
Going forward, investors are likely to watch macroeconomic data and geopolitical developments closely for direction.
A negative Bitcoin funding rate and $7.5 billion in USDC reserves suggest traders may start positioning against the bearish trend. Will BTC price keep rising?
Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, California, on Jan. 22, 2026.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Semiconductor stocks are powering the U.S. equity market to records in recent days and traders are predicting that means a big swing in shares of Intel after earnings after the bell Thursday.
Options are pricing in a $6.23 move on the report, a roughly 9% swing. That wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the chipmaker: Shares slid as much as 18% after reporting fourth-quarter earnings in January before staging a 50% rally just this month alone.
The semiconductor group is up 145% in the past year, and Intel’s been a key leader, climbing more than 230% over that period.
The catch is, the stock has dropped after three of its last four earnings reports.
Sentiment looks like it’s shifting more bullish this time around. There are about as many puts trading as calls, but options traders are paying beefier premiums in upside calls, with total call premiums nearing $100M versus $50M in puts, according to data compiled by SpotGamma.
One big bullish trader this morning spent $2.2 million buying 3,200 $70 strike calls expiring June 18. Given the stock’s recent history of dropping after earnings, that seems less like a bet on the direction Friday and more that the stock will find footing in its long-term uptrend that’s been in play since last summer.
TLDR
- Bitmine staked about $320 million worth of ETH within 24 hours through Coinbase Prime.
- The company now generates yield on more than 70% of its total ether holdings.
- Onchain data shows Bitmine has staked roughly 3.5 million ETH valued at about $8.1 billion.
- Reports indicate that Bitmine may hold up to 5.08 million ETH if recent wallet transfers are confirmed.
- Bitmine controls over 4.1% of the total ether supply and targets 5%.
Bitmine expanded its Ethereum staking position after moving about $320 million worth of ETH within 24 hours. The company now generates yield on more than 70% of its total ether reserves. Onchain trackers reported fresh transfers to Coinbase Prime as Ethereum traded at $2,317 on Thursday.
Bitmine increases Ethereum Staking Allocation Through Coinbase Prime
Bitmine transferred about 75,600 ETH to Coinbase Prime for staking on Thursday morning. Onchain data from Arkham Intelligence recorded the transaction. The move followed a separate transfer of more than 61,200 ETH on Wednesday.
Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain flagged the transactions in a public update. It stated that Bitmine has now staked around 3.5 million ETH. That amount equals roughly $8.1 billion and represents about 70.1% of its overall holdings.
Lookonchain also reported that three new wallets likely tied to Bitmine received 100,000 ETH. The tokens carried an estimated value of $234 million before Thursday’s staking activity. Bitmine has not yet confirmed ownership of those wallets.
If confirmed, Bitmine would hold about 5.08 million ETH in total. That level would extend its lead over SharpLink. SharpLink currently holds about 868,699 ETH.
As a result, Bitmine controls more than 4.1% of the total ether supply. The firm has stated a target of reaching 5% of supply. Recent purchases align with that objective.
On Monday, The Block reported that Bitmine bought over 100,000 ETH in the prior week. Chairman Tom Lee said he sees ether in the “final stages of the ‘mini-crypto winter.’” He commented while discussing the firm’s acquisition strategy.
Ethereum Price Declines as Bitmine Advances Treasury Strategy
Ethereum traded at $2,317 on Thursday, reflecting a 3.5% daily decline. The token ranked as the largest loser among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market value. The broader crypto market also showed weakness during the session.
In March, Bitmine announced plans to migrate its ether treasury to MAVAN. The company launched MAVAN as its in-house staking platform last month. However, recent staking allocations continue to move through Coinbase Prime.
Bitmine has projected nearly $300 million in annual staking rewards once it completes the migration. The estimate relies on a 2.83% seven-day staking yield. The company has not provided a timeline for full migration.
Bitmine’s stock, trading under BMNR, has declined over the past six months. Shares traded near $22 on Thursday. The price reflects a 55% drop since October.
BMNR has tracked Ether’s roughly 50% decline during the broader crypto market drawdown. The company continues to expand its ether holdings despite market pressure. Its latest transfers mark the most recent treasury update.
World’s largest Cryptocurrency | Top 10 Cryptocurrency in the world #gk #bitcoin #crypto #rich #news
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