Crypto World
China’s EV price war turns into AI arms race beyond cheaper cars
AI signage at the Robert Bosch booth at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing, China, on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
BEIJING — Electric carmakers in China are layering on more of the same artificial intelligence features as they try to survive a prolonged price war in the world’s largest auto market.
The competition has shifted over the last few years, from extending battery range to rolling out driver-assist systems and using more powerful automotive chips. Now, automakers are focusing on a suite of in-car AI features.
More than 50 car brands now use ByteDance’s Doubao AI model, the company’s cloud platform Volcano Engine announced last Friday at the Beijing auto show, where the tech unit had a booth next to robotaxi company Pony.ai.
That means Doubao is in 145 car models and over 7 million vehicles, Volcano Engine said. Besides domestic vehicles, Doubao AI has also been integrated in new foreign-branded models, such as the all-electric Mercedes-Benz GLC, the SAIC Audi E7X and the SAIC Volkswagen ID. ERA 9X.
“We will keep on integrating new features faster,” Fermín Soneira, CEO of the Audi and SAIC Cooperation Project, told reporters this month ahead of the auto show. He noted how automakers can quickly deploy tech updates remotely, or “over-the-air.”
Despite the rapid rollout of new features, automakers face persistent pressure on sales.
“It’s going to remain tough, because the capacity is there,” he said. “This price war is not going to really stop in the next month.”

The shift towards AI reflects consumer demand for connected features, including Huawei-smartphone-compatible interfaces or voice-based assistants such as Doubao.
ByteDance’s Doubao is by far the most widely used AI chatbot in China, with more than 155 million weekly active users as of early this year, according to consultancy Chozan. Volcano Engine’s auto show booth included demos of both Chinese-language and English-language AI systems for cars.
The price war has turned into a feature war around cockpit technology, said Stephen Dyer, partner and managing director and head of AlixPartners’ Asia automotive and industrials consulting practice.
The challenge is, however, that much of that technology soon becomes similar, making it harder for companies to stand out.
Among the top 20 best-selling electric car models in China, those priced at 100,000 yuan ($14,645) or above offered similar driver-assist and in-car entertainment functions, according to AlixPartners.
With “technology, they’re going to have to race and keep racing, because it disseminates so quickly that you’re never going to be able to sustain a differentiated technology for long,” Dyer said.
Instead, he expects Chinese companies to start competing more on the “outside-of-the-car experience,” similar to luxury brands that offer exclusive lifestyle experiences.
Chinese automaker Nio, for example, offers its customers exclusive access to products and clubhouses, on top of vehicles featuring premium interior materials.
The Chinese electric car company has struggled with the cost of offering such perks and slower market growth. But Nio claimed last week its ES8 is the first car model in the industry’s 400,000 yuan-and-above segment to deliver 100,000 units in just 215 days.
Alibaba also announced Friday that its Qwen artificial intelligence model will be integrated into vehicles from automakers including BYD and a local joint venture of Volkswagen. The system allows drivers to order food delivery, book hotels, buy tickets to attractions and track packages, among other features, through voice commands.
The model will run on Nvidia‘s automotive chip system and is designed to function even with limited network connectivity.
At the end of the day, AI should run in the background to support the user experience, not necessarily be a feature of a vehicle, Tu Le, founder and managing director at consultancy Sino Auto Insights, told CNBC’s Eunice Yoon.
Even if it’s difficult for automakers to stand out in China, they may be able to compete more effectively with foreign peers.
“What we consider maybe simple features and like, standard features in mass market vehicles in the China market, are going to be expected in the Western market sooner rather than later as well,” Le said.
Crypto World
Oobit Unveils Visa Agent Cards For AI Agent USDT Spending
Crypto wallet startup Oobit has launched a Visa-supported virtual card for AI agents to make online purchases in USDT on behalf of businesses without human intervention.
The Agent Cards are funded directly from stablecoin issuer Tether’s treasury, meaning no fiat on-ramp or conversions are needed for AI agents to top up USDt (USDT) balances and make online purchases, Oobit said on Thursday.
The Tether-backed startup said the AI agents could use the cards to do anything from renewing a software-as-a-service subscription to topping up an advertising budget or even “spinning up cloud infrastructure at 3am because a workflow told it to.”
They will also be able to trade crypto and stocks, Oobit advisor Alex Obchakevich added in a post on X.

Source: Oobit
Many crypto executives have shared the view that AI agents could become the dominant users of blockchain-based payments in the coming years.
In April, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong predicted that “There will be more AI agents transacting online than humans very soon,” echoing comments from Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire in January that “literally billions of AI agents” will be transacting onchain in three to five years.
Oobit took the prediction one step further, stating that the “next trillion users on the internet” would be AI agents.
Agent Cards haven’t launched to the broader public yet
Oobit said Agent Cards launched to a founding group of businesses on Thursday and that onboarding would expand to a limited number of additional companies through June 30.
Businesses must pass a know-your-business compliance check to set up the Agent Cards.
Agent Cards work with AI agent frameworks offered by OpenAI, Claude, AutoGen and LangChain, Oobit added.
Related: Stablecoins overtake Bitcoin in Latin America crypto purchases — Bitso
Only one card is issued to each AI agent to ensure a clean identity and audit trail.
The crypto wallet startup said spend limits and merchant restrictions are enforced at the transaction layer to ensure that AI agents operate only within their authorized scope.
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Crypto World
Bitcoin hits $77K; shorts pressured as rallies run without caps
Bitcoin (BTC) has flirted with the upper $70,000s as momentum returns, but the latest snapshot of the market suggests a delicate balance between short-term upside and a looming supply wall. With price hovering near $77,000, traders are weighing a potential push toward the $80,000 mark against a sizable resting orderbook and limited spot-volume ignition that could sap momentum if buyers fade.
Data from the perpetuals market and leverage metrics underline a nuanced setup: while the immediate setup paints a bullish tilt, the absence of sustained buying pressure and a clear liquidity absorption path may keep moves short-lived unless new volume arrives. In particular, more than $130 million of ask orders sit between roughly $76,700 and $79,300, implying a meaningful obstacle zone that must be cleared to extend gains beyond the current swing high.
Key takeaways
- Over $130 million in sell orders sit from $76,700 to $79,300, forming a potential hurdle for a continued rally toward $80,000.
- The market currently shows a negative futures funding rate and a small net negative long-short delta of about $1.47 million, suggesting a fragile near-term edge for bulls.
- A notable concentration of short-side risk exists near $76,800, where negative delta estimates span roughly $66.5 million to $189 million—raising the odds of forced liquidations if price dips there.
- Technically, BTC has held $75,000 as support and reclaimed the 20-day moving average around $76,067, after dipping below it earlier in the week.
- For a sustained breakout, traders are watching for a fresh volume impulse—spot or perpetual—rather than a relief rally driven solely by short-covering and liquidations, as recent activity has shown.
Orderbook dynamics: a wall to hurdle the upside
From the perspective of market depth, the current orderbook paints a cautious backdrop for bulls. TRDR’s aggregated data highlights a substantial supply zone spanning roughly $76,700 to $79,300, where more than $130 million awaits sellers. This cluster constitutes a meaningful barrier that must be cleared to push BTC beyond the $79,000 resistance and toward the psychological milestone at $80,000.
The presence of such a wall underscores the risk of a retreat if buyers fail to muster enough conviction or if a wave of profit-taking accelerates near the current high. Traders tracking orderflow emphasize that walls like these often mark battlegrounds where price action becomes choppy and prone to reversals unless a broader liquidity shift occurs.
Derivatives positioning: a tenuous short-term tilt
On the derivatives side, the negative futures funding rate provides a nuanced read on the pulse of the market. While not a definitive signal on its own, a negative funding rate typically indicates prevailing downward pressure from long positions funding shorts, which can be interpreted as a marginal tailwind for bulls in the near term. In conjunction with a small negative long-short delta of −$1.47 million, the immediate tilt remains modest and does not suggest a robust, durable surge rather than a fragile uptick that could reverse with a single catalyst.
Additionally, the liquidity picture tightens near certain price pockets. At around $76,800, the market shows a concentrated negative delta, with estimates ranging from −$66.5 million to −$189 million—implying short positions are heavily exposed and risk of forced liquidations is elevated if price moves into that zone. In practice, this creates a potential short-squeeze dynamic if buyers manage to push through the barrier, but it also raises the risk of sudden pullbacks if the squeeze stalls or fails to gain traction.
Price action, moving averages, and the path to a higher high
From a technical viewpoint, BTC has re-established a foothold above a critical short- to mid-term reference. The price action around $75,000 is being interpreted as a support formation, particularly after a period during which Bitcoin traded under the 20-day moving average. The 20-day moving average sits near $76,067, acting as a fulcrum for near-term traders as BTC tried to reclaim above this line after dipping through it earlier in the week.
Another point of reference is the charted channel and the notion of a support-resistance flip. In recent observations, a bullish scenario includes BTC timely piercing the channel trendline resistance around $79,000, followed by a renewed SR-flip that would establish $80,000 as a new support level. That sequence would be a meaningful signal of a shift in momentum, potentially inviting longer-duration participation from both spot and perpetual traders.
However, even with a potential breakout above $79,000, the market faces a practical hurdle: a genuine sustained move requires fresh participation. The absence of robust spot volume or long-leveraged exposure—despite occasional rallies—has tended to yield pullbacks once price nears the upper end of the current range. This pattern, visible in a 4-hour TRDR view, shows intraday moves often driven by liquidations rather than broad, durable buying support.
Liquidity dynamics: what would move the needle?
The market’s recent history suggests that a meaningful, lasting uptrend requires a surge in buying volume that can absorb downside pressure from sellers and push price into higher territory without a quick reversal. TRDR’s data emphasize that current rallies have often been short-lived, with much of the leg higher powered by liquidations rather than persistent spot buying or fresh long exposure.
Analysts watching the data point to a need for a volume spike in either the spot market or the perpetual futures market to sustain a breakout beyond the $79,000–$80,000 zone. Without that, the price action could revert to range-bound behavior, with the supply wall between $76,700 and $79,300 continuing to cap upside attempts and adding to the risk of chop as traders reassess risk and position sizing.
What to watch next
Market participants should keep a close eye on two intertwined factors: liquidity absorption and price discipline. If BTC can push decisively through the $79,000 threshold and hold above the $80,000 level, that would be interpreted as a meaningful upgrade to the near-term bias, provided volume corroborates the move. Conversely, failure to sustain the move, or a failure to attract fresh demand on dips toward the $76,000–$77,000 region, could invite renewed testing of the supply wall and a risk-off retest of the 20-day moving average.
In practice, the trajectory remains contingent on a balance of orderbook dynamics, derivatives positioning, and the pace of new market participation. As traders weigh risk-reward, the key data points to watch are the orderbook depth around the critical zone, the evolution of the negative funding rate, changes in the long-short delta, and whether spot or perpetual volumes pick up sufficiently to sustain a breakout beyond the current resonant levels.
This analysis reflects ongoing market data and is intended to illuminate what the next price moves might imply for traders and builders navigating Bitcoin’s current phase. For ongoing context, traders may monitor the referenced TRDR and Hyblock indicators, along with related technical analyses highlighting support-resistance dynamics around the $75,000–$80,000 corridor.
Crypto World
U.S. Senate votes to ban members from using prediction markets
The U.S. Senate has approved a resolution banning senators and Senate staff from using prediction markets.
Summary
- Senate approved a rule banning members and staff from using prediction markets, with the change taking effect immediately.
- Lawmakers cited risks of insider information misuse, with Senator Bernie Moreno saying the ban protects public trust.
According to Senate proceedings, the resolution passed by unanimous consent on Thursday changed the chamber’s standing rules and took immediate effect.
Lawmakers tied the ban to the risk that officials exposed to sensitive information could profit from event contracts.
“Engaging in any way in a prediction market or trying to place bets where we might have inside information deteriorates the confidence that our constituents have in us,” Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, who introduced the resolution, said on the Senate floor.
According to him, the rule change ensures “no member of the United States Senate, no member of the staff of the United States Senate, can ever use that inside information as a way to monetize this job whatsoever.”
Ethics concerns drive Senate action on prediction markets
Recent concerns intensified after a special forces soldier involved in the plan to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged on April 23 with using classified information to place bets on Polymarket.
The soldier has pleaded not guilty, while lawmakers have also raised concerns over well-timed bets tied to the Iran war.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer backed the rule change and framed the issue as a straightforward ethics matter.
“Of all the issues we debate in Washington, this falls clearly in the category of a ‘no-brainer. We must never allow Congress to turn into a casino where members representing the public can gamble on wars, or economic crises, or elections, “ Schumer said.
“We should go further; this is a good start, but not enough. The administration and its employees must apply these very same rules too, particularly this administration, which shows such a troubling affinity to corruption and self-dealing,” he added.
Reaction from the House followed soon after the Senate vote. Republican Representative Ashley Hinson said in a post on X that she would introduce a similar resolution to ban the use of prediction markets in the House.
Prediction market operators also responded to the Senate action. Polymarket said in a post on X that it fully supported the Senate resolution and noted that its terms of service “already prohibit such conduct, but codifying this into law is a step forward for the industry.”
Meanwhile, Kalshi’s Tarek Mansour also welcomed the resolution in a post on X and said Kalshi “already proactively blocks members of Congress and enforces against insider trading.”
The Senate ban lands as prediction markets face separate regulatory fights over whether event contracts should be treated as federally regulated financial products or state-regulated gambling activity.
As previously reported by crypto.news, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sued Wisconsin after the state filed complaints against Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Coinbase over prediction market products.
Crypto World
CLARITY Act Faces Uncertain Future as GOP Senators Remain Divided
Key Takeaways
- Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott requires unanimous Republican backing before proceeding with CLARITY Act markup
- Sen. John Kennedy refuses to commit support, partially due to grievances over blocked housing legislation
- Sen. Thom Tillis advocates for May committee action but insists on mandatory ethics provisions
- Contentious topics include stablecoin reward structures, DeFi regulatory framework, and presidential crypto business dealings
- Industry analysts estimate passage probability between 15–25%
A comprehensive cryptocurrency market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act is approaching a potential Senate committee hearing in May, though significant Republican resistance and ongoing policy disagreements threaten to derail its advancement.
Tim Scott, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has established a requirement for complete Republican consensus among his committee’s 13 GOP members before scheduling a markup session. While he confirmed recent commitments from Sen. Thom Tillis and several colleagues, achieving unanimous party support remains elusive.
In comments to Fox Business, Scott characterized negotiations as approaching the “red zone” for finalizing an agreement. His timeline envisions a bipartisan committee markup during May, potentially followed by floor consideration between June and July.
Tillis, serving as a primary Republican negotiator, has formally requested Scott to calendar a markup session and indicated that revised legislative text should be available several days beforehand. However, Tillis has issued an ultimatum: he will vote against the measure if it advances from the Senate without incorporating ethics safeguards.
John Kennedy stands among the Republicans withholding endorsement. Reporting from Punchbowl News indicates Kennedy’s resistance partially reflects broader dissatisfaction with the House and White House regarding a dormant Senate housing measure — extending beyond cryptocurrency policy itself.
Ethical Standards and Presidential Business Ventures Create Additional Obstacles
Democratic members have positioned ethics requirements as a non-negotiable element. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks stated that achieving bipartisan committee approval necessitates first addressing illicit finance prevention and ethical conduct concerns.
Chair Scott has argued that ethics-related provisions fall outside his committee’s jurisdictional authority. This leaves the matter unaddressed and potentially requiring separate legislative action before any complete Senate vote occurs.
President Trump’s cryptocurrency business activities have amplified scrutiny. Bloomberg analysis determined Trump has generated no less than $1.4 billion through various crypto enterprises, including involvement with DeFi and stablecoin platform World Liberty Financial. The Trump family additionally maintains a 20% ownership position in American Bitcoin, a mining operation.
Trump recently hosted an exclusive Mar-a-Lago event for individuals holding the TRUMP memecoin, triggering sharp criticism from Democratic legislators.
The House-approved version of this legislation, also titled Clarity, contains a prohibition preventing Congressional members and high-ranking executive officials from issuing digital commodities during their tenure. This provision represents an unacceptable condition for the White House.
Stablecoin Compensation Models and Decentralized Finance Remain Contentious
Separate from ethics debates, the legislation has encountered resistance regarding stablecoin reward mechanisms. Public disagreements between a senior White House cryptocurrency adviser and banking institutions have surfaced in open forums.
Decentralized finance provisions face particular examination. Legislators and law enforcement agencies worry that certain developer liability protections could impede financial crime prosecutions.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley is currently engaged in substantive discussions with Sen. Cynthia Lummis to resolve these law enforcement considerations.
The legislation confronts a critical scheduling constraint. The Senate enters a five-week recess period in August preceding midterm elections. Should the bill fail to clear committee and reach floor debate beforehand, its advancement prospects diminish considerably.
A cryptocurrency industry analyst assessed the bill’s 2024 passage likelihood at between 15% and 25%. Research organization Galaxy offered a moderately more optimistic projection, estimating approximately 50% probability.
Crypto World
RWA Tokenization Boom Drives 420% Market Cap Surge
The size of the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market has increased by more than 420% since the start of 2025, as investors were treated to easier market access and regulatory clarity, according to analysts.
The RWA market cap was about $5.8 billion on Jan. 1, 2025, but has since risen to more than $30.2 billion as of Wednesday, according to analytics platform RWA.xyz. Tokenized US Treasurys experienced the largest increase, from $3.9 billion at the start of 2025 to more than $15 billion, followed by commodities.
Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, told Cointelegraph the surge in the RWA sector was driven by tokenized Treasurys, which offer compliant onchain access to real-world yield and effectively turn blockchain rails into a distribution layer for institutional capital.
“Expansion into tokenized funds and equities has materially increased the addressable market. This points to a shift from speculative inflows toward yield-driven capital,” he said.

The RWA market capitalization was around $30.2 billion as of Wednesday. Source: RWA.xyz
“Tokenized commodities like gold have gained traction, particularly amid heightened volatility from ongoing geopolitical tensions, as 24/7 markets unlock continuous liquidity and global access when traditional venues are closed,” the analyst added.
Tokenization has been one of the drivers of institutional interest in blockchain and crypto over the past year. Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest predicts digital assets could grow into a $28 trillion market by 2030, with Bitcoin, decentralized finance, stablecoins and tokenized RWAs as key drivers.
Regulatory clarity coaxed institutional players into the market
Regulatory clarity through legislation such as Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has also helped attract institutional players and fresh capital to the RWA sector, according to a Thursday report from crypto data aggregator CoinGecko.
Zhong Yang Chan, CoinGecko’s head of research, and research analyst Yuqian Lim said in the report that a few years ago, the RWA market rallied more on hype than substance.
“However, the RWA sector has finally started to take shape from 2024 onward. Regulatory clarity has enabled major TradFi institutional players to dip their toes in. As early experiments paved the way by turning into best practices and playbooks, the pace of tokenization has noticeably accelerated,” they said.

Source: CoinGecko
BlackRock’s USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) went live in March 2024. The tokenized US Treasury fund provides onchain access to short-term US government debt. Fidelity followed suit in September 2025 with its own tokenized Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT).
“2025 has proven to be a watershed year for RWAs. For both crypto-native and traditional players, competition within the RWA and tokenization stack has intensified, with issuers now differentiating on regulatory standing, asset coverage and distribution reach,” Zhong and Yuqian added.
Related: Flow Capital plans to tokenize $150M private credit fund via DigiFT: Report
Continued growth could depend on other areas of the sector
Tokenized Treasurys and commodities have experienced the largest rise in the RWA sector, but in the long term, other areas will likely need to be catalysts for continued growth, said John of Zeus Research.
“Growth remains strong as tokenized Treasurys keep absorbing capital and bring more institutions on board, but the rate of expansion should moderate as the easiest flow has been allocated,” he said.
“The next leg higher depends on whether tokenized equities, funds and private credit scale meaningfully.”
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Crypto World
Decentralized Venues Pulled Share From CEXs in a Risk-Off Quarter, ARK Invest Finds
Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are eating into centralized exchanges’ market share, with the DEX-to-CEX spot ratio climbing to around 27.4% in Q1 2026.
The share gain came even as absolute volume fell 26% to $832 billion, per ARK Invest’s DeFi Quarterly report.
A Risk-Off Quarter for Crypto
The first quarter of 2026 was a rough stretch for digital assets. Crypto prices slid sharply between mid-January and early February before staging a modest recovery in March.
Even so, the quarter closed in the red as risk-off sentiment and fear gripped the market. According to CoinGlass data, Bitcoin (BTC) shed 22% over the period, losing several key support levels along the way. The pullback also weighed heavily on trading activity.
DEX spot trading volume tumbled around 26% quarter-over-quarter to roughly $832 billion, snapping a five-quarter streak above the $1 trillion mark, per ARK Invest data. The drop was broad-based, hitting nearly every trading category.
Meme coins slumped 32% to $199 billion, and project tokens collapsed 58% to $37 billion. Native stablecoin pairs slipped 28% to $319 billion but still held their place as the largest single category.
“Stablecoin swap volume was the only category to increase (+0.7%) quarter-over-quarter to ~$185 billion), while tokenized asset swaps surged ~83% to ~$4.6 billion, thanks in part to increased onchain trading of tokenized gold and equities,” the report read.
DEX Share Rose to 27.4% in Q1 2026 Even as Volume Dropped
Yet the picture wasn’t all bearish for DEXs. ARK reported that the quarterly DEX-to-CEX spot volume ratio rose 270 basis points.
“The rebound suggests that decentralized venues are gaining share of spot trading, even as absolute volumes declined,” the report added.
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ARK Invest credited DeFi’s improving user experience and growing roster of tradable assets. Uniswap (UNI) returned to the top of the DEX rankings with $231 billion in spot volume. The protocol overtook PancakeSwap (CAKE), which recorded $138 billion in volume.
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Crypto World
Gold Price Charts Hints at Potential 180% Gains for Bitcoin Over Next 12 Months
Bitcoin (BTC) may undergo a massive rally, based on a recurring gold chart pattern, with gains of up to 180% over the next 12 months.
Key takeaways:
- BTC is up nearly 40% versus gold since March after falling for seven months in a row.
- Similar BTC/XAU recoveries have historically coincided with Bitcoin bottoms in US dollar terms.
BTC may hit $167,250 within a year
The bullish signal comes from the Bitcoin-to-gold ratio (BTC/XAU), which tracks BTC’s performance relative to gold in US dollar terms. Historically, sharp rebounds in this ratio have aligned with major Bitcoin cycle bottoms, often preceding strong upside.
In 2015, a BTC/XAU bottom preceded a roughly 250% Bitcoin rally within a year.
Similar reversals in 2019 and 2022 came before gains of around 140% each. Excluding 2020’s 1,460% liquidity-driven boom, the pattern points to an average one-year BTC gain of about 180% after BTC/XAU bottoms.

BTC/XAU monthly chart. Source: TradingView
As of 2026, the BTC/XAU ratio has climbed about 40% since February’s lows. The BTC/USD rate has jumped 32.65% in the same period.
“Bitcoin versus gold is about to close a second month in the green after 7 red candles in a row,” said Nik Bhatia, founder of macro research firm The Bitcoin Layer, adding that “the bounce is in.”
Macro strategist Gert van Lagen spotted a “hidden bullish divergence” pattern that appeared following the 2014, 2018, and 2022 bear market bottoms.

Source: X
In its April report, meanwhile, Fidelity Investments said Bitcoin has entered “an accumulation phase” while outperforming gold.
A 180% repeat of past cycles puts the BTC price target at $167,250 by April 2027, if the BTC/USD and BTC/XAU February lows are confirmed as bottoms.
Multiple analysts, including Bernstein’s Gautam Chhugani, have projected BTC’s price to reach the $150,000 mark in 2026, driven largely by a potential capital rotation from gold.
In April, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of crypto asset manager Bitwise, said Bitcoin can become bigger than the gold market’s $30 trillion capitalization.
Key trend line puts bullish outlook in doubt
BTC/XAU remains below its 100-month exponential moving average (100-month EMA, the purple line), a level that previously marked major bottoms in March 2020 and December 2022.

BTC/XAU monthly chart. Source: TradingView
Its January breakdown was the first clear loss of this support. Staying below it risks trapping bulls and delaying Bitcoin’s relative recovery against gold.
In the short term, BTC/XAU also faces resistance from a rising wedge on the daily chart.

BTC/XAU daily chart. Source: TradingView
The bearish reversal setup points to a potential 20% drop in Bitcoin’s gold-denominated value, based on the wedge’s measured move.
Related: Bitcoin eyes $75K after ‘most hawkish’ FOMC as oil hits highest since 2022
Macro conditions, such as elevated US bond yields and rising oil prices, may also disrupt historical patterns. As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin derivatives show traders are cautious as the Fed holds interest rates and BTC price consolidates.
Crypto World
WhiteBIT Coin rallies 8% after FC Barcelona partnership, more gains incoming?
WhiteBIT Coin surged nearly 8% on Wednesday, emerging as one of the top-performing crypto assets as fresh momentum followed a major partnership announcement.
Summary
- WhiteBIT Coin rose nearly 8% after announcing a five-year partnership expansion with FC Barcelona, adding new utility via crypto-linked payment features.
- Deflationary tokenomics, including recent burns and a 33% fee-based buyback program, have supported price strength amid broader market weakness.
- WBT broke above the $55–$56 range and now eyes $58–$60 resistance, with $54–$55 acting as key support if momentum fades.
The token jumped after WhiteBIT confirmed an expanded five-year collaboration with FC Barcelona, strengthening its presence in the global sports ecosystem. The deal introduces new utility features, including a themed WhiteBIT Nova debit card, aimed at integrating crypto payments into the club’s fan experience.
WBT has also continued to benefit from its earlier partnership with Juventus, which has historically supported price growth by boosting brand visibility and user adoption.
At the same time, the rally has been reinforced by strong tokenomics. WhiteBIT maintains a deflationary structure, with regular token burns reducing circulating supply. More than 64,000 WBT, worth around $3.5 million, were removed from circulation in late April, following another burn earlier in the month.
The exchange also allocates roughly 33% of its trading fees toward buybacks, further limiting sell-side pressure and supporting price stability during broader market weakness.
Market expansion efforts have added to the bullish momentum. WBT’s inclusion in S&P crypto indices has improved its institutional visibility, while a recent listing on Kraken has expanded access through new USD and EUR trading pairs.
A strategic cooperation with Saudi-based Durrah AlFodah Holding is also expected to support blockchain adoption initiatives in line with the country’s Vision 2030, potentially opening new growth avenues for the ecosystem.
On the daily chart, WBT has broken out of a consolidation range that had capped price action near the $55–$56 region in recent sessions. The breakout pushed the token to an intraday high near $58 before slightly easing.

Price is now trading above key moving averages, including the 20-day and 50-day levels, indicating strengthening short-term momentum. The Supertrend indicator has also flipped bullish, further supporting the upside bias.
If the breakout sustains, the next resistance zone appears near the $58–$60 region, where prior rejection levels are visible. A successful move above this range could open the door for a continuation toward higher levels.
However, if buying momentum fades, WBT could retest support near the $54–$55 zone, which now acts as a key level to watch.
Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.
Crypto World
Bitcoin Price Action Favors Bears But Profit Taking Overwhelms Each Rally
Bitcoin (BTC) traders pushed the price to $77,400, but data suggests profit-taking may thwart the bull’s goal of turning the $77,000 to $80,000 zone into support.
Orderbook data from TRDR shows over $130 million in asks extending from $76,700 to $79,300.

BTC/USDT Binance perps orderbook. Source. TRDR.io
Given Bitcoin’s negative futures funding rate and the small negative long-short delta (-$1.47 million at the time of writing), bulls have a slight edge in the short-term.
The situation could shift further in their favor if the BTC price pushes into short liquidity starting at $76,800, where there is a -$66.5 million to -$189 million negative delta, meaning short positions face a significantly higher risk of forced closure.

BTC/USDT long-short-delta. 7-day lookback. Source: Hyblock
From a technical analysis perspective, the current price action saw Bitcoin lock in $75,000 as support through a confirmed support-resistance flip, and it also traded back above the 20-day moving average ($76,067) after falling below it on Wednesday and Thursday.
Related: Repeat Bitcoin profit taking near $77K suggests rally is losing steam
In the short-term, the most desirable outcome for bulls would be a repeat of this week’s price action, where, in this case, BTC rallies through the channel trendline resistance at $79,000, followed by another SR-flip to confirm $80,000 as support.

BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Beyond the expected profit-taking kicking in at $77,000, a volume spike in either spot or perpetual futures markets is the missing ingredient to absorb the selling and extend BTC’s breakouts.
As shown in the TRDR chart below, the bulk of BTC’s intraday moves stem from liquidations and the absence of sustained spot volume and long leverage, resulting in rallies that lack duration.

BTC/USDT perps (Binance), 4-hour chart. Source: TRDR.io
Crypto World
Coinbase launches CUSHY digital credit strategy with tokenized share structure
Nexo extends its 0% APR, no‑liquidation Zero-interest Credit to Solana and XRP, targeting holders who want dollar liquidity without selling their crypto.
- Coinbase Asset Management unveils CUSHY, an on-chain digital credit strategy with a tokenized share class built on Superstate’s FundOS platform.
- The strategy targets on-chain public credit, structured private credit, and tokenized yield sources across Solana and Base, aiming to bridge traditional fixed income with blockchain rails.
- CUSHY underscores a broader institutional shift toward tokenized credit markets, following Coinbase’s earlier stablecoin credit initiatives with Apollo and its bitcoin yield funds.
Coinbase’s new on-chain credit push
Coinbase Asset Management (CBAM) has introduced CUSHY, a new on-chain digital credit strategy that uses a tokenized share class mechanism to bring traditional credit exposure onto public blockchains, in a move the firm frames as a bridge between legacy fixed income markets and programmable finance.
Built on Superstate’s FundOS operating system, CUSHY is structured to support 24/7 primary and secondary market trading of fund shares across networks such as Solana and Base, with FundOS specifically designed “to streamline the tokenization of real-world assets” for asset managers seeking on-chain capital formation.
According to Coinbase Asset Management, the strategy rests on three pillars: on-chain public credit assets, structured private credit serving both digital-native and traditional borrowers, and tokenized yield sources that package underlying credit exposures into blockchain-native instruments.
FundOS, launched by real-world asset specialist Superstate, is described as tackling “the operational complexity of fund tokenization” and is already used to operate tokenized portfolios like USTB and USCC, which Superstate presents as proof that traditional securities can be issued, managed, and settled on-chain at scale.
In an earlier partnership announcement, CBAM said its alliance with Apollo aims “to bring Coinbase stablecoin credit strategies to market,” combining Apollo’s private credit origination with Coinbase’s tokenization stack so that “tokenized investment products providing exposure to Apollo-managed credit strategies” can be distributed through on-chain wrappers.
Those stablecoin credit strategies sit alongside Coinbase’s bitcoin-focused yield products, including the Coinbase Bitcoin Yield Fund, which targets a 4%–8% net bitcoin return per year over a market cycle while avoiding “riskier high-interest bitcoin loans and systematic call selling,” and the subsequent US-focused bitcoin yield strategy for accredited investors.
More broadly, industry research notes that tokenized private credit markets reached roughly $9.68 billion in 2025 after growing 930%, as on-chain credit systems emerge as “transparent, efficient, and permissionless” alternatives to bank-led lending that rely on smart contracts, decentralized oracles, and on-chain identity for underwriting.
This context positions CUSHY not as an isolated product but as part of a wider shift in which stablecoins, tokenized funds, and credit strategies are increasingly issued as blockchain-native claims, with Coinbase, Apollo, and Superstate each betting that institutional demand for compliant, yield-bearing digital instruments will continue to migrate on-chain.
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