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Citing data from Santiment, popular analyst Ali Martinez noted on Saturday that Ripple whales have gone on a spectacular accumulation spree in the past four days, acquiring over 1.5 billion tokens.

At the same time, other on-chain and technical signals suggest that the recent selling pressure might be easing and the underlying asset could be preparing for another leg up.

Ripple Whales Go Big

These key market participants, whose actions are typically mimicked by retail investors, have accumulated approximately 1.54 billion XRP in about 96 hours. At current prices, this stash is worth around $2 billion. The timing of the buying spree was quite intriguing, as it began with the CLARITY Act setback in the US Senate, which pushed the token’s price down sharply.

However, accumulating over 1.5 billion tokens in such a short time has helped the asset recover, which is among the reasons XRP surged to over $1.45 on Friday and Saturday after it had bottomed at $1.27 on Tuesday following the Senate vote.

$2 BILLION IN XRP BOUGHT BY WHALES

Whale activity on the XRP network has surged over the past 96 hours.

Large holders appear to have accumulated roughly 1.54 billion $XRP, worth around $2.2 billion.

That’s a significant accumulation spike that could soon translate into price… https://t.co/cBssFmv3wQ pic.twitter.com/Ty3ukakDvi

— Ali Charts (@alicharts) September 19, 2026

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Martinez also believes that this spectacular accumulation spree can soon “translate into price action, leading to a bullish breakout.” He has previously predicted that XRP is primed to challenge the key psychological level at $2.00.

Next Targets

Crypto Patel also noted that XRP is sitting above a “major long-term accumulation zone” on the 2-week chart, and it has reclaimed its long-term structure. As such, the analyst outlined some major targets that begin with the potential run toward the first crucial resistance at $1.70. If that one falls, the asset could head toward $3.00, and Patel’s long-term target remains at a whopping $10 or even beyond.

Meanwhile, Dark Defender said XRP’s 5-wave structure is “rock solid,” after the asset “said bye-bye” to a key resistance capping its breakout attempts. The analyst was slightly more modest in their predictions, indicating that the next targets for XRP are $1.70 and $1.88. Recall that XRP’s run in mid-August was halted at the former, after it skyrocketed by 70% in less than 72 hours.

The post Ripple Whales Go on Massive Accumulation Spree: Bigger XRP Price Move Coming? appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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Charles Hoskinson believes artificial intelligence (AI) is about to repeat a pattern he witnessed firsthand decades ago.

The Cardano founder argues that blockchain technology will eventually absorb AI, much like cryptocurrency once absorbed cryptography as a discipline.

Why Hoskinson Sees a Coming AI Reckoning

Speaking on the Deeptech Insights podcast this week, Hoskinson pointed to a math problem he considers unsustainable: data center spending keeps growing tenfold year after year, yet the electricity grid simply cannot scale at that pace.

Labs like OpenAI and Anthropic still need to turn a profit eventually, he noted, and the enormous cost of pretraining new models keeps narrowing the path to profitability.

Hoskinson drew a direct parallel to his own career. Cryptographers once resisted any association with cryptocurrency, he recalled, until crypto’s money became powerful enough to hire away the field’s best talent. He expects AI to follow a similar arc within five to ten years.

“Cryptocurrencies are going to eat AI because we solve all the hard problems that AI can’t solve,” Hoskinson said, naming payments, alignment, and data provenance as the specific gaps blockchains could fill.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens.

His alignment argument centers on governance. Individual AI companies currently set their own rules on acceptable behavior and free speech, he argued, whereas a blockchain-based system could instead establish shared standards among participants.

The same infrastructure, he added, could also track content origin and automate royalty payments whenever AI systems draw on someone else’s work.

Hoskinson floated an alternative to building more data centers: pooling everyday phones and GPUs into a distributed training network. He compared today’s AI buildout to the late-1990s fiber optic boom, when roughly 90% of newly laid cable sat idle for nearly a decade.

A similar pattern could follow with data centers, he argued, shifting toward smaller models running locally on devices like Apple’s M5 Mac Studio, with cryptocurrency as the coordination layer.

His Timeline for U.S. Crypto Regulation Looks Grim

Hoskinson also predicted the CLARITY Act won’t clear Congress until 2029, blaming three specific missteps by the Trump administration, including tying crypto’s public image too closely to Trump-branded tokens.

“…There’s no pressure, political pressure to pass this type of thing. they’ll just wait until the next session and force uh a heavily unfavorable bill including ethics provisions to Trump uh on them if they want clarity. Of course, Trump won’t make those concessions. So, actually, we’ll have to wait till 2029 to get a new Clarity Act passed because of the ineptitude of uh of what the White House did. And I was very public about this…,” Hoskinson noted.

That prediction landed just a day after the Senate actually failed to advance the CLARITY Act on September 15, falling short of the 60 votes required.

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The post Charles Hoskinson Predicts Crypto Will Eat AI: What's His Reasoning? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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Bitcoin has recovered sharply from the latest pullback and is once again pressing against the upper boundary of its consolidation. With BTC trading around $81.5K, the market is approaching a decisive area where a confirmed bullish breakout could trigger another expansion higher.

Bitcoin Price Analysis: The Daily Chart

The daily chart continues to show Bitcoin consolidating after its powerful August breakout. The latest recovery from the $75K area has been particularly strong, with buyers quickly pushing the price back toward the major $80.5K-$82.5K resistance zone.

This region has repeatedly capped upside attempts and remains the main obstacle preventing another bullish leg. BTC is now testing it once again around $81.5K, while the broader structure remains constructive as long as the $72.5K-$75K support zone is preserved.

Momentum has also improved. The daily RSI has rebounded back above the neutral 50 area and is approaching the mid-60s, reflecting renewed buying momentum without yet reaching overbought territory.

A sustained daily breakout above the $82.5K resistance area would represent an important structural development and could pave the way toward the next major supply zone around $86K-$90K. Conversely, another rejection could keep Bitcoin range-bound, with $75K and the broader $72.5K-$75K region remaining the primary support area.

BTC/USDT 4-Hour Chart

The 4-hour timeframe highlights the range-bound structure more clearly. Bitcoin recently rebounded aggressively from the lower boundary near $74.5K-$75K and has now returned directly to the $81K-$82K resistance region.

The recovery has been impulsive, particularly during the latest move from around $76K toward $81K. However, price has not yet produced a convincing breakout from the upper boundary. Therefore, the market remains inside the broader range despite the increasingly bullish short-term momentum.

A clean break and sustained hold above the $81K-$82K zone would likely shift the structure decisively in favor of buyers. Such a move could trigger another price spike, initially toward the rising upper trendline around $84K-$85K.

Until that happens, rejection remains a relevant alternative. Failure to clear $82K could send BTC back toward the middle of the range, while the $72.5K-$75K zone remains the critical support and broader invalidation area for the current bullish setup.

Sentiment Analysis

The two-week Binance BTC/USDT liquidation heatmap adds further context to the latest rally. Liquidation heatmaps highlight areas where leveraged positions are concentrated, with brighter regions representing larger potential liquidation clusters.

Bitcoin’s surge above $80K has pushed price into a significant concentration of liquidity around the $80K-$82K region. This aligns closely with the technical resistance visible on both price charts, making the current area particularly important.

Some liquidity remains immediately above the market, suggesting that a decisive breakout could force additional short liquidations and potentially accelerate the move. This supports the possibility of another sharp spike if BTC successfully clears the $81K-$82K resistance zone.

At the same time, a liquidity concentration remains below price around $74K-$75K. Therefore, as long as Bitcoin remains trapped below resistance, volatility in either direction cannot be ruled out. For now, the combination of improving momentum and price pressing against the range high puts the focus firmly on whether buyers can convert the current test into a confirmed breakout.

The post Bitcoin Price Analysis: Explosive BTC Rally Faces One Major Obstacle appeared first on CryptoPotato.

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Dear Quentin,

My husband, 59, and I, 55, are planning to retire over the next few years, and this is one of the biggest unknowns I’m struggling with. My mom had Alzheimer’s disease and spent seven years in a really nice memory-care facility in a smaller town. It cost about $7,000 a month. Thankfully, my parents had purchased long-term-care insurance and had paid premiums for about 12 years. 

My dad died shortly after being diagnosed with cancer, so his policy was never used. But my mom’s policy ended up being worth its weight in gold. It essentially covered all of her care. By the time my mother died, the insurance company had paid out almost $600,000. We only paid about $100 a month for some extras. Needless to say, that experience has made me think.

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I’ve looked into long-term-care insurance, but the premiums are so incredibly expensive, and I worry about what they’ll cost by the time it makes sense for me to seriously consider a policy. We’re fortunate financially. After 35 years in the corporate grind, we’ll have substantial retirement savings; we’ve always saved carefully; and we have no debt or mortgage. 

I also genuinely love my job, so I’m perfectly happy to work longer if that makes sense. What I really don’t want is to leave our two kids with a huge financial burden someday if one or both of us need years of expensive care. Do I self-insure? Buy long-term-care insurance? Use some combination of investments and insurance? Are there good retirement-planning tools?

I know Medicare is part of the equation, but I’d like more control over our options than simply hoping it will be enough. I’m doing everything I can on the preventative-care and healthy-lifestyle front, but unfortunately there are no guarantees. Right now, my strategy is to save as much as humanly possible and hope for the best.

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If you have a crystal ball that will tell me I will need memory care in old age, please share.

In My Fifties

Don’t miss: ‘We fear financial exploitation’: Who will manage our finances if my wife and I become incapacitated?

Dear Fifties,

Your 50s are actually not a bad time to take out long-term care insurance.

Financially speaking, given your age, you’re not too young and you’re not too old. Yes, you probably would have spent less on monthly premiums had you taken out this insurance policy in your 40s, but you would also have been paying it for a decade. It’s hard to predict the future and get that perfect balance. If your mother had Alzheimer’s, your own risk is higher than average from a statistical point of view, although that does not mean that you will develop the disease.

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In fact, AARP suggests that the optimal age to buy a long-term-care policy is between 60 and 65. “This Goldilocks age range is not too young and not too old,” it says. “A still-affordable monthly premium coupled with a total savings is a winning combination.” However, waiting until age 65 is a gamble. Anyone could be rejected because health or medical-test results indicate a high probability of problems that might lead to a need for long-term care.

So if you’re in your 50s, you have time. Insurance companies will ask about family history, including whether relatives have suffered from dementia, and at what age; ditto for heart disease, among other age-related diseases. Premiums vary depending on your age, health, benefit amount, inflation protection and other features. Always ask how future premium increases are handled: traditional long-term-care premiums are not necessarily guaranteed to remain static.

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As you point out, long-term care can be expensive, especially if you’re in care for many years like your mother. A nursing-home room could cost $100,000 a year or more than $60,000 for assisted living. Medicare does not typically cover ongoing long-term care. Medicaid can help cover nursing-home care for people who meet its financial and medical requirements, but those rules vary by state. From what you say, you’re a long way from needing Medicaid.

Taking out long-term care insurance buys you peace of mind in addition to future-proofing your medical care. It also takes your retirement needs into account. With the help of a certified financial planner who specializes in this area, you could stress test your retirement with a variety of options. You can either self-insure and set aside enough money for a prolonged period of care, buy traditional long-term-care insurance, or decide upon some kind of combination. 

Don’t miss: I’m a single 58-year-old veteran in California with $1.5 million and a VA pension. Can I retire?

Hybrid vs. traditional insurance

Hybrid long-term-care insurance can be pricier than a traditional policy. Hybrid policies combine life insurance with a long-term-care rider or use an annuity structure. If you don’t use the rider, the remaining value goes to your estate, so the money is not lost as it would be with traditional “use it or lose it.” You should also take into account the benefit period, inflation protection and premium-rate increases, and, as obvious as it sounds, what the policy actually covers.

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Traditional LTC insurance is sometimes seen as less attractive because of the risk that you pay into the policy and either let it lapse when premiums become too expensive, or you don’t end up needing it. Insurance professionals call this the “zero return” structure, which is why hybrid policies can seem more attractive. You are buying peace of mind and financial support if you become infirm. But as you point out, all policies have risks.

As for the surprises, nasty or otherwise, hire an independent specialist or fee-only financial planner to review any policy and compare it with self-insurance. Make sure there’s an inflation rider — inflation over 30 years could erode the value of your policy if you don’t have one in place — and that the policy covers dementia. And, yes, check the waiting period (30, 60, 90 or 100 days) during which you pay for care out of pocket before your insurance kicks in.

There is a genetic test for Alzheimer’s risk that evaluates the apolipoprotein E or APOE gene, widely regarded in the medical community as the strongest and most common genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. It provides context, but does not predict whether or not you will develop dementia. You can read more about genetic testing and other risk factors via this explanation on the APOE gene from the Mayo Clinic. 

Your mother’s experience has understandably rattled you. Seven years at $7,000 a month is roughly $588,000 before accounting for increases in the cost of care. Her insurance ultimately paid almost $600,000. The risk of developing Alzheimer’s exists, but you need to balance that risk with the price for your peace of mind and the price you would pay in retirement by taking out long-term care insurance today.

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You don’t need a crystal ball. You just need old-fashioned planning.

Don’t miss: ‘The estrangement isn’t about politics’: My daughter hasn’t spoken to me for 4 years. Do I leave her a monthly annuity?

More columns from Quentin Fottrell:

‘I feel shoehorned’: My father funded my $800,000 Roth IRA. Does that give him the right to say how I invest it?

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‘My main goal is to help people’: I’m single, 74, with $10 million burning a hole in my pocket. What should I do?

‘Poverty doesn’t have to be my reality’: I thought I’d have to rely on Social Security. Then I taught myself how to invest.

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Zcash (ZEC) has climbed 177.8% in a month, and the traders betting against it are paying for that move.

One short was closed at a $10.68 million loss this week, and the largest position still open sits $33.87 million underwater on Hyperliquid.

Zcash Shorts Collapse as the Token Jumps 177% in a Month

Lookonchain flagged the closed trade before the exit, citing 26 consecutive wins and an 89% rate across 47 trades. That record had produced more than $9 million in profit.

The short covered 12,285 ZEC and was worth $18.31 million earlier, with liquidation set at $1,550.66. Hyperliquid data shows the account now holds no positions at all.

Garrett Jin holds the largest short still open, covering 37,999 ZEC worth $59.37 million. He built the position at an average price of $671.05, so it now shows an unrealized loss of $33.87 million.

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His 1,333 BTC long is up $4.41 million, which cushions part of the damage. Jin still has room, because his liquidation price of $4,789.42 sits above the 2016 record of $3,191.93.

Other addresses are also seeing sharp losses. One account (0xdd53…2b13) is down $12.53 million on a 13,487 ZEC short opened at $644.39. Another (0xad59…ba81) shorted 8,425 ZEC at $330.91 with 10 times leverage and now sits $10.47 million underwater.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

Spot Buyers, ETF Flows and One Very Loud Timeline

The rally that caused the damage has made ZEC the strongest performer among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies. The token trades near $1,563 and ranks ninth by market value at $26.47 billion.

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The move has real buying behind it from both retail whales and institutions. Lookonchain reported that one address withdrew 15,860 ZEC worth $22.69 million from Binance in a day. Another moved 7,081 ZEC over two days.

Institutional buying has moved in the same direction Zcash ETFs took in $98.2 million in the week ending September 18, the largest inflow among 14 products. Assets rose 40.5% to $914.5 million.

Attention has followed the price. Santiment recorded Zcash social volume at a one-month high on September 17. Mentions on X ran 6.8 times their 29-day baseline, against 1.7 times elsewhere.

“The price found buyers. The attention found one timeline,” the post read.

Traders now watch whether spot demand holds. Open interest in ZEC perpetuals on Hyperliquid stands at 574,045 ZEC, worth roughly $885 million, so leveraged positions remain large on both sides.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights

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https://youtu.be/7Hf8KSxNICQ

Read the Original story Trader With 89% Win Rate Loses $10.68 Million Shorting Zcash by Kamina Bashir at beincrypto.com

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Zcash (ZEC) has climbed 177.8% in a month, and the traders betting against it are paying for that move.

One short was closed at a $10.68 million loss this week, and the largest position still open sits $33.87 million underwater on Hyperliquid.

Zcash Shorts Collapse as the Token Jumps 177% in a Month

Lookonchain flagged the closed trade before the exit, citing 26 consecutive wins and an 89% rate across 47 trades. That record had produced more than $9 million in profit.

The short covered 12,285 ZEC and was worth $18.31 million earlier, with liquidation set at $1,550.66. Hyperliquid data shows the account now holds no positions at all.

Garrett Jin holds the largest short still open, covering 37,999 ZEC worth $59.37 million. He built the position at an average price of $671.05, so it now shows an unrealized loss of $33.87 million.

His 1,333 BTC long is up $4.41 million, which cushions part of the damage. Jin still has room, because his liquidation price of $4,789.42 sits above the 2016 record of $3,191.93. 

Other addresses are also seeing sharp losses. One account (0xdd53…2b13) is down $12.53 million on a 13,487 ZEC short opened at $644.39. Another (0xad59…ba81) shorted 8,425 ZEC at $330.91 with 10 times leverage and now sits $10.47 million underwater.

Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

Spot Buyers, ETF Flows and One Very Loud Timeline

The rally that caused the damage has made ZEC the strongest performer among the 10 largest cryptocurrencies. The token trades near $1,563 and ranks ninth by market value at $26.47 billion.

The move has real buying behind it from both retail whales and institutions. Lookonchain reported that one address withdrew 15,860 ZEC worth $22.69 million from Binance in a day. Another moved 7,081 ZEC over two days.

Institutional buying has moved in the same direction Zcash ETFs took in $98.2 million in the week ending September 18, the largest inflow among 14 products. Assets rose 40.5% to $914.5 million.

Attention has followed the price. Santiment recorded Zcash social volume at a one-month high on September 17. Mentions on X ran 6.8 times their 29-day baseline, against 1.7 times elsewhere.

“The price found buyers. The attention found one timeline,” the post read.

Traders now watch whether spot demand holds. Open interest in ZEC perpetuals on Hyperliquid stands at 574,045 ZEC, worth roughly $885 million, so leveraged positions remain large on both sides.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights

The post Trader With 89% Win Rate Loses $10.68 Million Shorting Zcash appeared first on BeInCrypto.

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The upcoming Batch V1.1 can make linked asset and payment transfers succeed together or fail together, and Ripple says commercial projects are already being built around the feature after an extensive security review.

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