Bitcoin and most altcoins have fallen this week even after Donald Trump’s inauguration to become the most crypto-friendly president in the US.

Bitcoin (BTC) price dropped to $101,000 on January 23rd, while popular meme coins like ai16z, Fartcoin, and Official Trump fell by over 20%. Other top laggards were coins like Lido DAO, Jupiter, Virtuals Protocol, and Hyperliquid. 

There are four possible reasons for the ongoing crypto retreat. First, economists expect the Bank of Japan to hike interest rates by 0.25% on Friday. This would bring the official cash rate to 0.50%, the highest level since 2008. 

The last BoJ rate hike occurred in August last year, leading to a sharp decline in cryptocurrencies and other assets. This was due to the unwinding of the Japanese yen carry trade. As such, another BoJ rate hike may trigger another drop, albeit at a smaller size.

Second, in line with this, Bitcoin and altcoins fell as traders waited for next week’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision. A hawkish tone may also lead to more weakness in the crypto industry since it would push government bond yields higher. 

Third, they have dropped because Donald Trump has not mentioned crypto since his inauguration. He has also not signed any executive order on cryptocurrency. This explains why the odds of him creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve have dropped to 40% on Polymarket.

The coins also dropped because of the popular practice of buying an asset ahead of a major event and then selling it when it occurs.

Risks of a Bitcoin price double top

Bitcoin has also formed the risky double-top chart pattern at $108,100.This pattern is made up of two peaks and a neckline and is usually a bearish reversal sign. The neckline in this case is at $89,305. By measuring the distance between the double-top and the neckline, the potential target for the coin is about $74,000.

Therefore, Bitcoin will remain on edge as long as it is below that double-top pattern. This will, in turn, affect other altcoins that often move in the same direction as Bitcoin.

Moving above the double-top point at $108,100 will invalidate the bearish view and point to more gains, potentially to the psychological level at $110,000.

[PRESS RELEASE – San Francisco, United States, January 22nd, 2025]

Boba Network has announced the integration of Nucleus, a protocol designed for blockchain networks. This collaboration enables users bridging ETH, Liquidity Staking Tokens (LSTs), or Liquidity Reward Tokens (LRTs) to the Boba Network to engage with Ethereum mainnet functionalities while accessing various DeFi protocols, gaming platforms, and NFT marketplaces

The partnership aligns with Boba Network’s focus on scalability and user-focused development. The integration of Nucleus expands Boba Network’s ecosystem offerings, highlighting advancements in cross-chain functionality and composable infrastructure.

Enhancing Results Through Cohesion

1. ETH, LSTs, or LRTs bridged to Boba Network are integrated into the network’s system, facilitating seamless interaction with decentralized applications. This approach aims to optimize user engagement without additional complexity.
2. This version removes promotional language and references to financial benefits, focusing solely on functionality.
3. Frictionless Cross-Chain Operations
4. Secure interchain messaging protocols connect Ethereum Mainnet and Boba Network, enabling efficient yield aggregation. The flow of assets and rewards benefits from streamlined coordination between chains.
5. Composable Infrastructure
6. Smart contracts empower cross-chain deposits, withdrawals, and liquidity management. This allows developers to build robust decentralized applications that incorporate Nucleus’s functionality without added complexity.

Boba Network as a Foundation for Innovation

Boba Network’s advanced capabilities support Nucleus’s goal of integrating core functionalities into blockchain ecosystems.

• HybridCompute™
• Off-chain data computation at scale lowers costs and boosts performance for yield-bearing protocols.
• Account Abstraction
• Simplified user interactions reduce onboarding barriers and enhance overall accessibility.
• Low Transaction Costs
• Lower fees support high-volume user participation and provide a cost-effective environment for dApp developers.

This synergy bolsters ecosystem capabilities, drives the adoption of decentralized technology, and sets the stage for new market opportunities.

Aligning with Nucleus’s Mission

By deploying on Boba Network, Nucleus aims to integrate core functionality across multiple crypto networks. This approach supports ecosystem participation by leveraging Boba Network’s features, including speed, cost-efficiency, and access to a range of decentralized applications.

What the Integration Brings

• For Users: Convenient access to a variety of applications within the Boba Network ecosystem.
• For Developers: Tools and resources for integrating advanced features into decentralized applications to support innovative product development.
• For Ecosystems: Increased network activity supported by integrated functionalities, contributing to the ongoing development of blockchain technology.

Setting a New Standard for Blockchain Networks

The collaboration between Nucleus and Boba Network aims to integrate advanced network functionalities as a core feature rather than an additional option. This integration seeks to enhance the accessibility and utility of blockchain technology, supporting broader adoption and facilitating advancements in decentralized finance and related fields.

Users can learn more about Nucleus on Boba Network and experience how this integration is redefining blockchain networks.

About Nucleus

Nucleus is a protocol designed to integrate core functionalities at the foundational layer of blockchain ecosystems. By streamlining cross-chain operations and providing developers with tools for integrating advanced features, Nucleus aims to enhance how users interact with Web3 technologies.

About Boba Network

Boba Network is a multichain Layer 2 solution designed for scalability, low transaction costs, and enhanced developer capabilities. Through innovations such as HybridCompute™ and account abstraction, Boba Network supports diverse dApps spanning DeFi, gaming, and NFTs, aiming to bring the next wave of users into the blockchain space.

Website: https://boba.network

Twitter: @bobanetwork

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bobanetwork/

Although Bitcoin price action is still holding above the $100,000 price level, the past 24 hours have been highlighted by a 2.5% decline. According to liquidation data from Coinglass, this decline has seen $65.47 million worth of positions liquidated, with the majority ($54.10 million) being long positions. 

Crypto analyst Kevin (Kev_Capital_TA) noted a significant range between $96,000 and $111,000, calling it the most pivotal zone on Bitcoin’s liquidation heatmap. This zone could determine the market’s next trajectory after months of back and forth movement trading between this range.

Bitcoin’s Liquidity Heatmap Highlights Key Levels

According to Kevin’s analysis, which he posted on social media platform X, large liquidity blocks dominate the range between $96,000 and $111,000, which has created an important zone for Bitcoin traders to keep an eye on.

Related Reading

Liquidity heatmaps visualize areas where buy and sell orders accumulate, often serving as potential reversal or breakout points. The presence of significant liquidity in this range suggests that the market could experience heightened volatility once Bitcoin approaches these levels, and inexperienced investors could be caught up in the price action.

The liquidity blocks within this range are highlighted in green in the Bitcoin price chart below. These green zones are high-activity zones that act as a magnet for price action. Notably, the largest liquidity cluster lies near $109,700, slightly above Bitcoin’s current all-time high of $108,786, achieved just three days ago. This proximity to this all-time high means that Bitcoin could undergo another strong price action once it reaches this level. There are many market participants with buy and sell orders here around $109,700.

Bitcoin Needs To Break Above its Prolonged Sideways Trading

Kevin also pointed out Bitcoin’s extended period of sideways trading, which has tested the patience of many investors. He noted that Bitcoin traded sideways for eight months at the end of 2024, followed by a brief surge in price, only to return to another three-month period of low volatility.

Related Reading

Since then, however, the strong bullish momentum has yet to repeat itself. Although long-term holders may still be in profit, short-term traders are feeling the most strain from the lack of any substantial upward price action.

The first step in repeating bullish momentum would be to break above the upper end of the liquidation zone at $110,000. 

If Bitcoin breaches this range, it could trigger a significant rally or sell-off depending on the prevailing sentiment and trading activity within the zone.

However, the lack of liquidity beyond these levels also poses risks, especially below the lower end of the zone. The thinner orders means there isn’t enough hold up liquidity to reject a price breakdown.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $102,200, down by 2.8% in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

It took institutions over a decade to take bitcoin (BTC) seriously as an investment vehicle, even though well-known financial pioneers had embraced the largest cryptocurrency on the market years earlier.

But not even one year after the launch of the spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which saw adoption from pension funds, hedge funds and even universities, one issuer is taking it a step further.

The latest filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission aim to bring meme coin ETFs — such as those tracking dogecoin (DOGE) or U.S. President Donald Trump’s Trump coin (TRUMP) — to the market.

This isn’t just a bold move because DOGE and TRUMP are far less established and legitimate tokens, especially in Wall Street’s eyes, but meme coins provide no actual utility, unlike bitcoin or Ethereum’s ether (ETH). Their value simply comes from how much people believe it is worth making the launch of an ETF tracking the coins an ethical debate.

“Opinions vary greatly on the value of meme coins. I fail to see their long-term value, but others have different opinions,” said James Angel, faculty affiliate at Georgetown University’s McDonough’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. “However, a sponsor of an ETF based on meme coins needs to be very careful in the marketing of the ETF. It would be highly unethical to market such an ETF as a prudent investment vehicle.”

Steve McClurg, former CEO of Valkyrie and founder Canary Capital, a hedge fund that has applied for several non-meme coin crypto ETFs, said he is personally not a fan of memecoin ETFs and that while the firm considered filing an application, it ultimately decided not to.

“I don’t know how you can be a fiduciary who runs an ETF knowing that the basis of your underlying [asset] is meant and designed to go to zero,” he said. Although meme coins aren’t technically designed to go to zero, they are highly susceptible to collapsing once the hype around them dies down.

Nevertheless, he believes that memecoin ETFs will eventually be approved. The former SEC under Chair Gary Gensler, who resigned on Monday after Trump became President, has so far approved several spot bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs but refused to acknowledge a potential Solana (SOL) ETF, for which several issuers had filed initial documents.

More than 30 other applications are still pending, three of them being tied to memecoins.

“It’s very hard for the SEC where the President chooses the commissioners to deny a meme coin put out by the President,” he said.

Meme coins have long divided the crypto community. Some find them fun to trade, as they can quickly bring in a large profit through so-called pump-and-dumps, but others find them troubling, especially when issued by the country’s president.

“Call me old fashioned but I think presidents should focus on running the country and not launching scam tokens,” said Nic Carter, crypto influencer and venture capitalist, in a post on X. Carter has been a vocal Trump supporter.

Carter believes that there are multiple conflicts of interest when presidents start or run a business, let alone launch a cryptocurrency or DeFi protocol that they set policy for. Newly inaugurated President Donald Trump last year introduced a crypto lending platform called World Liberty Financial.

Stablecoin issuer Circle has introduced a new feature called Circle Paymaster, enabling users to pay gas fees using the USDC stablecoin.

The USDC (USDC) issuer said in an announcement that the on-chain utility solution Circle Paymaster was now live on Arbitrum and Base, two leading Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 solutions. 

With this product, users on the L2s can now use USDC rather than ETH when paying for transaction fees.

In the crypto market, blockchain users need transaction fees often paid via a chain’s native token. This gas fees requirement has typically meant users must hold tokens such as Ether and others on-chain, with transaction failures likely when one has no funds to cover gas fees.

Paymaster removes this challenge by allowing users to pay with USDC, removing the need for one to have the required native token.‍ The feature is permissionless and composable, which means developers can work with any wallet compatible with the ERC-4337 token standard.

Circle’s launch of Paymaster adds to the company’s Gas Station offering.

While Paymaster users utilize their USDC to pay for gas fees, Gas Station allows developers to pay for gas costs for users. Developers who sign up for the Gas Station feature offer a gasless experience for users across their decentralized applications. 

Gas Station works with Circle’s programmable wallets and requires developers to create a Circle Console account.

Circle will expand access to Paymaster beyond Arbitrum and Base in coming months, with additional networks including Ethereum, Solana and Polygon PoS.

Transaction charges across Paymaster will be 10% of gas fees per transaction. However, Circle is waiving this charge until June 30, 2025 to incentivize adoption.

US President Donald Trump’s surprising launch of the Official Trump (TRUMP) meme coin fueled a frenzy as fans and day traders pushed billions of dollars in trading volume. A day later, First Lady Melania Trump joined the trend with her own meme coin, Official Melania (MELANIA), which added to the cryptocurrency craze.

But the result was damaging. Both the meme coins crashed soon. In fact, TRUMP and MELANIA coins were still down by over 50% and 80% since their peaks, respectively.

TRUMP, MELANIA On-Chain Activity

Recent findings from Chainalysis reveal a sharp contrast in the distribution and profitability of TRUMP and MELANIA token holders. While the majority of wallets containing TRUMP are retail buyers with small holdings, a select group of whales has seen significant gains. Approximately 50 wallets have realized profits of more than $10 million at the wallet level, which essentially depicted the outsized influence of these early or high-volume investors.

On-chain data from Chainalysis Reactor shows that after the minting of 1 billion TRUMP tokens, four wallets received the majority of the supply. This stash was either for direct holding or to provide liquidity on exchanges. Despite the concentrated distributions, the broader holder base largely consists of retail investors.

As of January 21, most wallets holding TRUMP or MELANIA contained less than $100 in tokens, which is indicative of widespread but modest retail interest. Over 80% of these investors hold under $1,000 in assets on the Solana blockchain, and half are new to Solana altcoins, creating wallets specifically to purchase TRUMP or MELANIA.

While retail participation is high, profits remain modest for most. Over 77% of wallets holding TRUMP have realized gains of less than $100. However, the dominance of whales continues, with 40 wallets holding over $10 million in TRUMP or MELANIA tokens, accounting for 94% of the total supply.

Increased Scrutiny

Despite the popularity of the two tokens, the move by the President and his wife has attracted significant criticism.

James Thurber, the founder and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, accused Trump of using his pro-cryptocurrency advocacy as a personal profit-making strategy. In a statement to the Guardian, Thurber said,

“There are shameful and major conflicts of interest with respect to his family business benefiting from his cryptocurrency policies. (Trump) does not seem to worry about the public interest with respect to cryptocurrency. He seems to be driven by profit and wanting to be a major part of the billionaire class in the US.”

Meanwhile, FinTAX’s comprehensive analysis observed that there are legal, tax, and political risks for the TRUMP meme coin. Key concerns include SEC regulatory scrutiny (using the Howey Test), tax compliance challenges with 80% token ownership, and potential political finance violations. Risks include possible security classification, tax complications from token unlocking, and potential disruption of political donation norms.