Bitcoin climbed above $73,000 on Monday even as U.S.-Iran peace talks collapsed in Islamabad over the weekend and President Trump ordered a blockade of ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz en route to Iranian ports.

The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization is trading at roughly $73,113, per CoinGecko, up about 2.8% over the past 24 hours. Ether gained approximately 2.5% to $2,254. The total crypto market capitalization increased 2% to $2.55 trillion, per CoinMarketCap, while Bitcoin dominance approached 60% for the first time since early March.

The geopolitical flare-up followed 21 hours of negotiations in Pakistan that ended without an agreement between the two sides. Trump announced the Hormuz blockade on Sunday, reportedly allowing passage only for ships bound for U.S. ally ports.

Oil prices briefly surged roughly 9% to $105 per barrel on the news, but have since settled to around $98.

Bitcoin open interest sat at $54.9 billion, per CoinGlass. Roughly $297 million in crypto positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with shorts bearing the brunt.

ETF Flows Turn Positive

Despite the geopolitical turbulence, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs posted a net inflow of $786 million last week, per SoSoValue, bringing total net assets to $95 billion.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs also saw $187 million in net inflows last week, with BlackRock’s ETHA contributing $168 million. Four ETH spot ETFs posted positive flows. Total ETH ETF net assets stood at $12.96 billion.

Altcoin Movers

RaveDAO (RAVE) was the standout performer, surging about 97% in 24 hours, capping a 1,000%+ weekly rally. Meanwhile, AAVE and Hyperliquid (HYPE) gained about 6%.

Among major altcoins, Solana gained 2.4% to $84, XRP added 1.3% to $1.35, and BNB rose 2.5% to $608, per CoinGecko.

On the downside, Polkadot’s DOT slipped 5% to $1.19 after a bridge exploit involving the Polkadot-Ethereum Hyperbridge gateway.

TLDR:

• NEAR Protocol currently trades at a 28x P/S ratio, far below Ethereum’s 194x and Solana’s 40x multiples.
  
• The NEAR Intents fee buyback mechanism, live since February 2025, uses 100% of fees to buy NEAR directly.
  
• Daily Intents volume must reach $177M for NEAR to turn net deflationary, versus the current $77M average.
  
• A 40x P/S applied to projected fees of $150–180M annually puts NEAR’s price target between $4.65 and $5.60.

NEAR Protocol is drawing renewed attention from crypto analysts as its current price of $1.39 appears disconnected from its underlying fundamentals.

Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe recently outlined a detailed case for why the asset could reach $3–5 in the coming months.

The analysis covers token supply dynamics, staking rates, revenue generation, and the growing volume on NEAR Intents — a fee-buyback mechanism activated in February 2025.

Token Supply and Revenue Support a Repricing Case

NEAR Protocol has seen meaningful changes to its tokenomics following 2025 protocol updates. The network now issues approximately 32 million tokens annually at a 2.5% inflation rate.

That marks a 50% reduction from previous issuance levels. Combined with 99% of tokens already in circulation, there is minimal sell pressure from remaining unlocks.

Around 45.5% of the total supply is currently staked, further tightening available supply on the open market. On the revenue side, NEAR generates an estimated $50–60 million annually.

This figure is derived from the recent 90-day fee run rate. The base-layer gas fee model operates on a 70/30 split, where 70% of fees are permanently burned.

Van de Poppe noted in his post: “NEAR is about to break upwards to $3–4 and it fully deserves it. This is a prime example of an asset severely underpriced in current market conditions.”

Compared to Ethereum’s price-to-sales ratio of 194x and Solana’s 40x, NEAR currently trades at an Intents-adjusted P/S of just 28x. That gap points to a potential repricing as platform activity increases and volume metrics improve over time.

NEAR Intents Volume Drives the Deflationary Threshold Thesis

NEAR Intents forms the core of the protocol’s updated economic model. Launched in February 2025, it directs 100% of Intents fees toward direct NEAR token purchases. For the protocol to become net deflationary, daily Intents volume must reach approximately $177 million.

The current 90-day average sits at $77 million per day. That means volume needs to roughly double to cross the deflationary threshold.

Over the past 30 days, Intents recorded $2.1 billion in volume, which annualizes to approximately $25 billion. That trajectory has accelerated since the mechanism went live.

Van de Poppe applied a conservative 50–100% compound annual growth rate to project future performance. Under that model, daily volume could reach $100–150 million by end of 2026. By 2027, the figure could exceed $200–300 million, pushing NEAR firmly into net deflationary territory.

Applying a 40x P/S ratio to projected annual fees of $150–180 million places NEAR’s price target at $4.65–$5.60. At a higher growth scenario, the analyst sees a $7–10 valuation as achievable within 12 months, based strictly on current volume momentum and fee metrics.

• AAVE price rallies toward $100 after strong governance-driven momentum.
• Aave protocol shifts to a token-centric model with revenue flowing to holders.
• $90 is a key support for continuation or pullback risk.

The Aave DAO on Sunday approved the “Aave Will Win” proposal, a governance framework that has quickly reshaped how the protocol is expected to operate going forward.

The approval ended months of internal debate and set a clear direction for the ecosystem, where all application-level revenue will now be directed toward the token economy.

This shift strengthens the role of the AAVE token within its own network, and it has triggered a noticeable reaction in both price and market sentiment.

At the time of writing, AAVE was trading just under the $95 level after a strong 24-hour move that saw it briefly touch highs near $98.

Although the token remains well below its all-time high, it outperformed the broader crypto market on Monday, suggesting that traders are responding directly to the governance outcome rather than general market momentum.

The “Aave Will Win” governance overhaul

The approval of the “Aave Will Win” framework is more than a routine governance update.

It represents a structural change in how value is distributed within the protocol.

By routing all application and product revenue toward the token ecosystem, the DAO has effectively tied AAVE’s long-term performance to the growth of its own services.

This shift has been widely interpreted as a move toward a more token-centric model, where holders are no longer passive participants but direct beneficiaries of protocol activity.

That change in narrative has played a key role in the recent price surge, as it strengthens the argument that AAVE’s valuation should reflect its underlying usage more closely than before.

Alongside the revenue decision, the DAO also approved a funding package for Aave Labs.

The allocation includes stablecoin funding and a long-term token grant designed to support ongoing development.

This helps reduce uncertainty around future product expansion and ensures that the core development team has the resources needed to continue building, including upcoming upgrades and institution-focused features.

The combination of revenue alignment and development funding has created a cleaner separation of roles within the ecosystem where AAVE token holders gain revenue exposure, while builders receive structured funding for execution.

AAVE price outlook: $100 emerges as the key psychological level

From a market perspective, the AAVE price is now sitting at a critical point.

The recent rally has brought price action into a tight resistance zone between the mid-$90s and the upper $90s, an area where sellers have historically stepped in.

As a result, the next meaningful level that traders should watch is the $100 mark, which also aligns with recent technical projections and moving average targets.

Support remains firm around the low $90s, with deeper protection closer to the $80 range based on historical price behaviour.

As long as the token holds above these zones, market analysis shows that the short-term momentum remains intact.

However, the real test lies in whether bulls can push the AAVE price beyond the current resistance cluster and sustain it.

A move above $100 would likely confirm continuation of the current trend and open the door toward higher resistance levels in the $110 to $120 range.

On the other hand, failure to break through could result in another period of consolidation, especially given that the token has spent much of the past year in a broader downtrend despite recent gains.

The AI jobs data inside Stanford HAI’s 2026 AI Index, released Monday, confirms what many entry-level workers have been experiencing: employment for software developers aged 22 to 25 has fallen nearly 20 percent since late 2022, the exact moment generative AI tools entered mainstream use.

As MIT Technology Review noted in its coverage of the index, “the job market is struggling to keep up” with AI development. The Stanford study underpinning the finding used ADP payroll records tracking millions of workers at tens of thousands of companies from 2021 through 2025, one of the largest labor datasets applied to the AI employment question. Researchers, led by Erik Brynjolfsson, were able to rule out alternative explanations including remote work patterns, COVID-era hiring, and broader macroeconomic shifts, leaving the correlation with AI exposure as the most consistent explanation for the divergence between young and older workers in the same roles.

The productivity gains AI is delivering in software development are showing up in the same fields where young employment is contracting. AI can now code for hours at a time and handle basic programming faster and with fewer errors than it could when ChatGPT launched in late 2022.

The mechanism is structural. Young developers enter the workforce with textbook knowledge, the coding syntax and basic algorithms taught in computer science programs. That is precisely what AI tools are best at replicating. Experienced developers carry tacit knowledge, system thinking, and organizational context that AI cannot replicate from a prompt. The result is that AI is not replacing developers in general; it is replacing the entry-level layer that has historically served as the apprenticeship model for the profession. Stanford computer science professor Jan Liphardt described it plainly: graduates are “struggling to find entry-level jobs” in “a dramatic reversal from three years ago.”

What the Pattern Looks Like Across Other Professions

The divergence is not limited to software. Customer service representatives, accountants, and administrative assistants all showed the same age-based split, with workers aged 22 to 25 losing ground while experienced workers in the same companies held steady. Employment for nursing aides and production supervisors, occupations where AI augments rather than replaces human judgment and physical presence, grew faster for young workers than for older ones over the same period.

What This Means for the Labor Market Through 2026

The Stanford index also found that AI is boosting productivity by 14 percent in customer service and 26 percent in software development, and that a third of organizations expect AI to shrink their workforce in the coming year, particularly in service and software. Those sectors are the same ones where the young worker employment decline is already documented, creating a feedback loop between rising AI capability, documented productivity gains, and declining entry-level hiring that the 2026 data shows is already underway rather than still projected.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a staff statement that clarifies how broker-dealer regulations may apply to software interfaces that facilitate crypto transactions, particularly when users rely on self-custodial wallets. The guidance suggests that, in certain circumstances, these interfaces may not require registration as broker-dealers.

Released by the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, the staff statement explains that interfaces designed to assist users engaging in user-initiated crypto asset securities transactions on blockchain protocols using the user’s own self-custodial wallet may qualify for an exemption from broker-dealer registration. The key caveats are that the interface must not solicit investors to engage in specific crypto asset securities transactions, should not provide commentary on potential execution routes displayed to a user, and must meet other limited conditions. The document is intended to clarify how federal securities laws apply to activities involving crypto asset securities and to reduce ambiguity in a rapidly evolving space.

The staff statement is not the same as a formal rule proposed for public comment and review, but the SEC framed it as a way to bring more predictable application of securities laws to crypto-related activities. It arrives as part of a broader wave of guidance issued after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2025, a period observers characterized as bringing a friendlier posture toward the crypto industry and, in turn, shaping leadership dynamics at the commission and related agencies.

In a contemporaneous public discourse around the topic, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce emphasized that while staff guidance can be useful, a more durable regulatory framework is preferable. She noted the tension between evolving market realities and how the securities laws are interpreted, emphasizing the need for a clear, stable broker-dealer definition that reflects current market structures. “Crypto is forcing the Commission to confront its inner demons that have driven it toward ever more expansive readings of the securities laws,” Peirce remarked in a speech linked to the commission’s statements.

Key takeaways

• The SEC’s staff statement clarifies that certain interfaces enabling user-initiated crypto asset transactions with self-custodial wallets may avoid broker-dealer registration under specific conditions.
• Two principal constraints matter: the interface must not solicit investors to engage in particular crypto asset securities transactions and must not provide commentary on potential execution routes shown to users.
• The guidance is advisory in nature, not a formal rule, but it aims to reduce uncertainty around how federal securities laws apply to crypto asset activities.
• The development comes amid a broader post-inauguration regulatory environment that some observers view as gentler toward crypto, though leadership at the SEC and CFTC remains constrained by staffing and partisan balance.

Staff guidance and what it changes for participants

At the core of the staff statement is a delineation of when a crypto-transaction interface might be treated as a simple tool rather than a broker-dealer. Interfaces that assist users in initiating crypto asset transactions directly with their own wallets, without making tailored investment recommendations or steering users toward particular assets, may fall outside the broker-dealer registration regime. This distinction matters for developers, wallet providers, and platforms that build user experiences around crypto trading and custody.

Nevertheless, the SEC underscored that the analysis hinges on behavior and presentation. If an interface crosses the line into soliciting investments or actively commenting on execution options—essentially guiding a user through a specific trading path—the broker-dealer registration requirements could become relevant. The note also cautions that other circumstances could push a given interface back into the registration framework, indicating a nuanced, fact-specific inquiry rather than a binary rule.

While officials characterized the staff statement as only one piece of a broader regulatory conversation, the document offers market participants a roadmap for evaluating new user-interface designs. For developers and exchanges exploring new front-end experiences, the guidance signals a need to separate informational and execution-related content from any product that could be construed as facilitating a securities transaction or steering a user toward a particular asset.

For investors and users, the guidance provides a signal that not every wallet-driven interface will trigger regulated broker-dealer activity. It also reinforces the importance of independent custody and the potential legal distinctions between a user’s wallet and an intermediary that might otherwise be treated as an active broker-dealer under the securities laws.

Regulatory leadership and market implications

The staff statement arrives amid a broader political context in which regulatory leadership remains sparse and politically aligned. Following President Trump’s early-2025 nominations, some observers have described the transition as introducing a friendlier stance toward crypto, even as the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) continue to navigate staffing constraints. The article notes that, at the SEC, three Republican commissioners remain on the five-member commission, while the CFTC faced leadership vacancies, with the chair position tied to a Republican appointment during this period.

In parallel, lawmakers have floated ideas to ensure regulators have adequate staffing to supervise market activity. A proposed provision attached to a Senate market-structure bill would require a minimum level of staffing at the SEC and CFTC before the legislation can take effect. The move underscores a sense among lawmakers that effective oversight depends not only on rulemaking but also on the practical resources available to agencies enforcing those rules.

Industry participants are watching closely how these dynamics unfold. For platform builders, the principal takeaway is that there will be ongoing attention to the line between everyday crypto wallet functionality and activities that could be regulated as traditional securities trading. For traders and users, the evolving landscape could influence the design of future interfaces, including how risk disclosures, execution options, and governance features are presented in wallet-based experiences.

What to watch next

Key questions remain: Will the SEC publish more formal rulemaking around the broker-dealer definition that clarifies or codifies these thresholds for crypto interfaces? How will the agency balance enforcement and innovation as more self-custody solutions emerge? And as staffing and leadership evolve at the SEC and CFTC, will there be a clearer, more durable framework guiding how crypto asset securities of various kinds are offered, traded, or described to investors?

For market participants, the central takeaway is that the landscape continues to shift toward greater clarity but not yet certainty. Interfaces that merely present information, without steering investors toward particular assets or execution possibilities, may escape broker-dealer registration under the current staff view. Those that provide strategic commentary or actively solicit participation in specific securities transactions, however, could fall under traditional securities regulations. As the regulatory tide changes, developers and platforms should design with an emphasis on neutrality, user autonomy, and transparent disclosure to navigate the evolving rules with less friction.

Readers should keep an eye on forthcomingSEC statements and any formal rulemaking that may follow. The balance between fostering innovation and protecting investors is likely to shape the next phase of crypto regulation in the United States.

Stay tuned for updates on how these interpretations evolve and which interfaces might be reclassified as the regulatory framework matures.

The slide that began Saturday night, after Vice President J.D. Vance left Pakistan without securing a peace deal in Iran, has, for the moment, somewhat reversed.

After falling to as low as $70,500 at one point Sunday, the price of bitcoin has bounced back to $72,100 during U.S. Monday morning trading hours. Helping were reports suggesting Iran was considering the abandonment of its enriched uranium as a concession towards ending the war.

U.S. stocks have also reversed big early losses, the Nasdaq now higher by 0.3% after sliding more than 1%.

Meanwhile, the promised U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — scheduled for 10 am ET — has apparently gone into effect.

“Security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for NO ONE,” the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting reported Monday. “NO PORT in the region will be safe,” based on a statement from Iran’s military and the Revolutionary Guards.

Crypto-related stocks are on the move higher as well, led by a 8.3% gain for stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL). Coinbase (COIN) is up 3.1% and Strategy (MSTR) by 1.5%.

Read more: Strategy buys 13,927 bitcoin for $1 billion, entirely through STRC

Does lightning strike twice?

Bitcoin has now been consolidating for 67 days since its local bottom on Feb. 5 at $60,000, almost identical to the 68-day consolidation period between Nov. 21 and Jan. 28, which preceded a sharp drop from roughly $90,000 to $60,000 in the span of a week. Bears anticipate a similar outcome, which may include a retest of the 200-week moving average around $60,000.

A two week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran wiped out $600 million in short positions and pushed BTC past $72,700 in hours. One headline erased weeks of fear in a single flash, and the new cryptocurrency conversation is no longer about which token might move, it is about which entry catches the wave first and turns it into real wealth.

While SOL and BNB grind higher from multi billion dollar caps, the wallets that spotted the clearest path to life changing returns are loading Pepeto because a working exchange, a confirmed Binance listing, and $8.9 million in committed capital make this the one setup nobody building a serious portfolio can afford to walk past.

New Cryptocurrency Capital Flows Jump After Ceasefire Triggers $600M in Forced Selling

BTC jumped to $72,700 after President Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran, triggering $600 million in forced crypto position closures with over $400 million from short sellers per CoinDesk.

Oil dropped more than 10% easing inflation fears per Bloomberg. When one headline wipes $600 million in bearish bets off the board, every fresh token with a confirmed catalyst catches the wave of capital that follows.

SOL at $82.16, BNB at $592, and Pepeto at $8.9M: Where the Real Move Starts

Pepeto: The Entry You Either Catch Today or Miss Forever

While the ceasefire sent capital flooding back into risk assets, the presale already holding more than $8.9 million stands to multiply that capital the fastest, and here is why: every other new cryptocurrency presale is selling you a promise and a timeline, but Pepeto is not asking you to imagine anything because the product is already live, already running, and already protecting the capital inside it.

The risk scanner catches every bad contract before you buy so projects built to steal get blocked before your money ever leaves your wallet, and PepetoSwap charges nothing on any trade so your gains stay whole instead of shrinking across dozens of positions.

The creator of the original Pepe coin, the meme token that hit $11 billion with zero products behind it, built Pepeto on the same 420 trillion supply with SolidProof going through every contract line by line. More than $8.9 million came in while fear dominated the entire market, and the wallets inside are not hoping for a lucky break.

They did the research, saw what was built, and moved with conviction while everyone else waited for clarity that never comes until it is too late. Staking pays 185% APY, growing your tokens daily while the listing gets closer and closer.

At $0.000000186 per token, analysts project 100x to 300x from the Binance listing alone. Picture what that means in real money you can hold: $2,000 today turns into $200,000 at the low end and $600,000 if the full target hits. This kind of setup does not come around twice in the same cycle, and it does not wait for the people who need another week to decide.

Today is the day that matters, not tomorrow, not next week, because the entry available right now will not exist in a few days. Every person who built real wealth from early crypto says the exact same thing: I moved today instead of coming back tomorrow, and that one choice made all the difference between watching and owning. The listing ends this price, and it does not come back.

SOL (Solana)

SOL trades near $82.16 with a $40 billion cap, 65% below its all time high per CoinMarketCap. The Alpenglow upgrade targets one second finality, but even a full recovery to $200 delivers 138%, returns that take the full year from a cap that limits rally speed.

BNB (Binance Coin)

BNB trades near $592 with a $80 billion cap per CoinMarketCap. The Binance ecosystem generates steady fee revenue and BNB burns cut supply.

But the strongest return sits at presale pricing, not at $80 billion needing massive inflows just to double.

Conclusion

SOL carries the speed upgrades and BNB holds the exchange revenue story, both are credible long term plays for patient money. But wealth in crypto has never come from patience with large caps. Wealth comes from one entry, at one moment, before the listing forces the entire market to pay what you already hold. That moment is Pepeto, right now.

The creator of the $11 billion Pepe token built a working exchange, SolidProof signed every contract, a Binance veteran runs the build, and $8.9 million from the most informed wallets in the market already filled this presale while retail sat on the sideline frozen by fear.

$2,000 inside Pepeto at 100x becomes $200,000. At 300x it becomes $600,000. SOL needs to triple just to get you 138%. BNB needs massive volume just to double from $80 billion. The math is not close, and the math is what builds wealth, not hope. The Pepeto official website is where you get in before the listing opens, and once it does, this price becomes the one thing every person who waited kicks themselves for missing.

You can watch SOL and BNB grind out gains over the next year, or you can be the person who caught the listing that changed everything. One of those stories ends with wealth. The other ends with regret.

Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale

FAQs

Why does the Iran ceasefire matter for the crypto market right now?

The ceasefire pushed BTC past $72,700, and the new cryptocurrency closest to listing catches that returning capital before large caps absorb it.

Is SOL or BNB a better hold than a presale entry?

Both deliver steady returns from large caps, but a presale to listing move from the Pepeto official website delivers gains SOL and BNB need years to match.

What makes Pepeto the strongest new cryptocurrency presale this cycle?

Pepeto built by the Pepe creator with SolidProof audits, more than $8.9 million raised, and a confirmed Binance listing delivers returns large cap entries take full cycles to produce.

Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.