Crypto World
FanDuel Alternative Searches Keep Climbing and ZunaBet Is at the Center of the Conversation
There is a pattern forming in the online gambling market that is difficult to ignore. Players are searching for alternatives to the platforms they already know, and they are doing it in increasing numbers. FanDuel, long considered one of the pillars of the industry, is one of the brands most frequently appearing alongside the word “alternative” in search queries. This does not indicate that FanDuel has suddenly become a bad product. It indicates that the market around it has expanded and that players now have access to options that challenge the assumptions FanDuel was built on. Chief among those options is ZunaBet, a crypto-native casino and sportsbook that entered the market in 2026 with a platform so feature-rich that it immediately inserted itself into the conversation about where online gambling is heading next.
FanDuel: A Brand That Defined an Era
FanDuel helped shape what modern online gambling looks like in the United States. Its origin in daily fantasy sports gave it a head start in building a massive, engaged user base before the sports betting wave hit. When state-by-state legalization began opening the door to real-money wagering, FanDuel was ready. It expanded into sports betting and online casino gaming with speed and confidence, securing licenses across multiple states and locking in partnerships with some of the biggest names in professional sports.
Today, FanDuel operates a sportsbook that covers the full spectrum of American professional and college sports alongside international events in football, tennis, golf, motorsports, and more. Its casino section provides a solid collection of slots, table games, and live dealer experiences. The mobile app performs reliably and ranks consistently among the top gambling downloads in app stores. Brand awareness is extraordinarily high thanks to years of sustained advertising investment.
The payment experience on FanDuel reflects the era in which the platform matured. Bank transfers, debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and other established methods handle the movement of funds. These are familiar options that work without confusion for most users, even if they come with the processing times and transaction fees that are inherent to traditional financial systems.
FanDuel built a strong product for the conditions that existed when it grew. It optimized for US regulatory compliance, traditional payment accessibility, and broad mainstream appeal. Those were the right priorities at the time. But conditions have changed. Players now hold crypto. They expect instant transfers. They want game libraries that seem bottomless. They want loyalty programs that feel personal and exciting. The platforms meeting those new expectations do not look much like FanDuel, and that divergence is what is driving the search trend.
ZunaBet: A Platform That Arrived Ready
ZunaBet did not launch as a work in progress. When it went live in 2026, the platform presented a fully realized product that rivaled operators with years of additional runway. It is owned by Strathvale Group Ltd, managed by a team carrying more than two decades of collective industry experience, and licensed through an Anjouan gaming authority with registration in Belize. Every element of the platform reflects a deliberate decision to build for the crypto-native audience first and expand from there.
The game library is the most immediate evidence of that ambition. ZunaBet opened with 11,294 games drawn from 63 separate providers. That is not a goal or a projection. That is the number available to players from the first day. The providers contributing to this catalog include Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming, Yggdrasil, BGaming, and a long list of additional studios that collectively ensure there is no gap in the offering. Slots naturally dominate the count, but the library extends meaningfully into RNG table games covering blackjack, roulette, baccarat, and poker variants, as well as a live dealer section that delivers the kind of real-time, studio-quality experience that has become essential for modern casino platforms.
The practical effect of having over 11,000 games is that players never hit a wall. Discovery remains part of the experience for weeks and months rather than days. New providers and titles keep the catalog fresh, and the sheer volume means that even players with very specific preferences — whether that is a particular slot mechanic, a niche table game, or a specific live dealer format — are likely to find exactly what they want without compromise.
ZunaBet pairs this casino depth with a sportsbook that stands on its own merits. Coverage extends across football, basketball, tennis, NHL, combat sports, and virtual sports. Esports receives dedicated and comprehensive treatment with betting markets on CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant. This is a meaningful distinction from traditional platforms that either overlook esports entirely or offer a token handful of markets. Competitive gaming is not a passing trend. It is a global entertainment category with an audience that overlaps heavily with the demographic most likely to gamble online using cryptocurrency. ZunaBet recognized this overlap and built accordingly.
Cryptocurrency sits at the center of the payment experience. The platform accepts more than 20 coins and tokens including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT on multiple blockchain networks, Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, and XRP. No processing fees are charged by the platform on any deposit or withdrawal. Speed is a defining feature — blockchain settlement means funds move in minutes rather than days, without the dependency on banking hours that traditional systems impose. Because ZunaBet was conceived as a crypto platform from its earliest design stages, there is no friction between the payment layer and the rest of the user experience. Everything flows from the same foundational logic.
The welcome offer provides up to $5,000 plus 75 free spins split across three deposits. The first deposit qualifies for a 100% match up to $2,000 and 25 free spins. The second delivers a 50% match up to $1,500 with another 25 spins. The third closes the package with a 100% match up to $1,500 and a final 25 spins. The multi-deposit structure serves a practical purpose beyond generosity. It gives players a reason to return after their first session, explore more of the library, and develop a relationship with the platform over time rather than treating it as a one-visit destination.
Technically, ZunaBet operates on HTML5 with a dark interface theme, fast load times, and responsive design that adapts seamlessly across screen sizes. Native applications are available for iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS. Live chat support runs continuously, covering every hour of every day without interruption.
Crypto Infrastructure vs Traditional Payment Systems
The difference between crypto and traditional payment platforms in online gambling is not a minor technical detail. It is a core experience differentiator that affects how players interact with a platform during every single session.
Traditional payment infrastructure routes money through banks, card networks, and digital wallet services. Each intermediary in that chain introduces potential delays and costs. Deposit processing can be near-instant for some methods but slower for others. Withdrawals almost universally involve waiting periods that range from hours to several business days depending on the method selected, the day of the week, and any verification requirements the platform imposes. Transaction fees appear at various points — some charged by the platform, some by the payment provider, some by the player’s bank.
Crypto infrastructure operates on fundamentally different principles. Transactions settle on decentralized blockchain networks that run continuously. There are no business hours. There are no intermediary banks holding funds in pending status. When a player deposits Bitcoin or Solana into their ZunaBet account, the transaction confirms on the blockchain and the funds become available in minutes. Withdrawals follow the same path in reverse with comparable speed. The platform adds no fees of its own to any transaction.
This is not just faster. It is structurally different in ways that compound over time. A player who makes fifty deposits and fifty withdrawals over the course of a year saves meaningful amounts of both time and money on a crypto platform compared to a traditional one. Those savings are not theoretical. They accumulate in real terms with every transaction.
ZunaBet’s decision to build entirely on crypto infrastructure rather than bolting it onto a traditional system means the experience is consistent from end to end. There is no secondary payment path creating a disjointed experience. Every player interacts with the same streamlined, fee-free, fast-settlement system regardless of which specific cryptocurrency they choose to use.
Dragon Evolution vs Points Collection
The standard online casino loyalty program has not changed in any meaningful way in well over a decade. The formula is simple and universal — wager money to earn points, accumulate enough points to claim a reward, repeat indefinitely. It works as a basic retention mechanism, but it generates almost no emotional engagement. Players participate because the rewards exist, not because the process of earning them is interesting or enjoyable in any way.
ZunaBet designed its loyalty program to be an experience in itself. The dragon evolution system includes six progression tiers that each carry their own identity and reward structure. Squire begins at 1% rakeback. Warden increases to 2%. Champion reaches 4%. Divine climbs to 5%. Knight jumps significantly to 10%. Ultimate reaches the ceiling at 20% rakeback. At each tier, additional benefits unlock — free spins that scale from modest allocations at lower levels to 1,000 at the top, VIP club access, and double wheel spins. Tying the entire system together is Zuno, a dragon mascot that visually transforms as the player progresses upward through the ranks.
The structure mirrors the progression systems found in modern video games. There are defined levels with visible thresholds. Advancing feels like an achievement rather than an arbitrary accounting milestone. The rewards escalate meaningfully enough that reaching the next tier always feels worthwhile. And the visual evolution of the Zuno character gives players a tangible representation of their journey that a number on a screen simply cannot replicate.
This approach works because it aligns with how a large and growing portion of the gambling audience already thinks about engagement. Players who grew up with leveling systems, achievement badges, and progression-based unlocks in games understand this structure intuitively. It feels natural. It feels rewarding. And it gives them a reason to remain engaged with the platform beyond any individual session or bet.
What the Numbers Are Saying
The continued growth in searches for FanDuel alternatives tells a straightforward story about a market in transition. FanDuel built its position during a specific phase of the industry’s development and it built well. That position is not under immediate threat. The brand, the licenses, the user base, and the financial backing ensure that FanDuel will remain relevant for years.
But relevance and momentum are different things. The momentum in online gambling right now belongs to platforms that are solving the problems players actually talk about — slow payments, limited game variety, uninspiring loyalty programs, and a lack of crypto integration. ZunaBet addresses every one of those issues with solutions that are not incremental improvements but fundamental rethinks of how each element should work.
The players driving the search trend are not nostalgic for something old. They are looking forward. They want a platform that matches the speed, variety, and digital fluency they experience in every other area of their online lives. ZunaBet was built from the ground up to be that platform. It arrived with the game library of a veteran operator, the payment infrastructure of a blockchain-native fintech company, and a loyalty system that finally makes progression feel like something worth caring about. Every week, more players discover it. Every week, the search numbers confirm that discovery is accelerating. The trajectory is clear, and ZunaBet is riding it.
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.
Crypto World
Mysterious Crypto PAC Receives Massive Contributions From US Commerce Secretary’s Old Firm
The Fellowship political action committee (PAC), crypto’s newest lobbying player, recently unveiled in its first fundraising disclosure that it received $10 million dollars in contributions from Cantor Fitzgerald.
The news came days after the group publicly endorsed candidates in six separate races ahead of the November midterm elections.
The Tether Ties Fueling Fellowship PAC
The latest disclosure raised eyebrows, given Cantor Fitzgerald’s close connection with Howard Lutnick, the current US Secretary of Commerce. Before assuming office, Lutnick handed off leadership of his financial services firm to his sons.
The contribution also solidified the Fellowship PAC’s close links to tether. Earlier this month, BeInCrypto reported that the committee appointed Jesse Spiro as its Chairman. Spiro is also the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Tether US.
Tether and Cantor Fitzgerald also have a tight relationship, as Cantor holds an ownership interest in Tether and is responsible for safeguarding a significant share of its reserve assets.
In addition to the contribution from Cantor Fitzgerald, Fellowship also received $1 million from the US-based institutional crypto platform, Anchorage Digital.
The disclosure marked the PAC’s first real move after seven months of silence since its formation in September. It arrived alongside a wave of endorsements that Fellowship rolled out on social media across six key races ahead of the midterms.
PAC Targets Key Republican Primary Races
On its X account, Fellowship unveiled a list of endorsed candidates, all of them Republicans.
The endorsements spanned congressional, senatorial, and gubernatorial races across Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Nebraska.
Among those backed were Alan Wilson, the South Carolina governor candidate, and Pete Ricketts, the incumbent seeking to hold his Nebraska Senate seat.
The PAC also threw its support behind Mike Collins for Georgia Senate, Nate Morris for Kentucky Senate, and two Louisiana candidates: Julia Letlow for Senate and Blake Miguez for House District 5.
According to crypto industry researcher Molly White, the Fellowship PAC directed $850,000 toward Nate Morris’ primary challenge against Andy Barr in the Kentucky Senate Republican race and $350,000 toward incumbent Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts’ re-election bid.
White also flagged that Fellowship PAC funneled $4.5 million to NXUM Group— $3 million for issue advocacy advertising and $1.5 million for the production of ads backing the three campaigns.
NXUM was co-founded by Bo Hines, the former director of Trump’s crypto advisory council, who is now CEO of Tether US.
The post Mysterious Crypto PAC Receives Massive Contributions From US Commerce Secretary’s Old Firm appeared first on BeInCrypto.
A roughly $292 million exploit over the weekend has rattled the crypto industry, exposing vulnerabilities in decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure and raising concerns about knock-on effects across lending protocols.
While investigations are still ongoing, early analysis suggests the attack centered on Kelp’s rsETH token — a yield-bearing version of ether (ETH) — and the mechanism used to move assets between blockchains.
The attacker appears to have manipulated that system to create large amounts of tokens without proper backing, then quickly used them as collateral to borrow and drain real assets from lending markets, mostly from Aave , the largest decentralized crypto lender.
The incident is the latest blow to DeFi, happening only a couple weeks after the $285 million exploit of Solana-based protocol Drift, further denting investor trust in the nearly $90 billion crypto sector.
How the attack worked
At a high level, the exploit targeted a LayerZero bridge component — a piece of infrastructure that enables assets to move across different blockchains, Charles Guillemet, CTO of hardware wallet maker Ledger, told CoinDesk in a note.
Bridges typically work by locking assets on one chain and minting equivalent tokens on another. That process depends on a trusted entity — often called an oracle or validator — to confirm deposits.
In this case, Kelp effectively acted as that verifier. According to Guillemet, the system relied on a single-signer setup, meaning just one entity could approve any transactions.
“It seems the attacker was able to sign a message … allowing him to mint large amount of rsETH,” he said. He added that it remains unclear how that access was obtained.
Michael Egorov, founder of Curve Finance, pointed to the same weakness in the system’s configuration.
“Things can happen when you trust one single party — whoever that would be.”
That setup allowed the attacker to effectively create unbacked tokens, even though no corresponding assets were locked on the source chain.
Once minted, the tokens were quickly deployed. The attacker “immediately deposited them in lending protocols mostly Aave to borrow real ETH against,” Guillemet explained.
That maneuver shifted the problem from a single exploit into a broader market issue. DeFi lending platforms are now left holding collateral that may be difficult to unwind, while valuable and liquid assets are already drained.
“Aave was left with rsETH which cannot be really sold and maxborrowed [sic] ETH, so no one can withdraw ETH,” Curve’s Egorov said.
As a result, Aave and other lending protocols may be sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in questionable collateral and bad debt, he warned, raising concerns of a potential “bank run” dynamic as users rush to withdraw funds.
Aave saw about a $6 billion drop in assets on the protocol as users yanked their assets following the incident. The token associated with the protocol was down about 15% over the past 24 hours’ trading.
What we still don’t know
Key questions remain around how the validator was compromised. The system relied on LayerZero’s official node, raising uncertainty over whether it was hacked, misconfigured or misled.
“Was it hacked? Was it fooled? We don’t know,” Egorov said.
The attacker’s identity is also unknown, though Guillemet said the scale of the attack suggests a sophisticated actor.
“Clearly not some script kiddies,” he said.
Big blow for trust in DeFi
Beyond the immediate losses, the exploit the episode serves as another reminder that as DeFi grows more interconnected, failures in one layer can quickly cascade across the system.
Egorov argued that non-isolated lending models, where assets share risk across pools, amplify the impact of such events.
He also pointed to shortcomings in how new assets are onboarded to lending platforms, saying configurations like Kelp’s 1-of-1 verifier setup should have been flagged earlier.
However, Egorov said there’s a silver lining. “Crypto is a harsh environment which no bank would have survived — yet we are working with that,” he said. “I think DeFi will learn from this incident and become stronger than before.”
Still, even as incidents like this lead to protocol upgrades and redesigns, they also chip away investor confidence in the broader DeFi sector.
“All in all, the trust into DeFi protocols is eroded by this kind of event,” Guillemet said.
“And 2026 will most likely be the worst year in terms of hacks, again,” he added.
Read more: ‘DeFi is dead’: crypto community scrambles after this year’s biggest hack exposes contagion risks
The impact of stablecoins on the banking sector appears “limited” at the current phase of the adoption cycle, but banks could face increasing competition and an erosion of market share as the stablecoin sector and tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) grow in market capitalization.
“So far, the use of stablecoins remains limited, but their market capitalization exceeded $300 billion at the end of last year,” Abhi Srivastava, associate vice president of Moody’s Investors Service Digital Economy Group, told Cointelegraph.
The role of stablecoins in payments, cross-border commerce and onchain finance is “expanding,” despite their currently limited role, Srivastava said, adding that existing payment systems in the US are already “fast, low-cost and trusted.” He said:
“For the banking sector, at this stage, disruption risk appears limited. In the near term, US rules that prohibit stablecoins from paying yield mean they are unlikely to replace traditional deposits at scale domestically.”
However, over time, growing adoption of stablecoins and tokenized RWAs, traditional or physical financial assets represented on a blockchain by a token, could place “pressure” on the banking sector, leading to deposit outflows and reduced lending capacity, he said.
Stablecoin regulatory policy has become a hot-button issue among crypto industry executives and those in the banking sector, with fears that yield-bearing stablecoins could erode banking market share proving to be a stumbling block for the CLARITY crypto market structure bill in Congress.
Related: Stablecoins behave like FX markets as liquidity splits: Eco CEO
CLARITY Act stalled, as banks fight yield-bearing stablecoins
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, also known as the CLARITY Act, is a comprehensive crypto market regulatory framework that establishes an asset taxonomy, regulatory jurisdiction and oversight over the crypto markets.
It is now stalled in Congress after a group of crypto industry companies, led by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, publicly stated opposition to earlier drafts of the bill.
A lack of legal protections for open-source software developers and a prohibition on yield-bearing stablecoins were among some of the most contentious issues cited by crypto industry opponents of the legislation.
Several attempts have been made by US lawmakers and the White House to negotiate a bill acceptable to both the crypto industry and the bank lobby.
Earlier this month, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said he plans to release an updated draft bill proposal that would be acceptable to both sides; however, the bill has reportedly received pushback, according to Politico, and has yet to be publicly released.
However, other crypto industry executives and market analysts have warned that if the CLARITY Act fails to pass, it could open the crypto industry up to future regulatory crackdowns by hostile lawmakers and officials.
Magazine: Stablecoins will see explosive growth in 2025 as world embraces asset class
Artificial intelligence captured roughly $242 billion in venture capital funding during Q1 2026, accounting for 80% of all global startup investment in the quarter.
The figures mark a record quarter as total global venture investment reached approximately $300 billion across some 6,000 funded companies.
Mega-Rounds Drive AI Funding Surge
Four deals accounted for 65% of all global venture capital. OpenAI raised $122 billion, Anthropic secured $30 billion, xAI closed $20 billion, and Waymo brought in $16 billion. AI funding in Q1 alone exceeded all of 2025 combined.
However, the capital flood is hitting physical limits. A Bloomberg report found that roughly half of US AI data centers planned for 2026 have been delayed or cancelled.
Transformer shortages, grid strain, and supply chain bottlenecks are limiting the buildout. Only about one-third of the projected 12 GW of new capacity is under active construction.
AI Agents Enter the Workplace
Meanwhile, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed the exchange is testing AI agents that operate alongside human employees in Slack and email.
Armstrong suggested Coinbase could eventually have more AI agents than human staff, reflecting a broader corporate shift toward autonomous systems.
The workplace transformation has also reignited political debate. Elon Musk proposed “universal HIGH INCOME” via federal government checks, arguing AI productivity would offset inflation. Andrew Yang echoed the call, urging faster action on AI-funded universal income.
Senator Bernie Sanders pushed back from a different angle, warning that AI firms plan to spend $300 million on 2026 midterm elections.
Sanders called on Democrats to resist industry pressure and confront what he called “the AI Oligarchs.”
The tension between record capital inflows and infrastructure bottlenecks suggests AI’s growth trajectory may face near-term friction even as its economic influence accelerates.
The post AI Absorbs $242 Billion in Q1 Venture Funding, Exceeding All of 2025 Combined appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Tron founder Justin Sun publicly called on the KelpDAO bridge hacker to negotiate a return of the stolen funds, warning that a $292 million loss could bring down both Aave and KelpDAO.
Sun’s appeal followed the largest Decentralized Finance (DeFi) exploit of 2026, which drained 116,500 rsETH from KelpDAO’s cross-chain bridge on April 18.
Sun Moves Funds as Aave Takes the Hit
The attacker exploited a flaw in KelpDAO’s LayerZero-powered bridge, forging cross-chain messages to release rsETH without corresponding token burns.
The stolen tokens were then deposited as collateral on Aave V3, where the hacker borrowed large volumes of Wrapped Ether (WETH) against them.
Because the rsETH became unbacked, the positions are effectively unliquidatable, leaving Aave with over $236 million in bad debt.
Aave froze rsETH markets on both V3 and V4 within hours. Aave founder Stani Kulechov confirmed the exploit originated outside Aave’s contracts.
On-chain data shows Sun urgently withdrew 65,584 ETH, worth roughly $154 million, from Aave and deposited it into Spark shortly after.
His total Aave exposure has reportedly dropped to $380 million, while his Sky and Spark holdings have risen to $2.13 billion.
“OK — Kelpdao hacker, how much you want? Let’s just talk. With KelpDAO’s help, of course. It’s simply not worth it to sacrifice both Aave and KelpDAO and let them go down over this hack,” wrote Justin Sun in a post.
Interoperability protocol Axelar also responded, expressing solidarity with LayerZero and urging the industry to adopt stronger bridge security standards.
Axelar pointed to the importance of multi-validator configurations, noting that Kelp’s single-validator setup may have enabled the breach.
The exploit overtakes the $285 million Drift Protocol hack from April 1 as the largest DeFi loss this year.
The post Justin Sun Offers to Negotiate With KelpDAO Hacker After $292 Million Exploit appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
AI startup Cursor in talks to raise $2 billion funding round at valuation of over $50 billion
The Cursor logo arranged on a smartphone in New Hyde Park, New York, Nov. 20, 2025.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Artificial intelligence startup Cursor is in talks to raise a $2 billion fundraising round at an over $50 billion valuation, which does not include the investment, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Andreessen Horowitz is slated to co-lead the new investment round, in which Nvidia and Thrive Capital are also expected to participate, said the source, who was not authorized to publicly speak on the investment. Those three firms have all previously backed the AI coding startup.
Bloomberg News first reported that Cursor was raising capital.
The funding round underscores the venture capital industry’s enthusiasm for startups specializing in AI coding agents that can complete a range of software development tasks for users. Although Cursor was among the first major startups to focus on AI coding agents, other companies, such as Google, Anthropic and OpenAI, have since debuted similar tools.
Cursor announced in November that it closed a $2.3 billion funding round at a $29.3 billion post-money valuation. That financing came after a $900 million investment round in June.
Among Cursor’s current investors are Accel, DST Global, Coatue and Google, according to a corporate blog post.
The startup released in February various updates intended to help software developers, including giving AI agents the ability to test their coding changes and record their actions via videos, logs and screenshots.
Cursor did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
WATCH: Cursor CEO Michael Truell: We’re seeing success with our AI age, not just demand
Bitcoin’s current market cycle is broadly viewed as weaker than its three prior halving-driven runs, according to Galaxy’s head of firmwide research, Alex Thorn. By weighing price action since the April 2024 halving against the patterns seen in 2012, 2016 and 2020, Thorn argues that volatility has cooled and upside potential appears more constrained this time around. Notably, the all-time high above $125,000, reached on Oct. 5, 2025, was only about 97% above the 2024 halving price near $63,000, illustrating a markedly tamer peak for the cycle so far.
Thorn’s comparisons hinge on a stark difference in how cycles unfold. The 2012 halving cycle saw a roughly 9,294% price surge to around $1,163; 2016 delivered about a 2,950% surge to near $19,891; and the 2020 halving generated a roughly 761% gain. In Thorn’s view, “Cycle four is dramatically underperforming prior cycles,” a conclusion he shared in an X post that raises a bigger question: is this the new normal, or will the cycle evolve in unforeseen ways?
Beyond price trajectories, the market’s behavioral foundations may be shifting. Thorn notes that volatility has declined with each successive halving, suggesting that BTC’s price could become more influenced by factors outside of the four-year cycle theory traditionally cited by traders. The 30-day Bitcoin Volatility Index has not surpassed 3.11% in the current cycle, with the last reading above that level recorded on Aug. 24, 2024. The latest 30-day figure sits at about 1.75%, according to Bitbo data.
Key takeaways
- Galaxy’s Alex Thorn concludes the current BTC cycle is dramatically weaker than the 2012, 2016 and 2020 halving cycles when comparing price action since the April 2024 halving.
- The all-time high above $125,000 in October 2025 was roughly 97% above the 2024 halving price around $63,000, signaling a much milder top versus prior cycles.
- Volatility has systematically compressed across cycles, with the 30-day BTC volatility staying well below the peaks seen in earlier halvings (latest around 1.75%).
- Market critics point to an early all-time high before the 2024 halving as an anomaly, underscoring that one-off catalysts can distort cycle comparisons.
Market dynamics and the pre-halving anomaly
Another layer of complexity comes from an event-driven impulse that disrupted typical cycle timing. BTC briefly hit an all-time high above $70,000 in March 2024—one month before the April 2024 halving. Analysts have attributed part of the outsized early move to the subsequent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in January 2024, which acted as a catalyst for price acceleration ahead of the halving. This premature peak is frequently cited by critics as a meaningful deviation from the classic halving-driven narrative.
In parallel, Fidelity Digital Assets has observed that Bitcoin’s drawdowns in this cycle have been less severe than in past bear markets. While declines of 80%–90% are not unheard of in older cycles, the drop from the all-time high to later troughs has so far been more contained in this phase. Fidelity’s analysis notes that even a journey back from peak levels remains substantial—BTC pulled back from the late-2021 highs to the roughly $60,000 area, a move just over 50% in magnitude from the peak levels cited by Fidelity’s framework.
Near-term outlook and the long arc
March brought a contrarian take from Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck, who said BTC is close to bottoming and that a gradual recovery could begin in 2026. While such forecasts hinge on a confluence of macro factors, liquidity conditions, and investor sentiment, they align with a broader sense that BTC may enter a more protracted phase of consolidation after 2025’s peak, rather than repeating the rapid, cycle-driven surges seen in earlier eras.
As of the latest readings, Bitcoin was trading near $74,703, with fresh momentum up modestly over the past week. The price backdrop underscores Thorn’s observation of a more muted cycle, even as headlines around regulatory clarity, ETF developments, and institutional participation continue to influence sentiment.
What to watch next
The immediate question for investors and builders alike is whether this cycle’s subdued volatility and mixed momentum represent a lasting regime shift or a temporary deviation sparked by unique catalysts. Key developments to monitor include how macro conditions interact with BTC’s supply-demand dynamics, any concrete shifts in ETF-related inflows, and whether the market can align around a clearer, more repeatable set of catalysts akin to past halving narratives. As the market evolves, readers should watch for signs that long-run adoption, liquidity depth, and regulatory clarity begin shaping BTC’s trajectory in a way that differentiates this cycle from its predecessors.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele sits atop a global leader approval chart with a 94% rating, far outpacing every other head of state on the list.
The ranking measures approval for 26 world leaders. Bukele’s dominance highlights a striking detail for the crypto industry. The president who went furthest on sovereign Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is also the most popular leader on Earth right now.
The Bitcoin President Still Stacks Daily
El Salvador became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender in 2021. The government continues purchasing roughly one BTC per day, pushing its national reserve past 7,600 BTC.
Polls show, however, that security gains from Bukele’s gang crackdown drive his approval far more than the Bitcoin experiment itself.
Only 2.2% of Salvadorans cited BTC as his biggest failure in a recent CID Gallup survey.
Where Other Leaders Stand on Crypto
South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung (63%) has declared crypto a national priority, pledging spot Bitcoin ETFs and a won-pegged stablecoin by 2026.
Javier Milei (48%) championed Bitcoin deregulation in Argentina but saw his credibility damaged after promoting the LIBRA meme coin, which collapsed and cost investors hundreds of millions.
Donald Trump (38%) signed an executive order establishing a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve funded with seized coins, positioning the country as a future “Bitcoin superpower.”
Most remaining leaders on the list follow standard regulatory frameworks, with several EU heads of state backing stricter oversight through the MiCA regulation.
The chart suggests that bold pro-Bitcoin moves have not hurt leaders politically, even if domestic voters care more about security and the economy than digital assets.
The post The President Who Pushed Bitcoin the Hardest Is Now the Most Popular Leader on Earth appeared first on BeInCrypto.
Crypto World
Why Does the Next Fed Chair Own SOL Before His April 21 Hearing? Pepeto 300x Rotation Explained
The solana price prediction just picked up a talking point nobody saw coming. Kevin Warsh, Donald Trump’s nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, disclosed indirect Solana holdings across multiple venture fund vehicles in his April 14 ethics filing, per Decrypt, with the Senate confirmation hearing locked for April 21. SOL trades at $85.02 with Bitcoin pushing past $77,300 and the tape finally turning green across the majors.
The numbers look strong, but SOL at a $50 billion market cap is simply too large to print the multiples that reshape a portfolio from a single position. That is where Pepeto steps in, a fresh presale trending hard across crypto feeds this quarter, carrying the kind of traction every cycle signals ahead of returns no large cap can match.
Warsh’s 69 page filing with the Office of Government Ethics lists indirect SOL positions held through the AVGF I venture fund alongside stakes in Optimism, Compound, dYdX, Polymarket, Blast, and more than 30 other Web3 names, per Yahoo Finance. Combined assets top $192 million, making this the broadest Web3 portfolio ever disclosed by a senior US financial nominee.
The Senate Banking hearing lands April 21, the same window that holds the CLARITY Act committee markup and the Fed’s April 28-29 meeting. Spot SOL ETFs have crossed $892 million in net assets, with Bitwise’s BSOL alone pulling $808 million in cumulative inflows per Bitcoin.com. The timing puts SOL at the intersection of every major US monetary and regulatory decision this month.
Solana Price Prediction Compared: SOL Setup and the Presale Opportunity Pepeto
The solana price prediction section below breaks down how even the bullish $180 target spreads across months, and for traders who want more, the audited exchange pulling capital in this quarter is the play worth watching. Pepeto gives retail access to tools large holders previously kept private, wrapped in a single platform.
A contract scanner built into the exchange screens each token before any deposit opens, putting buyers ahead of the news cycle. Presale wallets earn 181% APY through daily compounding staking as the rounds fill, meaning the earliest buyers hold the heaviest positions the second demand peaks.
A risk scoring engine reads momentum across the chain and flags suspect contracts before a dollar moves. The presale has pulled in $9.21 million at $0.0000001865, backed by a SolidProof audit and driven by the founder who pushed Pepe to $7 billion on 420 trillion tokens, now leading this exchange alongside a former Binance executive.
The entry window narrows every hour as the Binance listing draws closer. Once public trading opens, millions of new buyers set the price and the presale floor vanishes on the spot. Every past crypto recovery paid the wallets that moved while the crowd was waking up, and once Pepeto’s Binance listing lands, the 300x runway from presale pricing closes the same day.
Solana (SOL) Price Prediction: Can SOL Reach $180?
Solana (SOL) trades at $85.02 per CoinMarketCap, bouncing with the broader market, still 70% below the $293 peak from November 2021. SOL holders sit at 167 million monthly unique wallets per Solana Foundation data, a record set in April.
Standard Chartered’s $250 target rests on Alpenglow’s 150 millisecond finality upgrade and the spot ETF products giving institutions a regulated route in.
CoinCodex sketches a 2026 channel between $84 and $133.03 with the average near $119. Even the aggressive solana price prediction reaching $180 prints around 103% over several months. Strong for a large cap, but a presale at 300x math from one Binance listing event beats months of chart watching by a wide margin.
Conclusion:
The solana price prediction points at $180 to $250 on a long runway, and that kind of move sounds great until you stack it next to the 300x analysts are calling for on Pepeto presale pricing. Once the gap is visible, the SOL forecast starts looking modest, and the rotation into earlier entries starts to make sense.
The accounts that turned Pepe and DOGE into life changing positions were all built the same way. Capital went in before the coin hit every screen, the deposit held through the first exchange print, and compounding did the lifting from there.
Pepeto runs that exact playbook right now. The raise crossed $9.21 million, fresh capital keeps hitting the contract every day, and the Binance listing creeps closer hour by hour. The wallets depositing at $0.0000001865 today are the ones reading their own names in the millionaire headlines the next cycle writes.
Click To Visit Pepeto Website To Enter The Presale
FAQs
What does the solana price prediction target for 2026?
Standard Chartered places Solana (SOL) at $250 and CoinCodex models a $119 average for 2026, with $180 as a mid cycle target from the current $85.02 level. Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh disclosed SOL holdings in his April 14 filing ahead of an April 21 Senate hearing, while Pepeto at presale pricing targets 300x.
How does Solana (SOL) compare to Pepeto as an entry today?
Solana (SOL) at $85.02 projects toward $133 to $180 through 2026 per CoinCodex and Standard Chartered. Pepeto at $0.0000001865 with $9.21 million raised and a Binance listing days away offers a presale to listing return that beats even the strongest solana price prediction.
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.
Crypto World
BitGo, Polygon Among Industry Giants Pushing Rate Limits After The Largest DeFi Exploit of 2026
A wave of protocol-level security responses followed the $292 million KelpDAO rsETH exploit on April 19, with BitGo, Polygon, and Katana moving swiftly to isolate potential contagion.
The attack drained 116,500 rsETH from Kelp DAO’s LayerZero-powered cross-chain bridge through a forged message that bypassed its Decentralized Verifier Network (DVN) configuration.
Protocols Move to Contain Fallout
BitGo, alongside BiT Global Trust, took down the LayerZero OFT DVNs for Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) as a precaution. The firm confirmed that user funds remain secure and pledged to share updates as more information becomes available.
Polygon stated that its chain, Agglayer, and broader ecosystem remain unaffected by the incident. The network noted it has safely processed over $2 trillion to date.
Katana paused the OFT path on Vaultbridge, which relied on a 2/3 DVN setup. Bridging through Agglayer, which verifies with zero-knowledge proofs rather than proof-of-authority multisigs, remained fully available.
Meanwhile, Cyvers CTO and co-founder Meir Dolev revealed that KelpDAO was just three minutes away from losing an additional $100 million. A rapid-response blacklist blocked the attacker before a second attempt could succeed.
Industry Leaders Call for Structural Rate Limits
The exploit has reignited calls for built-in rate limits across DeFi protocols. Ethena contributor Guy Young argued that asset issuers should implement throttled cross-chain transfers on top of standard LayerZero OFTs.
“We built a solution on top of the standard OFT to throttle cross chain transfers at $10m per hour for every DVN, in addition to the $10m per block rate limit on the mint contract. The former would have prevented Kelp, the latter Resolv,” he wrote.
Ethena’s configuration caps potential damage at $10 million per chain per hour even if a DVN is fully compromised. Young called the slight inconvenience for users a worthwhile tradeoff to avoid catastrophic losses.
Keone Hon, CEO and co-founder of Monad, proposed that pooled lending protocols adopt “smart caps” that limit how quickly collateral supply can grow.
He pointed to the Resolv hack in March, where the attacker minted infinite tokens but could only extract $24 million because exit pathways were small.
Hon argued that high supply caps should be seen as a liability, not a sign of stature. A supply limit slightly above current utilization, adjusting over hours to the true cap, would have saved rsETH depositors $200 million, he estimated.
The KelpDAO breach is now the largest DeFi exploit of 2026. Whether protocols adopt the rate-limiting measures these leaders are proposing may determine how large the next one gets.
The post BitGo, Polygon Among Industry Giants Pushing Rate Limits After The Largest DeFi Exploit of 2026 appeared first on BeInCrypto.
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