Crypto World
South Carolina Signs Law Protecting Bitcoin Miners, Bans CBDC Payments
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill 163 on Tuesday, advancing what observers describe as one of the most crypto-friendly state-level policy frameworks in the United States. The measure, which cleared strong impressions in the legislature, aims to curb state involvement with central bank digital currencies while advancing a clear path for crypto users, miners, and related businesses to operate with reduced regulatory friction.
According to Cointelegraph, the bill sailed through the Senate with a 38-1 vote and the House with a 110-1 margin before the governor’s signature. The enacted provisions include a prohibition on state agencies accepting or requiring payments in a Federal Reserve-led digital currency, including any federal pilot programs. The law also codifies protections for self-custody and hardware wallets, and it bars taxes on crypto transactions from being higher than those applied to comparable fiat payments.
Beyond individual rights and CBDC restrictions, the measure lays out specific protections for digital asset miners and related infrastructure, signaling a broader commitment to a conducive operating environment for blockchain activities within the state. The text emphasizes that crypto mining operations in designated industrial zones receive tailored assurances and that zoning actions affecting mining firms must follow standard notice-and-comment procedures, with avenues to appeal changes in zoning through the courts.
Key takeaways
- Senate Bill 163 becomes law, establishing a crypto-friendly framework and restricting state engagement with CBDCs and related federal pilots.
- The act protects self-custody rights, prohibits punitive tax treatment of crypto transactions relative to USD payments, and shields crypto users from government overreach in custody and usage.
- Mining operations receive zonal protections: local governments cannot impose mining-specific restrictions beyond general industrial rules, and zoning changes require proper notice and a legal appeal route.
- Money transmitter licensing exemptions apply to core crypto activities, including mining, node operation, blockchain software development, and crypto-to-crypto trading; mining-as-a-service and staking-as-a-service are not classified as securities.
- South Carolina joins a growing cohort of states adopting crypto-friendly policies, reflecting a broader shift in subnational regulation of digital assets.
Regulatory architecture: CBDCs, custody, and tax parity
The law sets clear boundaries around the use of central bank digital currencies at the state level. By barring state agencies and political subdivisions from accepting or requiring CBDCs, South Carolina signals a preference for jurisdictional control over how public payments and digital money interact with state operations. In tandem, the custody provisions reinforce a legal space for individuals to retain control of their private keys and hardware wallets, reducing the risk of compelled on-chain custody or asset concentration in custodial arrangements. The parity principle—preventing higher taxes on crypto transactions than those applied to fiat equivalents—aligns with a growing expectation that digital assets should not face an undue tax burden relative to traditional payment methods.
From a compliance perspective, these protections help delineate responsibilities for financial institutions and payment service providers operating in-state markets. While the CBDC ban is primarily a state-level posture, it interacts with ongoing national debates about the role of digital sovereign money and the regulatory perimeter for digital assets. The measure thus contributes to a trend whereby state legislatures seek to provide clarity and confidence for market participants while avoiding friction with federal monetary policy initiatives.
Mining safeguards and zoning clarity
Central to the bill is an explicit commitment to shield cryptocurrency mining activity from local regulatory overreach that would be inconsistent with other industrial operations. In practical terms, the text prohibits selective restrictions on mining sites that are not equally applicable to other industrial activities in the same zone. The policy is designed to prevent disparate treatment of mining operations and to ensure predictable, rule-based zoning outcomes.
The text includes a procedural safeguard for mining firms: a political subdivision shall not modify the zoning of a digital asset mining operation without following established notice and comment procedures. If a change is imposed, the mining entity may seek relief or challenge the decision in the appropriate court, safeguarding operators against abrupt, disproportionate regulatory shifts.
These provisions aim to reduce regulatory uncertainty for miners and data-center infrastructure operators, a sector that has drawn investment but also scrutiny in various jurisdictions. By tying zoning actions to standard processes, the bill reduces the risk of retroactive or ad hoc restrictions that could disrupt lawful business activity and investment timelines.
Supporting material from the South Carolina State House underscores the fiscal and governance considerations associated with the bill. See the official fiscal impact statement for S.163 for a formal accounting of costs and regulatory effects.
The broader licensing framework, meanwhile, clarifies that several core activities associated with digital assets fall outside traditional money transmitter regimes. Mining, node operation, blockchain software development, and crypto-to-crypto trading are exempt from certain licensing requirements, reducing duplication of regulatory requirements for in-state operators. Moreover, the bill explicitly excludes mining-as-a-service and staking-as-a-service offerings from being categorized as securities, which has important implications for how service providers structure product offerings and for the securities compliance posture of platform operators.
Broader policy context and regional implications
South Carolina’s move is part of a broader pattern among U.S. states that seek to establish clear, crypto-specific policy frameworks while avoiding unintended frictions with federal regulation. Kentucky already enacted a Bitcoin Rights bill in the prior year, with explicit protections for self-custody and mining operations against discriminatory local rules. Other states—including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Louisiana and Arizona—have advanced or enacted similar crypto-friendly measures in recent years. This regional movement appears aimed at providing predictability for market participants and signaling regulatory alignment with industry norms in a decentralized model of state governance.
The evolving state landscape presents both opportunities and enforcement considerations for firms operating across multiple jurisdictions. While these measures foster operational clarity and risk management, regulators at the federal level continue to assess how such state-level autonomy interacts with national anti-money-laundering, consumer protection, and securities frameworks. Observers will watch how the interplay between state rules and federal oversight shapes licensing decisions, cross-border activity, and the way banks engage with crypto businesses under evolving AML/KYC expectations.
For further context on how a similar policy trajectory is developing elsewhere, observers can reference related industry coverage and state-by-state analyses, including ongoing discussions around the balance between non-custodial DeFi innovation and regulatory guardrails.
Source: South Carolina State House
Closing perspective: The enactment of Senate Bill 163 positions South Carolina as a notable case study in how state governments can calibrate between facilitating innovation and maintaining regulatory clarity. As enforcement and practical implementation unfold, compliance teams and financial institutions will monitor for any regulatory updates, guidance interpretations, or potential challenges that could shape digital-asset activity within the state and beyond.
Tether International has acquired SoftBank’s entire stake in Twenty One Capital (NYSE: XXI), tightening its grip on one of the largest public Bitcoin treasuries.
Announced May 20, 2026, the deal removes SoftBank’s board seats and signals deeper conviction in XXI as a Bitcoin-native powerhouse.
Tether Takes Full Control of XXI, Buys SoftBank Stake
Twenty One Capital launched in December 2025 via SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners. It debuted with over 43,500 BTC, roughly $4 billion at the time, ranking as the third-largest corporate Bitcoin holder.
Tether and Bitfinex supplied the majority, with SoftBank contributing a significant minority stake equivalent to about 10,500 BTC.
SoftBank brought credibility and discipline during XXI’s formative phase. Its experience backing transformative tech firms helped shape strategy and attract institutional attention.
With the buyout complete, Tether now holds uncontested control as majority shareholder.
“Tether’s conviction in XXI has only deepened,” said Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO. “SoftBank’s involvement gave XXI the kind of institutional depth that few early-stage companies ever have. They leave behind a company with a stronger foundation, a clearer mandate, and an ambitious path ahead.”
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
The move comes months after Tether proposed merging XXI with Jack Mallers’ Strike platform and Elektron Energy.
The three-way combination aims to create an integrated Bitcoin company spanning treasury accumulation, mining, lending, and financial services.
Market Context and Investor Focus
XXI’s strategy centers on maximizing Bitcoin per share (BPS) through aggressive accumulation, capital markets tools, and ecosystem building.
While pure treasury plays like MicroStrategy dominate headlines, XXI positions itself as more operational and Bitcoin-native. Shares have experienced typical volatility tied to BTC price action since listing.
Tether’s latest action reinforces its massive Bitcoin holdings and long-term bet on BTC infrastructure.
As the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, Tether continues leveraging its balance sheet to expand influence in public Bitcoin markets.
What’s Next for XXI?
Investors will watch for updates on the proposed mergers, future BTC purchases, and capital raises.
With Tether fully aligned, XXI gains streamlined governance to execute its ambitious roadmap.
The coming months could see accelerated growth in holdings and operational milestones as Bitcoin adoption deepens among corporations.
The post Tether Takes Full Control of Twenty One Capital (XXI) After Buying SoftBank Stake appeared first on BeInCrypto.
South Carolina just became the most aggressive pro-Bitcoin state in America. Bitcoin may be down, its price prediction is also hitting a low, but with regulatory clarity and institutional adoption, BTC is coiling.
Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill S.163 into law on May 19, 2026, implementing a total ban on CBDCs, tax neutrality for crypto payments, and hard protections for miners and self-custody holders. The vote was resolved at 110-1 in the House, a genuine bipartisan conviction.
The document states:
AN ACT TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING CHAPTER 47 TO TITLE 34 SO AS TO PROHIBIT A GOVERNING AUTHORITY FROM ACCEPTING OR REQUIRING PAYMENT USING CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY OR PARTICIPATING IN A TEST OF CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY; TO PERMIT INDIVIDUALS OR BUSINESSES USING DIGITAL CURRENCY FOR TRANSACTIONS; TO PROVIDE THAT DIGITAL ASSETS MAY NOT BE SINGLED OUT FOR DISPARATE TAX TREATMENT; TO PROVIDE THAT DIGITAL CURRENCY TRANSACTION MAY BE TAXED IF THE TAXATION IS THE SAME AS IF THE TRANSACTION USED UNITED STATES LEGAL TENDER; TO RESTRICT CERTAIN ACTIVITY FOR DIGITAL CURRENCY OPERATIONS THAT ARE ZONED FOR INDUSTRIAL USE; TO PROVIDE THAT DIGITAL ASSET MINING BUSINESS OPERATIONS SHALL NOT PLACE ANY ADDITIONAL STRESS ON THE ELECTRICAL GRID FOR WHICH THEY ARE CONNECTED AND TO PROVIDE THAT DIGITAL MINING BUSINESSES MUST PROVIDE CERTAIN INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION UPON REQUEST; TO PROVIDE THAT THOSE ENGAGED IN DIGITAL MINING OPERATIONS DO NOT HAVE TO OBTAIN CERTAIN LICENSES AND THAT THOSE WHO PROVIDE CERTAIN SERVICES RELATED TO DIGITAL MINING OR STAKING ARE NOT OFFERING A SECURITY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL CAN PROSECUTE AN INDIVIDUAL OR BUSINESS THAT FRAUDULENTLY CLAIM TO BE OFFERING DIGITAL ASSET MINING AS SERVICE OR STAKING AS A SERVICE; AND TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS.
The law bars state agencies from accepting or testing any federal central bank digital currency, shields proof-of-work mining operations from discriminatory zoning and noise ordinances, and eliminates extra fees or levies on goods purchased with digital assets.
A separate House Bill, H.4256, would additionally allow South Carolina’s treasurer to allocate up to 10% of unallocated state funds into Bitcoin as an inflation hedge, capped at 1,000,000 BTC.
Discover: The best crypto to diversify your portfolio with
Bitcoin Price Prediction: Reclaim $80,000 as State-Level Adoption Accelerates?
At $77,000, Bitcoin is pulling back from recent highs but remains structurally elevated. The $75,000 level is the line that matters as a major psychological and technical support zone that needs to be defended to keep the uptrend intact. A daily close below that threshold would shift short-term momentum decisively bearish.
The weekly 4.5% drop reads as profit-taking after a rally from $66,000 to $83,000, particularly given the macro and legislative tailwinds accumulating beneath the price. ETF inflows remain a persistent bid, and the state-level reserve demand would represent a structural buyer class that doesn’t sell on red candles.
If Bitcoin could hold $75,000 as support and legislative momentum from South Carolina accelerates copycat bills in other states, ETF inflows could push the price back through $80,000. However, a break below $75,000 on volume would open the door to the $72,000 range, likely triggering forced liquidations and headlines of ETF outflows.
Regulatory clarity tends to compress volatility and attract institutional positioning, meaning South Carolina’s move may be more consequential for medium-term price structure than this week dip suggests.
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Bitcoin Hyper Targets Early-Mover Upside as Bitcoin Tries to Break Downtrend
Bitcoin consolidating away from all-time highs is a familiar frustration: the macro thesis is right, the entry is not that cheap, and the asymmetric upside that early adopters captured has already been realized. That’s the gap a project like Bitcoin Hyper is targeting: infrastructure-layer exposure to Bitcoin’s growth cycle at presale prices, before exchange listing.
Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) is positioning as the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) integration, delivering sub-second finality and low-cost smart contract execution while inheriting Bitcoin’s security model.
Hyper aims to break Bitcoin’s core limitations, like slow throughput, high fees, and zero programmability, without abandoning Bitcoin’s trust layer. The project has raised more than $32 million at a current presale price of just $0.0136, with 35% APY staking available for early holders.
Hyper also offers a Decentralized Canonical Bridge that handles BTC transfers across the Layer 2 for traders watching Bitcoin’s state-level policy cycle accelerate,
Bitcoin Hyper represents early infrastructure-layer positioning that is worth researching.
The post Bitcoin Price Prediction: South Carolina Moves Against CBDCs With Zero-Tax BTC Bill appeared first on Cryptonews.
- Algorand (ALGO) jumped 5% after Robinhood listed it for US users.
- Algorand’s price has stayed between $0.1092 and $0.1173 with no breakout.
- Weekly trend is still down 6.8% despite the short-term rally.
Algorand has recorded a sharp burst of activity following its addition to Robinhood’s crypto trading platform, including availability for users in New York.
At the time of writing, Algorand’s ALGO coin was trading near $0.1149, showing a 24-hour gain of about 5%.
Robinhood listing triggers short-term momentum
The listing on Robinhood marks a notable distribution shift for Algorand.
$ALGO is now available to trade on Robinhood Crypto, including NY. pic.twitter.com/HBqM2MZ9zA
— Robinhood (@RobinhoodApp) May 19, 2026
The listing on Robinhood gives access to a large base of retail users, and historically, new listings on major retail brokerages tend to attract immediate trading interest.
In this case, the move was preceded by a wave of market commentary highlighting the possibility of Robinhood adding ALGO.
During that period, Algorand recorded intraday gains in the range of 5% to over 7%, depending on the timeframe used across different market trackers.
Once the listing was confirmed, trading activity increased further, with daily volume reaching approximately $58.9 million according to data from Coingecko.
This spike in activity coincided with heightened attention from retail traders reacting to the expanded accessibility of the token.
Price structure still shows resistance to a sustained breakout
Even with the Robinhood-driven rally, Algorand continues to trade well below its long-term highs.
The token remains down roughly 96.8% from its all-time peak of $3.56, recorded in June 2019.
This long-term drawdown highlights how far the asset has moved away from its earlier cycle valuations.
Over the past seven days, ALGO is still down around 6.8%, indicating that the recent move has not fully reversed earlier weakness.
On a monthly basis, however, the token is up approximately 12.1%, showing that the asset has been recovering in bursts rather than maintaining a steady trend.
More recently, price behaviour has been shaped by a narrow trading band.
The 24-hour range between $0.1092 and $0.1173 aligns closely with the observed rally, suggesting that most of the move occurred within established short-term volatility limits rather than breaking out of a broader range structure.
A key technical observation is that while momentum improved after the listing, there has been no sustained push beyond recent resistance levels near the $0.117–$0.122 zone, where price has repeatedly stalled in prior short-term rallies.
This indicates that buyers have not yet gained full control of trend direction.
Market reaction points to a liquidity-driven move rather than a trend shift
The current market setup shows characteristics of a liquidity-driven reaction rather than a structural reversal.
The combination of a confirmed Robinhood listing and rapid price expansion fits a pattern commonly seen when assets gain new retail access.
Trading volume near $59 million in 24 hours reflects increased participation, but the lack of follow-through beyond the immediate price spike suggests that the move is still largely sentiment-driven.
The fact that ALGO has remained negative over the past week reinforces the idea that recent gains are offsetting prior declines rather than establishing a new upward trend.
Outlook: bounce or reversal still unresolved
The expansion of availability on Robinhood, including access for New York users, increases the potential pool of participants.
This type of distribution event typically has two phases: an initial reaction driven by attention and a second phase where sustained demand either develops or fades.
With the token still trading far below historical highs and showing negative weekly performance, the recent move sits within a corrective recovery phase rather than a confirmed breakout structure.
Whether this develops into a trend reversal will depend on whether trading activity continues beyond the initial listing impact or fades back into the prior range.
The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the functioning of the EU’s MiCA regime, with feedback due by Aug. 31, 2026, in a move that will shape how crypto rules are applied across the bloc.
Summary
- The European Commission said the consultation covers the functioning of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, and will remain open until Aug. 31, 2026.
- The consultation seeks input from individuals as well as more technical feedback from issuers, service providers, financial institutions, academics, industry bodies and public authorities through the EU’s Have your say process.
- MiCA already sets harmonized EU rules for crypto-asset issuers, crypto-asset service providers, asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens.
The European Commission said on May 20 that it had launched a consultation to gather feedback from stakeholders and the wider public on how MiCA is working in practice, marking a new phase in the EU’s attempt to turn its landmark crypto law from statute into an enforceable and adaptable operating framework.
The consultation matters because MiCA is no longer theoretical. The regime established a harmonized EU framework for crypto-assets and related services, covering crypto-assets, asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens, their issuers and crypto-asset service providers, and the Commission now wants to know where the rulebook is working and where it is already showing strain.
The Commission said the exercise includes both a public consultation for individuals and a targeted consultation aimed at more technical and legal questions for market participants and institutional stakeholders, meaning the review is designed not just as a political box-ticking exercise but as a practical audit of the regime’s first real-world effects.
Implementation phase
According to the European Commission, all feedback gathered through the consultation will be used to inform its future policy work on digital assets, making the process one of the clearest early signals that Brussels is already thinking beyond first-generation MiCA implementation.
That matters for any firm operating in Europe because the framework already applies across the bloc. As the French regulator AMF notes, MiCA entered into force on June 29, 2023, with rules for stablecoins taking effect on June 30, 2024, and the wider regime applying from Dec. 30, 2024.
The substance of the regime is broad. ESMA says MiCA introduces uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets not already covered by existing financial services law, with key provisions covering transparency, disclosure, authorization and supervision.
Industry impact
For exchanges, wallet providers, token issuers and stablecoin firms, this consultation is effectively an invitation to try to shape the next round of European crypto supervision before it hardens into precedent. Industry participants, consumer groups, civil society and public authorities are all being asked to weigh in on how the rules should function in practice and where gaps remain.
That broader review has been signaled for weeks. At Paris Blockchain Week, EU financial services official Peter Kerstens said the Commission would launch a public consultation on MiCA with “no taboos,” according to KuCoin, raising the prospect that issues such as DeFi, tokenized assets and cross-border supervision could become part of the next policy cycle.
The outcome will matter well beyond Brussels procedure. For crypto firms trying to operate across all 27 member states, the consultation will help determine whether MiCA remains a static compliance burden or evolves into a more usable framework for licensing, disclosure, stablecoin issuance and cross-border service provision throughout the European Union.
South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill 163 into law on Tuesday, advancing one of the most crypto-friendly state-level frameworks in the country.
The bill, which previously passed the Senate 38-1 and the House 110-1, bans state agencies from accepting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), protects the rights of crypto users and miners, and clears regulatory hurdles for businesses operating in the space.
On CBDCs, the law bars any state agency or political subdivision from accepting, requiring payment in, or participating in Federal Reserve-led digital currency trials, including any pilot programs run by federal agencies.
It also protects crypto self-custody rights, preventing governments from restricting the use of hardware and self-hosted wallets while barring higher taxes on crypto transactions than comparable payments made in US dollars.
Related: Senate Crypto Bill Might Pass as Late as August: NYDIG
South Carolina protects Bitcoin miners
The bill gives Bitcoin miners operating in industrial zones specific protections. Local governments cannot impose restrictions on mining businesses that do not apply to other industrial operations in the same area, and cannot set mining-specific noise limits beyond what general pollution rules already require.
“A political subdivision shall not change the zoning of a digital asset mining business without going through the proper notice and comment. A digital asset mining business may appeal a change in zoning to the proper court of jurisdiction,” the bill reads.
Source: South Carolina State House
The law also exempts several activities from money transmitter licensing requirements, including mining, node operation, blockchain software development and crypto-to-crypto trading. Mining-as-a-service and staking-as-a-service providers are excluded from securities classification.
Related: Polish lawmakers back revised crypto bill after repeated vetoes
More states pass crypto-friendly bills
South Carolina joins a growing list of states staking out pro-crypto positions. Kentucky passed the Bitcoin Rights bill in March last year, guaranteeing self-custody rights and shielding mining operations from discriminatory local rules.
Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Louisiana and Arizona are among the states that have passed similar pieces of crypto legislation in recent years.
Market analysts say Bitcoin (BTC) is showing “momentum exhaustion” after its 8% drop from multi-month highs above $82,000, with bulls expected to defend key crucial support levels.
Key takeaways:
- Bitcoin momentum weakens after rejection above the $82,000 level.
- Analysts warn BTC could fall to $65,000 if support at $74,000-$76,000 fails.
Bitcoin’s price momentum is “weakening”
Private wealth manager Swissblock stated that Bitcoin’s momentum is fading following failure to “sustain expansion” above $82,000.
Swissblock said that Bitcoin’s positive momentum has been losing “force with every bounce,” contributing to the latest drop to $76,000.
Related: Bitcoin price stays under $77K as US bond yields near 20-year highs
Bitcoin is now trading at $77,200, with the true market mean and the short-term holder cost basis around $78,000 now acting as immediate resistance.
“Bitcoin is losing its capacity to regenerate strong positive momentum internally,” the wealth manager said, adding:
“Momentum exhaustion is not the breakdown itself. It is the process that usually comes before it.”
Bitcoin performance impulse. Source: Swissblock
Echoing this observation, analyst Axel Adler Jr pointed out that Bitcoin’s slow impulse performance indicator has “turned negative for the first time since April,” adding:
“Momentum is fading exactly as macro pressure is rising. Without Slow back above zero, every rally is unconfirmed.”
Bitcoin impulse performance. Source: CryptoQuant
Bitcoin’s price momentum indicator has also decreased significantly, falling by 29% over the last week to 47.1 from 66.7, indicating a “shift from strong upward to weakening momentum,” Glassnode said in its latest Market Pulse report, adding:
“Bitcoin’s market structure is beginning to soften as momentum, spot demand, and speculative positioning weaken across the market.”
Bitcoin price momentum. Source: Glassnode
Key Bitcoin support levels to watch
As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin’s upside hinges on bulls keeping the price above the $74,000-$75,000 zone, as it has repeatedly served as key support over the last two years.
This is where the key moving averages are found, including the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA), 100-day EMA and the 50-day simple moving average (SMA), as shown in the chart below.
This reinforces the importance of this demand zone and the fact that BTC/USD has not yet dipped below, “may be the most bullish thing” for Bitcoin, trading resource Material Indicators said in a recent X post.
BTC/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The second area of interest lies between $72,000 (100-day SMA) and the psychological level at $70,000.
If this level is lost, BTC price could drop to $65,000 or later revisit the macro low below $60,000, reached on Feb. 6.
Analyst Daan Crypto Trades Bitcoin said that if the support at $75,000-$76,000 is lost, the BTC/USD pair would retest the $72,000 “level pretty quickly.”
BTC/USD daily chart. Source: X/Daan Crypto Trades
Zooming out, trader CryptoAmsterdam said it would be “good” if the BTC/USD pair held support at $74,000-$76,000 (the orange area on the three-day chart below) with other areas of defense around $72,000.
The analyst sets downside targets at $60,000 and $50,000 in case these support levels are breached.
BTC/USD three-day chart. Source: X/CryptoAmsterdam
As Cointelegraph reported, a key support level for the bulls was the 50-day SMA at $75,600, which, if lost, could see the BTC/USDT pair sink to $65,000.
The primary cryptocurrency, which performed quite well towards the end of April and beginning of May, has tumbled by 5% over the past week, sparking fears that the bottom of the bear cycle has yet to be reached.
One popular analyst believes that its eventual breakout would heavily depend on holding a critical support level.
Big Jump or Major Collapse?
Ali Martinez – a renowned analyst who often makes BTC predictions after observing certain technical indicators and factors – once again chipped in. This time, he paid special attention to the Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) pricing bands and envisioned a rally to almost $95,000 should the asset’s valuation hold above $72,960.
At the same time, Martinez claimed that falling below this key zone could trigger a major pullback to just under $55,000, representing a 30% crash from today’s price.
In a separate post, the X user revealed that BTC’s MVRV ratio has plunged below its 180-day SMA. Unlike traditional models, which see this development as a cooling phase, Martinez views it as “a shift toward a high-conviction accumulation zone.”
“When the MVRV ratio sits below the 180-day moving average, it means the market is effectively flushing out premium and pricing in a deep discount. Historically, these specific periods mark the exact foundation on which long-term smart money builds its positions. As long as the ratio consolidates under this 180-day line, the short-term trend will remain compressed, offering a highly strategic accumulation window,” he explained.
The latest activity of the big investors supports the bullish outlook. As CryptoPotato reported, the number of market participants holding at least 100 BTC has increased to 20,229. This represents an 11% increase compared to the 18,191 wallets recorded in May 2025.
Such a development shows that these big shots are confident in the asset and position themselves for a potential price pump in the future. This could have a psychological effect on smaller players, who may follow suit and inject fresh capital into the ecosystem.
Is History Repeating?
Meanwhile, other analysts made pessimistic forecasts and expect BTC to post a painful decline in the short term. Among those is X user Chiefy, who argued that the asset is entering the exact same pivot zone that appeared during the 2022 market meltdown.
They reminded that back then, many people described the crash as a “healthy correction,” suggesting that now history is repeating. If that is indeed the case, BTC could tumble to as low as $45,000 in the coming months.
Another worrying factor is the rising amount of coins stored on crypto exchanges. CryptoQuant’s data show the figure currently stands at almost 2.7 million, close to the monthly high reached earlier this week. This shift suggests that some investors have abandoned self-custody methods in favor of centralized platforms, thereby increasing immediate selling pressure.
The post Bitcoin (BTC) on the Edge: 23% Rally or 30% Crash Comes Next? appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Senator Bernie Sanders called on Congress to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), citing polls showing overwhelming public support for safety rules.
The statement comes as the Vermont independent continues to push for stronger AI regulation, including the introduction of the AI Data Center Moratorium Act alongside Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in March.
Bernie Sanders Tells Lawmakers to Pick Voters Over Big Tech
Sanders posted his comments on X, arguing Congress has ignored sustained public demand for AI safeguards. He framed the dispute as a battle between voters and Big Tech.
“Maybe, just maybe, it’s time Congress listened to the American people — not just the billionaires pushing it — and regulated AI,” he said.
The senator pointed to findings from Semafor and Gallup surveys, which showed that 70% of Americans believe AI is moving too fast, while 97% said AI safety should be regulated.
“77% think entire industries will be eliminated,” he added.
A recent Politico poll also found that 44% of respondents believe AI is developing too quickly. In addition, nearly two-thirds support either strict regulation or broader regulatory guidelines for the industry.
Meanwhile, concerns over public sentiment toward the industry appear to be intensifying, with growing backlash against AI reportedly gaining momentum. In several recent incidents, commencement speakers were booed after mentioning AI.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
Democrats Reject Sanders’ Bill Over China Competition
This is not the first time Sanders has pushed for action on the issue. His March proposal sought to introduce what he described as a “reasonable pause” on AI development to help safeguard humanity.
“We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity. We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue. The time for action is now. We need a federal moratorium on AI data centers,” he stated.
However, some have pushed back against the bill. Senator John Fetterman labeled the moratorium “China First” in an X post. Senator Mark Warner even called the bill “idiocy” at an Axios summit, warning it would let Beijing pull ahead.
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The post 97% of Americans Want AI Regulated, Bernie Sanders Says Congress Is Ignoring Them appeared first on BeInCrypto.
It used to be easy to estimate how many Bitcoin full nodes were easily reachable over the internet, but almost all of those counters have gone offline this month.
As of Tuesday, Coin Dance’s node counter reported a last-updated time of 476 hours ago. Indeed, the page displays 23,795 reachable nodes as of its latest update last month.
Bitcoin node estimates plastered across dashboards, glossaries, and other webpages haven’t moved in roughly three weeks.
The main culprit seems to be Bitnodes.io, a popular crawler that ran continuously since 2013 yet went dark after its domain expired on May 3, 2026. A single developer, Addy Yeow, ran the project with early financial support from Balaji Srinavasan’s 21 Inc, once the best-funded company in the Bitcoin industry.
Neither Srinavasan nor Yeow have issued public statements on the GitHub repository or anywhere else about the outage.
NewHedge used Bitnodes’ API and, therefore, has taken its counter offline. Another Bitnodes API user, SatoshiDashboard, also went down.
Clark Moody’s dashboard simply re-posts Bitnodes’ old cached number.
Navigating to bitnodes.io itself returns a DNS error.
Bitnodes was a fan favorite
Two weeks into the outage, BitMEX Research proposed a rudimentary replacement crawler, Bitnod.es, using off-the-shelf tooling.
With sincere modesty, BitMEX Research conceded that the substitute is significantly inferior to the original.
Indeed, Bitnodes ran continuously for 13 years. The well-capitalized 21 Inc sponsored it at first, including under 21 Inc’s 2017 rebrand to Earn.com.
The timing of the outage is particularly unfortunate given widespread uncertainty about how many nodes are operating the Bitcoin network currently.
How many Bitcoin nodes are online, 14,000 or 350,000?
IP and onion addresses of nodes have become particularly hard to crawl over the last month.
For example, Jameson Lopp recently flagged a roughly four-fold spike in IP-like addresses propagating across Bitcoin’s ADDR (address) gossip messages.
Prior to this month, a research group of the Karlsruher Institut für Technologie in Germany found roughly 60,000 daily unique IPs operating the Bitcoin network. By early May, they detected a spike to roughly 250,000.
Their same dashboard has continued to skyrocket with an estmate now near 350,000.
Read more: Bitcoin needs a $970K wick in the next 62 days for Balaji Srinivasan
Amid outages at mainstream counters, users are finding alternatives with wildly different numbers than Bitnodes.
Luke Dashjr’s tracker, for example, shows 72,682 Bitcoin Core nodes and 18,724 Bitcoin Knots nodes — far higher than Bitnodes’ combined estimate in the 20,000s in April.
Another indie tracker actually estimates a sharp decline in Bitcoin listening nodes in April from roughly 18,000 in March to less than 15,000 in April and under 14,000 this month. Bitnod.es finds less than 2,500.
Estimating Bitcoin nodes by oneself
Bitcoin’s node-counting infrastructure was always thin, but it’s now entirely stale and poorly maintained.
As billionaire Srinivasan became preoccupied with acquiring an island near Singapore instead of supporting Bitnodes, and indie developers ran short on funds for operating public reporting of Bitcoin infrastructure, the only way to find out how many nodes are online has become DIY.
Anyone can run a Bitcoin node, start connecting to peers, and gossip with other operators to guess about additional IP, onion, or IP-like addresses that might be online.
Although connecting over the mesh network to conduct an estimate takes time and will yield a different absolute number than anyone else, due to the voluntary and random nature of global participation, it’s possible to arrive at a reasonable estimate with sustained effort.
Unfortunately, there’s no financial incentive other than reporting for the public good to extensively and diligently connect to as many peers as possible.
Most node operators are entirely content to have a couple hundred or thousand connections, which are sufficient for validating blocks and forthe purposes of receiving and broadcasting the majority of mempool-queued transactions.
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Warren Buffett built his fortune by avoiding assets he did not understand. An AI agent replicating his name and theories was asked about it XRP price prediction anyway. Warren Buffett AI predicts was more bullish than the Oracle of Omaha would ever say out loud.
Warren AI sees XRP challenging its all-time high near $3.66 by the end of 2026.
The framework is grounded in the kind of fundamental metrics Buffett actually respects. XRP is not a speculative micro-cap; it is a top-5 asset with an $84.91B market cap and an established network that has been processing real payment volume for years.
Warren AI’s base case of $2.50 is built on major financial integrations accelerating, which is a demand driver that is already partially in motion rather than hypothetical.
Regulatory clarity arriving and institutional adoption picking up are the 2 catalysts that push the prediction into ATH territory.
The AI frames XRP as a high-potential bet precisely because the infrastructure is already built and the market is underpricing what happens when institutional capital finally has both the legal clarity and the access vehicle to commit at scale.
The bear case is the most honest part of the prediction. If regulatory hurdles persist or crypto market sentiment sours, XRP might not even break $1.50, with additional downside risk if liquidity wanes.
Warren AI closes with a verdict that sounds exactly like something Buffett would say about any asset: catalysts and obstacles should both be watched closely. The momentum is cautiously optimistic, not blindly bullish.
XRP Price Prediction: After Months of Stalling, Warren AI Just Put a Predicts on What Happens When That Changes
Ripple XRP price is trading at $1.3704 on the daily, and the chart is a 10-month story of peak to trough with no convincing recovery in between.
Price peaked around $3.70 in August 2025, spent the rest of the year in a grinding descent through every attempted bounce, crashed to $1.20 in February 2026, and has been stuck in a $1.20 to $1.60 range ever since.
4 months of sideways action after a 63% drawdown is what accumulation looks like before it becomes obvious in hindsight.
The structure since February has been building quietly. Higher lows have printed consistently across March, April, and May, and each dip has found buyers at progressively higher levels.
The problem is that the ceiling has not moved. Every push toward $1.50 to $1.55 has been sold and price keeps returning to the $1.35 to $1.40 zone where it sits now.
Resistance is $1.50 to $1.55, the level that has defined the top of this recovery range for 4 months. Above it $1.60 is the next reference and $2.00 is the psychological level that separates the recovery trade from the reversal trade.
Support is $1.20 to $1.25, the February crash low and the only real floor in place. At $1.37 current price is closer to that floor than to any meaningful resistance, which is the uncomfortable reality underneath Warren AI’s bullish outlook.
Warren Buffett famously said the stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient. Warren AI applied that same logic to XRP and came out with $3.66. The chart is asking holders to prove they are the patient ones.
Warren AI Says Liquidchain Could Be The Next Big Thing
Every cycle has a graveyard of obvious plays that stopped working right when everyone piled in.
Right now Bitcoin is consolidating, Ethereum is going nowhere, and XRP has been one senate vote away from its next leg for longer than anyone wants to admit. The upside that used to feel inevitable at these market caps is getting harder to find. The trade is crowded. The easy money is gone.
This is not pessimism. It is pattern recognition. Capital does not disappear when large caps stall. It relocates. And it always relocates before most people realize it is moving.
The projects that capture that rotation never look ready when the money starts flowing in. They look like early presales with small raise totals, teams that have not been proven yet, and solutions to problems that the entire industry acknowledges but nobody has actually fixed.
Cross-chain liquidity is exactly that problem. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana are the 3 dominant ecosystems in crypto and they cannot natively communicate with each other.
LiquidChain is building above all of it. A single execution layer that treats all 3 ecosystems as one connected environment. One deployment. Full reach. No cross-chain tax on every interaction.
The presale is at $0.01454. Just over $700,000 raised.
That number means one thing. The market has not found this yet. That window has a closing date.
The risk profile is what you would expect at this stage. Nothing is proven. Adoption, liquidity, and execution are all still unknowns. That is not a disclaimer. That is the nature of the bet.
The projects that return 10x or 100x are not the ones that looked safe at entry. They are the ones who solved a real problem before the rest of the market understood it.
LiquidChain is still in that window.
The post Warren Buffet Agent (WarrenAI) AI Predicts XRP Price By End of 2026 appeared first on Cryptonews.
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