Crypto World
The $1,668 line for 2026
Ethereum trades around its 200-day moving average near $1,668, the line that has separated its bull markets from its bear markets for years. Above it lies a path back toward $3,000. Below it lies an accumulation zone, the charts put as low as $600. The strangest part is that Ethereum’s fundamentals have never been stronger.
Summary
- Ethereum trades around $1,650, hovering at its 200-day moving average near $1,668, a level that has historically divided its bull markets from its bear markets.
- The price is roughly 55-65% below its $4,953 August 2025 all-time high, in a year-long downtrend, even as Ethereum’s fundamentals reach record highs.
- About 35.8 million ETH, near 30% of supply, is staked, spot ETFs have drawn around $11.6 billion in cumulative inflows, and corporate treasuries hold over 6.2 million ETH, yet none of it has lifted the price.
- The $1,668 line is the pivot: holding above it keeps a recovery toward $2,300 to $3,000 alive, while losing the $1,580 to $1,600 floor opens a path toward a deep $1,039 to $603 accumulation zone.
- The catalyst that could flip the line is the Glamsterdam upgrade and a reversal in ETF and treasury flows, but until the macro tide turns, the strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history have not been enough.
Ethereum is trading around $1,650, which places it almost exactly on the one line that, more than any other, has historically decided whether it is in a bull market or a bear market: its 200-day moving average, currently near $1,668.
For years, this long-term trend line has acted as the dividing line for Ethereum, with sustained periods above it coinciding with recoveries and rallies, and breaks below it preceding extended downtrends.
Right now, Ethereum sits on the knife’s edge of that line, and the direction it breaks will go a long way toward determining its path through the rest of 2026. What makes the moment genuinely strange, and what separates this prediction from a simple chart reading, is the backdrop against which the line is being tested.
Ethereum’s price is down roughly 55-65% from its all-time high near $4,950 set in August 2025, and it has spent the better part of a year grinding lower, yet by almost every fundamental measure, the network has never been in better shape.
More ether is staked than ever, more institutional money has flowed into Ethereum products than ever, and corporate treasuries are accumulating it at a scale that did not exist a year ago. The result is one of the sharpest contrasts in the market: the strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history paired with some of its weakest price action since 2022.
This piece is organized around that contrast and around the line that sits at its center. The reason to build an Ethereum prediction this way, rather than as a list of targets, is that Ethereum’s situation is fundamentally a question about whether fundamentals will eventually matter, and the 200-day moving average is where that question gets answered in real time.
If Ethereum holds the line and reclaims the levels above it, the case that its record fundamentals will reassert themselves gains force, and a path back toward $3,000 opens. If it loses the floor beneath the line, the chart points toward a deep accumulation zone far below, and the fundamentals will have failed, for now, to matter.
What follows traces how Ethereum reached this point, why the $1,668 line carries so much weight, the genuinely record-setting fundamentals on one side of the ledger, the bearish forces that have overwhelmed them on the other, the catalysts that could tip the balance, and concrete bull, base, and bear scenarios tied to the line itself.
One line, two futures
Begin with why a single moving average deserves to anchor an entire prediction, because for Ethereum, the 200-day moving average has earned its significance. A moving average is simply the average price over a trailing period, in this case 200 days, and it smooths out short-term noise to reveal the underlying trend.
For Ethereum, the 200-day line has historically functioned as the boundary between bull and bear regimes: when the price trades and holds above it, Ethereum has tended to be in recovery or rally mode, and when it breaks decisively below it, extended downtrends have usually followed. That history is why traders treat this level with such respect, and why Ethereum, sitting right on it, near $1,668, is such a charged situation. The price is balanced precisely at the line that separates its two possible futures.
The levels around the line sharpen the stakes. Immediately below the current price, the $1,600-$1,650 area has held as the floor for 2026, the zone buyers have repeatedly defended, and a brief dip toward $1,580 during the June selloff was bought back. Above, the first resistance sits in the $1,700-$1,800 range, with a more significant barrier near $2,000 and the major structural hurdle at $3,000, where Ethereum would reclaim its long-term trend.
The asymmetry that worries bears is what lies beneath the floor. Technical analysts who map the downside warn that a decisive break below the $1,580 area and the broader monthly support could open a much deeper decline toward an accumulation zone they place between roughly $1,600, a drop of another 30-60% from current levels.
So the line is not merely a number; it is the hinge between a recovery path toward $3,000 and an abyss toward $600, which is what makes holding or losing it the central question for Ethereum in 2026.
How ETH got here
To understand why Ethereum is testing this line at all, you have to trace the decline from its peak, because the fall has been long and grinding rather than a single crash. Ethereum reached its all-time high near $4,950 in August 2025, lifted by enthusiasm around its newly launched exchange-traded funds and growing staking participation.
From that peak, the descent was relentless, with Ethereum closing out a long streak of red months, its worst such run in years, and sliding through the second half of 2025 and into 2026.
By early 2026, it had fallen below $3,000, and the weakness continued through the spring, with the price working steadily lower in a descending channel of lower highs and lower lows that defined the year.
The June selloff that brought Ethereum to its current levels near $1,600 was the latest leg of this extended downtrend, not a sudden break from an otherwise healthy trend.
The causes were a convergence of pressures rather than any single shock. Broader risk-off sentiment across crypto, driven by macroeconomic uncertainty and concerns about the path of interest rates, weighed on Ethereum as a high-risk asset. Persistent outflows from spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds removed a key source of demand and, during the worst stretches, became active selling pressure.
Selling attributed to Ethereum’s own co-founder added to the bearish narrative. And Ethereum’s tendency to amplify Bitcoin’s moves meant that as Bitcoin slid toward $60,000, Ethereum fell harder, because it typically rises faster in bull conditions and declines more sharply in risk-off periods.
The cumulative effect was a year-long erosion that has left Ethereum testing the line that separates recovery from a deeper bear market, with the price having given back the majority of its gains from the prior cycle. That is the chart context. The fundamental context, remarkably, points the other way.
Why $1,668 matters so much
It is worth dwelling on the significance of the line itself, because the entire technical case for Ethereum hinges on it, and the reasoning is not arbitrary. The 200-day moving average works as a regime indicator precisely because it filters out short-term volatility and captures the medium-to-long-term trend, which is why both technical traders and the algorithms that drive a large share of market activity pay close attention to it.
For Ethereum specifically, the historical record shows that this line has repeatedly marked the transition between bull and bear phases, so a sustained position above it tends to attract trend-following buyers and signal strength, while a decisive break below it tends to trigger trend-following selling and signal weakness. The line becomes partly self-fulfilling because so many participants treat it as meaningful that their collective behavior reinforces its importance.
Right now, the line is doing something subtle and worrying beneath the surface: even as the price hovers around it, the 200-day average itself has begun to slope downward, which technicians read as a sign of underlying long-term weakness instead of strength. A price clinging to a falling long-term average is in a more precarious position than one riding a rising average, because the trend line that is supposed to provide support is itself drifting lower.
This is why the current test is so consequential. If Ethereum can hold above the line, stabilize, and push back through the resistance levels above it, the long-term average can flatten and turn up, flipping the regime back toward recovery. If it loses the line and the floor beneath it, the falling average becomes overhead resistance, and the path of least resistance points toward the deep accumulation zone the bears identify.
The $1,668 line, in other words, is not just where the price happens to be; it is the level at which Ethereum’s medium-term fate is being decided.
The strongest fundamentals in Ethereum’s history
Here is the contrast that makes Ethereum’s situation so unusual, and it deserves to be laid out fully, because on fundamentals, the network is arguably in the best shape it has ever been.
Start with staking, the mechanism by which holders lock up ether to help secure the network and earn a yield. As of early 2026, roughly 35.8 million ether, close to 30% of the entire circulating supply, is staked, secured by around one point one million validators, with a staking yield in the range of 2.8-3.5% annually.
That staked proportion has nearly tripled since early 2023, when about 11% of supply was staked, reflecting steadily growing confidence and the popularity of liquid staking and restaking. A large and rising share of supply locked in staking reduces the ether available to sell on the open market, a structurally supportive dynamic.
The institutional picture is equally striking. Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds have attracted roughly 11.6 billion dollars in cumulative net inflows since launching, with the largest single product holding well over $6 billion in assets, giving traditional investors regulated access to ether and, through the staking yield increasingly available, a competitive income component.
Beyond the funds, corporate treasuries have embraced ether as a reserve asset at a scale that did not exist a year earlier, collectively holding over 6.2 million ether, up from under 1 million in mid-2025, led by a treasury company that alone holds several million ether, a meaningful slice of the total supply.
Layered on top is an accelerating upgrade cadence, with major protocol improvements deployed in 2025 and a twice-yearly schedule of further upgrades designed to scale the network.
By every one of these measures, more staked, more institutional capital, more corporate adoption, more frequent upgrades, Ethereum’s fundamentals are at or near record strength. And none of it has stopped the price from falling, which is the puzzle the rest of the prediction has to confront.
The bear case: why the fundamentals have not mattered
The hard truth for Ethereum bulls is that strong fundamentals have, so far, been no match for the forces pushing the price down, and understanding why is essential to any honest prediction.
The first and most powerful force is the macro environment and Ethereum’s nature as a high-beta risk asset. Ethereum tends to amplify the broader market’s moves, so in a period of risk aversion, tightening financial conditions, and a sliding Bitcoin, Ethereum falls harder regardless of how strong its network fundamentals are, because the selling is driven by macro flows that do not care about staking ratios or upgrade schedules. When capital is fleeing risk, the quality of Ethereum’s fundamentals offers little protection.
The second force is the reversal of the very institutional demand that forms part of the bull case. The exchange-traded funds that brought billions into Ethereum have, during the downturn, seen persistent outflows, turning a source of demand into a source of selling and showing that institutional money can flee as readily as it arrived.
The third is a structural tension within Ethereum’s own design: the growth of layer-two networks, which handle transactions more cheaply by settling on Ethereum, expands the ecosystem’s usage but also reduces the fee pressure on the main chain, complicating the link between network activity and ether’s value.
The fourth is competition from other blockchains vying for the same developers, users, and capital, which caps the premium the market is willing to pay.
And the fifth is simply sentiment and narrative: with the price in a year-long downtrend and a co-founder seen selling, the story around Ethereum has soured, and narrative drives crypto prices more than fundamentals over any given stretch.
The bears’ summary is blunt: the ether trade may be structurally broken, with the token failing to capture the value its thriving network creates, and until the macro tide turns, the record fundamentals are a reason to watch instead of a reason the price must rise.
The catalysts that could flip the line
For the fundamentals to start mattering, something has to change the flow of money and the narrative, and several potential catalysts could do exactly that, which is where the bull case regains its footing.
The most specific is the network’s continued upgrade path. A major scaling upgrade expected in the first half of 2026, followed by another in the second half, is designed to deliver measurable improvements to the main chain, and a successful, well-received upgrade could refresh the narrative around Ethereum, reminding the market of the network’s technical leadership and giving institutional and retail buyers a concrete reason to re-engage.
Upgrades have historically been catalysts for Ethereum when they land well, and the twice-yearly cadence means there are regular opportunities for a positive surprise.
The second catalyst is a reversal in the institutional flows. The exchange-traded fund outflows have been a primary drag, so a durable shift back to sustained inflows, perhaps helped by the staking yield making the funds more competitive against fixed-income products, would remove that selling pressure and could turn the funds back into the demand engine the bull case envisions.
The continued accumulation by corporate treasuries is a related signal; if treasuries keep buying through the weakness and the whale wallets that have been adding to positions during the dip prove to be the leading edge of renewed institutional conviction, the resulting supply squeeze, with so much ether staked and locked, could lift the price sharply once demand returns.
The third catalyst is macro: a shift toward easier monetary policy or a broader return of risk appetite would lift high-beta assets like Ethereum, and given how much it has fallen, the rebound could be substantial. The honest framing is that Ethereum has loaded the spring, with record fundamentals and locked supply, and the catalysts above are what could release it, but each depends on forces, especially the macro backdrop, that are not yet in place.
The bull, base, and bear cases for 2026
Tying the scenarios to the line and the catalysts makes them concrete. These are conditional ranges, not predictions, and each hinges on whether Ethereum holds its pivotal level and whether the catalysts arrive.
- Bull case: Ethereum holds the $1,668 line, a well-received scaling upgrade refreshes the narrative, exchange-traded fund flows reverse back to sustained inflows, and a friendlier macro backdrop returns risk appetite. The locked supply from record staking amplifies the move as demand returns, and Ethereum recovers through resistance toward the $2,300-$3,000 zone, with the most bullish institutional targets pointing well above that over a longer horizon as the fundamentals finally reassert themselves
- Base case: Ethereum chops around the line for an extended period, holding the $1,580-$1,700 range as treasury accumulation offsets continued fund outflows, with the strong fundamentals preventing a collapse but the weak macro preventing a breakout. In this scenario, Ethereum grinds sideways near current levels, waiting for a catalyst, with direction deferred to the second half of the year.
- Bear case: Ethereum loses the $1,668 line and the $1,580 floor decisively, fund outflows continue, Bitcoin drags the market lower, and the falling long-term average becomes overhead resistance. The chart’s deep accumulation zone comes into play, and Ethereum declines toward the $1,000-$1,600 region the bears identify, with the record fundamentals failing, for this cycle, to matter against the macro tide.
What to watch
For anyone tracking whether Ethereum’s fundamentals will finally translate into price, the analysis points to a focused watchlist, and the first item is the line itself. Whether Ethereum holds the $1,668 200-day moving average and the $1,580 floor beneath it, or loses them decisively, is the single clearest signal of which scenario is unfolding, because that level marks the boundary between the recovery path and the deep-accumulation path.
A sustained reclaim of the resistance above the line would be powerfully bullish; a decisive break of the floor would be powerfully bearish. Everything else feeds into that binary.
The second item is the flow data. The exchange-traded fund outflows have been the primary drag, so a durable reversal to net inflows would be among the strongest possible signals that institutional demand is returning, while continued outflows would confirm the bearish reading. The behavior of corporate treasuries and large accumulating wallets matters alongside the funds; sustained buying through weakness supports the bull case, and any sign of treasuries slowing or selling would be a serious warning given how much of the supply-squeeze thesis rests on them.
The third item is the upgrade path and its reception, since a well-received scaling upgrade is the most concrete near-term catalyst that could refresh the narrative. And the fourth, as always, is the macro environment, because Ethereum’s high-beta nature means a shift in monetary policy or risk appetite would move it more than almost any network development.
The honest synthesis is that Ethereum is a coiled spring of record fundamentals and locked supply held down by a hostile macro tape, and the 200-day line is where the contest between the two is being decided.
Watch the line, watch the flows, and resist the temptation to assume that strong fundamentals must win quickly, because Ethereum’s entire recent history is a reminder that they have not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the $1,668 level so important for Ethereum?
Because it is Ethereum’s 200-day moving average, a long-term trend line that has historically divided its bull markets from its bear markets. When Ethereum trades and holds above it, the network has tended to be in recovery or rally mode; when it breaks decisively below, extended downtrends have usually followed. Many traders and automated strategies treat the line as a regime indicator, which makes it partly self-fulfilling. With Ethereum sitting right on the line, the direction it breaks will signal whether a recovery toward $3,000 or a deeper decline toward the chart’s accumulation zone is more likely.
Why is Ethereum’s price falling when its fundamentals are so strong?
Because macro forces and Ethereum’s nature as a high-risk asset have overwhelmed the fundamentals. Ethereum amplifies the broader market’s moves, so in a period of risk aversion, tightening conditions, and a sliding Bitcoin, it falls hard regardless of staking ratios or upgrades. The exchange-traded funds that had bought billions in inflows have seen persistent outflows, turning demand into selling. Layer-two growth complicates the link between network usage and ether’s value, competition caps the premium, and a soured narrative drives sentiment. Over any given stretch, flows and narrative move crypto prices more than fundamentals, which is why record fundamentals have not lifted the price.
How strong are Ethereum’s fundamentals right now?
By most measures, the strongest in its history. Roughly thirty-five point eight million ether, near 30% of the supply, is staked, nearly triple the proportion of early 2023, which locks up supply. Spot exchange-traded funds have drawn around $11.6 billion in cumulative inflows, with the largest product holding over $6 billion. Corporate treasuries hold over 6.2 million ether, up from under 1 million in mid-2025. And the network is on an accelerating upgrade schedule. The contrast between these record fundamentals and the weak price is precisely what makes Ethereum’s current situation so unusual.
How low could Ethereum go?
If it loses the $1,668 line and the $1,580 floor decisively, technical analysts who map the downside identify a deep accumulation zone between roughly $1,600, which would be another 30-60% below current levels. This is the bear scenario, not a forecast, and it depends on continued fund outflows, a falling long-term average turning into resistance, and Bitcoin dragging the market lower. The bull scenario, in which Ethereum holds the line and recovers toward $3,000, is equally coherent. Which path unfolds depends on the line, the flows, the upgrades, and the macro environment.
What could turn Ethereum’s price around?
Several catalysts could flip the trend. A well-received scaling upgrade could refresh the narrative and give buyers a concrete reason to re-engage. A durable reversal of exchange-traded fund outflows back to sustained inflows would remove the primary drag and restore demand. Continued accumulation by corporate treasuries and large wallets, combined with the locked supply from record staking, could create a supply squeeze that lifts the price sharply once demand returns. And a shift toward easier monetary policy or renewed risk appetite would lift high-beta Ethereum substantially. Each depends on forces, especially the macro backdrop, that are not yet fully in place.
Is the “ETH trade” broken?
That is the bears’ core argument: that Ether, the token, is failing to capture the value its thriving network creates, because layer-two growth reduces main-chain fee pressure, institutional flows have reversed, and the price has fallen for a year despite record fundamentals. The bull rebuttal is that the fundamentals have built a coiled spring of locked supply and structural demand that will release once the macro tide turns and a catalyst arrives, and that the current weakness is macro-driven instead of a permanent break. The honest position is that the question is unresolved, and the 200-day line is where the market is deciding it.
This article is information, not investment advice. The scenarios described are conditional ranges that depend on unresolved questions, not predictions, and Ethereum is highly volatile. Prices, flows, staking figures, and fundamentals reflect reporting available as of June 26, 2026, and can change quickly. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell. Verify current data from primary sources and consider your own circumstances before making any decision
Crypto infrastructure company BitGo Holdings laid off about 15% of its staff on Thursday as its CEO pledged to focus the company on areas including trading, stablecoins and artificial intelligence.
“Today I’m sharing a hard decision: we are reducing our workforce by nearly 15%,” BitGo co-founder and CEO Mike Belshe posted to X on Thursday. “The ecosystem has evolved, and the way we build financial services has changed dramatically.”
“We need to be sharper, more focused, and concentrate our people and energy on the areas that matter most: security, trading, stablecoins, settlement, and AI-powered infrastructure,” he added.
The layoffs add to the thousands of jobs lost in the crypto industry so far in 2026, with many companies citing efficiency gains from AI and a wide crypto market slump as the reason for the cuts.
Source: Mike Belshe
BitGo did not confirm the number of staff affected in the layoffs. Its 2025 annual report published in March disclosed it had 603 full-time employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, meaning the layoffs could have impacted about 90 staff.
Belshe said the layoffs were “a one-time action” and BitGo does not “anticipate further reductions.” The company is still hiring for 51 roles across various regions, according to its job board.
BitGo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related: Blockworks acquires Messari in crypto data consolidation push
Shares in BitGo (BTGO) closed Thursday down 4.67% at $4.80, extending a nearly 73% slide from its public debut at $18 on Jan. 22.
Shares in BitGo on Thursday slid more than 4.5% after the company announced it cut 15% of its staff. Source: Google Finance
Crypto companies have so far cut more than 5,000 jobs this year, with Block Inc. undertaking the biggest round of layoffs by cutting 4,000 staff or about half its workforce in February.
Robinhood cut 10% of its workforce on June 16, while in May, crypto exchange Kraken cut 150 staff, data company Dune cut 25% of its workforce and Coinbase cut 700 employees, or about 14% of its workforce.
Earlier this year, Gemini laid off 200 employees and Crypto.com also laid off about 180 staff, with both citing the rising use of AI.
So far this year, the wider US technology sector has seen over 121,500 layoffs from over 200 companies, according to Layoffs.fyi.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026
XRP has fallen to a 20-month low near $1.05, down more than 70% from its 2025 high, in a year-long downtrend. The $1 is the line that matters now. Below it, the charts point to $0.85 and then $0.70. Yet institutions keep buying the dip, and one Senate vote could change everything.
Summary
- XRP trades near $1.05, a 20-month low, down more than 70% from its $3.66 July 2025 high, in a clean year-long downtrend of lower highs and lower lows.
- The $1 psychological level is the line that matters; below it, technical support sits at $0.85 and then near $0.70, while overhead resistance begins at $1.12 and $1.27.
- A paradox defines XRP: seven spot ETFs have drawn roughly $1.4 billion in cumulative inflows, and whale wallets have hit record counts, accumulating even as the price falls.
- The CLARITY Act is the swing catalyst, with passage potentially codifying XRP’s commodity status and unlocking billions in projected ETF inflows, while failure would remove a key support.
- Whether XRP holds $1 or slides toward $0.70 depends on Bitcoin’s direction, the CLARITY Act vote, and whether the institutional accumulation outweighs the relentless downtrend.
XRP is trading near $1.05, a 20-month low, and the round number just beneath it has become the line that defines the entire debate about where the token goes next.
After reaching a high of $3.66 in July 2025, XRP has spent the better part of a year grinding steadily lower, carving out a textbook downtrend of lower highs and lower lows that has erased more than 70% of its value from the peak. The price now sits just above the psychological $1 level, and the question that matters for the rest of 2026 is simple to state and hard to answer: Can XRP hold the $1, or is it heading toward the next support levels at $0.85 and then $0.70 that the charts identify below it?
What makes the question genuinely interesting, rather than a one-way bearish story, is a striking contradiction running underneath the falling price. Even as XRP has bled lower, institutions have been buying it, with billions flowing into newly launched exchange-traded funds and large holders accumulating at a record pace, and a single piece of legislation working its way through the Senate could, if it passes, change the token’s trajectory overnight. This piece works through that tension to build an honest prediction.
The reason to frame XRP’s outlook around the $1 line and the contradiction beneath it is that those two things, the technical battle at a key level and the clash between a bearish chart and bullish accumulation, are what will actually decide the price.
A list of multi-year targets, the staple of most prediction pages, obscures more than it reveals, because XRP’s near-term path depends on whether the $1 holds, whether the institutional buying is the leading edge of a reversal or a value trap, and whether the regulatory catalyst lands.
What follows traces the year-long descent that brought XRP here, maps the levels that matter on both sides, examines the paradox of institutions buying into weakness, weighs the CLARITY Act as the swing factor, lays out the bear case for a slide toward $0.70, and translates all of it into concrete bull, base, and bear scenarios anchored to the $1 line.
A year of lower lows
To understand XRP’s predicament, you have to see the shape of its decline, because the chart tells a clear and sobering story. XRP reached its high of $3.66 in July 2025, a level that capped an enormous run and marked the peak of its enthusiasm. From there, the descent began, and it has been remarkably persistent: rather than a single crash followed by recovery, XRP has traced a clean series of lower highs and lower lows for almost a full year, the textbook signature of a sustained downtrend.
Each attempt to rally has been sold into, each bounce has failed at a lower level than the last, and the price has ground inexorably downward, trading below its key moving averages and giving back the vast majority of its gains. By June 2026, XRP had reached a 20-month low near $1.05, with technical analysts describing the chart as an asset still searching for a bottom rather than building toward a breakout.
The most recent leg lower came as the broader crypto market sold off, with Bitcoin crashing toward $60,000 and dragging the major altcoins down with it. XRP, like most large-cap tokens, remains highly correlated with Bitcoin during major market moves, so Bitcoin’s slide to a 20-month low of its own pulled XRP to its lows as well.
The result is a token down roughly 40% year-to-date and more than 70% from its 2025 peak, sitting in oversold territory but with no clear sign that the selling has exhausted itself. The year-long downtrend is the dominant fact of XRP’s chart, and any bullish case has to contend with the reality that, on price action alone, XRP has done nothing but fall for a year, which is exactly why the defense of the $1 level has become so important. It is the line where the year-long decline either pauses or accelerates.
The levels: $1.04, $1, and $0.70
The technical map around XRP is worth laying out precisely, because the levels define the battlefield for the rest of the year. The immediate line in the sand is the area around $1.04, which technical analysts have flagged as the key support holding up the current price, with the round $1 level just beneath it carrying additional psychological weight as a number that tends to attract both defensive buying and, if broken, fresh selling.
Below the $1, the chart identifies the next meaningful support near $0.85, and below that a more significant level near $0.70, with some bearish models pointing even lower toward the fifties in a deeper breakdown. These are the downside markers that matter: holding the $1 keeps XRP in its current range, while losing it opens the door to the $0.85 and $0.70 levels in succession.
On the upside, the resistance is just as clearly defined and just as important. The immediate ceiling sits in the area around $1.11-$1.12, the zone that has repeatedly capped rallies and turned them back, and reclaiming it decisively is the first thing bulls would need to see to suggest the downtrend is weakening.
Above that, heavier resistance waits at $1.27 and then at $1.60, where multiple rejections have piled up historically. The structure this creates is a token boxed between a $1.12 ceiling and a $1 floor, with the year-long downtrend pressing down from above and the psychological $1 level holding up from below.
The prediction, in technical terms, comes down to which of those gives way first: a break above a $1.12 would signal the downtrend may be ending, while a break below the $1 would signal it is accelerating toward $0.70. Everything else, the accumulation and the regulation, feeds into which way that break resolves.
The paradox: institutions buy as the price falls
Here is the contradiction that keeps XRP’s story from being a simple bearish chart, and it is genuinely striking. Even as XRP has fallen to 20-month lows, institutional and large-holder demand has been growing, not shrinking.
Seven spot XRP exchange-traded funds, launched over the prior months, have collectively drawn roughly $1.4 billion in cumulative inflows, holding over 800 million XRP, and crucially, those inflows have continued even during weeks when the price was falling and when larger cryptocurrencies were seeing outflows.
https://x.com/cryptodotnews/status/2066151671189623092
The funds have, in effect, been absorbing XRP into long-term institutional vehicles throughout the decline, a pattern of demand that runs directly counter to the bearish price action. On-chain data tells the same story, with the number of large holder wallets reaching record levels and tens of millions of XRP moving off exchanges, both classic signals of accumulation instead of distribution.
The interpretation of this paradox is the crux of the bull case. One reading is that sophisticated, long-term buyers see current prices as a value zone and are quietly accumulating ahead of catalysts they expect to materialize, in which case the falling price is a gift to patient institutions and the eventual reversal could be sharp once the selling pressure exhausts.
The other reading, the bearish one, is that the accumulation is premature, a value trap in which buyers are catching a falling knife while the downtrend has further to run, and that inflows into funds do not guarantee a price floor if broader selling overwhelms them.
Both readings are plausible, and the resolution depends on the same levels and catalysts discussed throughout. What the paradox does show is that XRP is not simply abandoned; there is real, persistent demand beneath the falling price, which is exactly why a catalyst that shifts sentiment could move it quickly. The accumulation is the loaded spring; the question is what releases it, and whether it releases up or snaps.
The CLARITY Act wild card
The single most important catalyst hanging over XRP is a piece of legislation, and understanding it is essential to any prediction, because it is close to a binary event with large consequences either way.
The CLARITY Act is a crypto market-structure bill that would, among other things, codify the classification of tokens like XRP as commodities under the jurisdiction of the commodities regulator, providing the legal certainty that has long been the gatekeeper for institutional capital.
For XRP specifically, which spent years under a regulatory cloud before its legal status was resolved, formal codification of commodity status would remove the last major source of regulatory uncertainty and, in the view of many analysts, open the floodgates for institutional allocation.
One prominent bank has projected that passage and the resulting clarity could drive several billion dollars of additional inflows into XRP exchange-traded funds, a demand shock that would dwarf current flows.
The catch is that the passage is truly uncertain. The bill has cleared key committee hurdles and reached the Senate calendar, but it faces a contested floor vote, a tight legislative calendar, and disputes that have nothing to do with XRP, and prediction markets have priced its chances at roughly a coin flip.
This makes the CLARITY Act a wild card in the truest sense: if it passes, XRP gains a powerful fundamental catalyst that could combine with the existing accumulation to drive a significant move higher, validating the institutional buying and likely breaking the $1.12 resistance. If it fails or stalls, a key pillar of the bullish case is removed, the accumulation looks more like a trap, and the downward pressure on the price intensifies.
Because the vote is expected to resolve within the year and the outcome is close to even, the CLARITY Act introduces a large, two-sided risk that sits at the center of XRP’s outlook, and any honest prediction has to treat it as the swing factor it is instead of assuming either outcome.
The bear case for $0.70
Fairness and honesty require giving the bearish case its full weight, because it is more than just the year-long downtrend, and it points concretely toward the $0.70 level. The foundation of the bear case is the chart itself: a token in a clean, year-long downtrend, below all its major moving averages, with every rally sold into, is an asset whose path of least resistance is down until proven otherwise, and the technical structure of this kind tends to persist longer than bulls expect.
If XRP loses the $1 level, there is little meaningful support until $0.85 and then $0.70, so a breakdown could move quickly through those levels, especially in a weak overall market.
Several fundamental forces reinforce the bearish technical picture. XRP’s high correlation with Bitcoin means that if Bitcoin continues lower toward or below $50,000, as some traders expect, XRP would likely be dragged down with it regardless of its own developments.
Ripple’s growing emphasis on its dollar stablecoin, which increasingly handles the cross-border settlement role XRP was meant to play, raises a structural question about the token’s core demand source, with the stablecoin arguably cannibalizing XRP’s primary use case.
The large amount of XRP held in escrow and released on a schedule adds a persistent overhang of new supply. Competition from other networks for the cross-border and tokenization business continues to pressure XRP’s long-term thesis. And if the CLARITY Act fails, the regulatory catalyst the bulls are counting on evaporates.
Stack these together: a bearish chart, Bitcoin risk, stablecoin cannibalization, supply overhang, competition, and regulatory uncertainty, and the case for a slide toward $0.70 is coherent and serious. It is not the only possible outcome, but it is a real one, and anyone weighing XRP should take it seriously instead of assuming the accumulation guarantees a floor.
The bull, base, and bear cases for 2026
Tying the scenarios to the $1 line, the accumulation, and the CLARITY Act makes them concrete. These are conditional ranges, not predictions, and each depends on which forces prevail.
- Bull case: XRP holds the $1 level, the CLARITY Act passes and codifies commodity status, the projected wave of institutional ETF inflows materializes, and the existing accumulation releases upward as the catalyst validates the patient buyers. XRP breaks the $1.12 and $1.27 resistance and recovers toward the $1.60 and beyond, with the most bullish bank targets pointing far higher over the year if inflows accelerate and Bitcoin stabilizes.
- Base case: XRP defends the $1 but cannot break decisively higher, chopping in a range between roughly $1 and $1.25 as continued ETF accumulation offsets the downtrend, and the market waits on the CLARITY Act vote and Bitcoin’s direction. In this scenario, XRP grinds sideways near current levels, with the eventual break deferred to the resolution of the catalysts later in the year.
- Bear case: XRP loses the $1 level, the CLARITY Act stalls or fails, Bitcoin drags the market lower, and the year-long downtrend reasserts itself. With little support beneath the $1, XRP slides toward $0.85 and then $0.70, with the accumulation revealed as premature and the bearish technical structure playing out toward the lower end of analyst ranges.
What to watch
For anyone tracking whether XRP holds $1 or heads toward $0.70, the analysis points to a focused watchlist, and the first item is the $1 level itself. Whether XRP defends the $1 and the $1.04 support beneath it, or breaks down through them, is the clearest single signal of which scenario is unfolding, because that level is where the year-long downtrend either pauses or accelerates. A reclaim of the $1.12 resistance above would be the bullish counterpart, suggesting the downtrend is weakening. Those two levels bracket the near-term decision.
The second item is the CLARITY Act vote, the swing catalyst whose roughly even odds make it the largest two-sided risk in XRP’s outlook. Passage would be a powerful bullish catalyst that could combine with the accumulation to drive a sharp move higher; failure would remove a key pillar of the bull case and intensify downward pressure. Watching the legislative calendar and the vote’s progress is essential.
The third item is the flow data, specifically whether the exchange-traded fund inflows and whale accumulation continue, which would support the value-zone interpretation, or whether they stall, which would suggest the buyers are reconsidering. The fourth is Bitcoin, given XRP’s high correlation; a stabilizing or recovering Bitcoin would relieve pressure on XRP, while a further Bitcoin decline would likely drag XRP down regardless of its own catalysts.
The honest synthesis is that XRP sits at a genuine crossroads, with persistent institutional demand and a powerful potential catalyst on one side and a relentless year-long downtrend and real structural risks on the other, balanced precisely at the $1 line. Watch the $1, watch the vote, watch the flows and Bitcoin, and resist the temptation to assume either the accumulation or the downtrend must win, because the outcome is truly unresolved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the $1 level so important for XRP?
Because it is the psychological line where XRP’s year-long downtrend either pauses or accelerates. XRP currently trades just above it near $1.05, with technical support around $1.04. Round numbers like $1 tend to attract defensive buying when approached from above and trigger fresh selling if broken, so the $1 carries weight beyond its technical significance. Below it, the chart shows little meaningful support until $0.85 and then $0.70, which is why holding or losing $1 is the central near-term question for XRP’s price.
How far has XRP fallen?
XRP reached a high of $3.66 in July 2025 and has since traced a clean year-long downtrend of lower highs and lower lows, falling to a 20-month low near $1.05 by June 2026. That is a decline of more than 70% from the peak and roughly 40% year-to-date. The most recent leg lower came as Bitcoin crashed toward $60,000 and dragged the major altcoins down with it. Technical analysts describe the chart as an asset still searching for a bottom instead of building toward a breakout.
Why are institutions buying XRP if the price is falling?
That is the paradox at the heart of XRP’s story. Seven spot exchange-traded funds have drawn roughly $1.4 billion in cumulative inflows, continuing even as the price fell and even when larger cryptocurrencies saw outflows, and on-chain data shows record numbers of large-holder wallets and tens of millions of XRP moving off exchanges. One reading is that long-term buyers see current prices as a value zone and are accumulating ahead of catalysts; the bearish reading is that the buying is premature, a value trap while the downtrend continues. Both are plausible, and the catalysts will decide which is right.
What is the CLARITY Act and why does it matter for XRP?
The CLARITY Act is a crypto market-structure bill that would codify the classification of tokens like XRP as commodities, providing the legal certainty that gatekeeps institutional capital. For XRP, which spent years under a regulatory cloud, formal codification would remove the last major source of uncertainty, and one prominent bank has projected it could drive several billion dollars of additional ETF inflows. But the passage is uncertain, with a contested floor vote, a tight calendar, and prediction markets pricing roughly even odds. That makes it a two-sided wild card: passage is a powerful bullish catalyst, while failure removes a key pillar of the bull case.
Could XRP fall to $0.70?
It is a real possibility in the bear scenario. If XRP loses the $1 level, the chart shows little support until $0.85 and then $0.70, so a breakdown could move quickly. The bear case is reinforced by XRP’s high correlation with a falling Bitcoin, Ripple’s stablecoin increasingly handling the settlement role XRP was meant to play, the persistent supply released from escrow, competition, and the risk that the CLARITY Act fails. This is not the only outcome, and the bull case in which XRP holds $1 and recovers is equally coherent, but $0.70 is a serious downside risk instead of a remote one.
What would it take for XRP to recover?
The clearest bullish path runs through holding the $1 level, reclaiming the $1.12 resistance, and the CLARITY Act passing to codify commodity status and unlock the projected wave of institutional inflows. If that catalyst lands and combines with the existing accumulation, the patient institutional buying could be validated and release upward, driving XRP through its overhead resistance toward the $1.60 egion and beyond. A stabilizing Bitcoin would help by relieving the correlation-driven pressure. The recovery case is coherent and supported by real accumulation, but it depends heavily on the CLARITY Act vote and on Bitcoin, neither of which is yet resolved.
This article is information, not investment advice. The scenarios described are conditional ranges that depend on unresolved questions, not predictions, and XRP is highly volatile. Prices, flows, holdings, and the status of legislation reflect reporting available as of June 26, 2026, and can change quickly. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell. Verify current data from primary sources and consider your own circumstances before making any decision.
A bipartisan pair of US senators has called on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to investigate the prediction market platform Polymarket after it reportedly paid social media influencers to make videos of fake bets.
Republican Senator John Curtis and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff sent a letter to CFTC Chair Mike Selig on Thursday, saying they were concerned Polymarket “used deceptive marketing tactics to promote gambling-style products to US audiences.”
“If accurate, these allegations are deeply troubling and demand immediate scrutiny from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” they wrote.
The letter comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on June 20 that Polymarket paid influencers to film fake trades on websites resembling its platform and that many creators didn’t disclose that Polymarket paid them.
The Journal said it reviewed over 1,100 videos and found that 70% featured fake bets amounting to nearly $2 million.
In response to the report, a Polymarket spokesperson told Cointelegraph earlier this week that it was “conducting a comprehensive audit of active promotional content to ensure it complies with our standards, as well as applicable regulatory and legal disclosure requirements.”
The letter also came ahead of reports in the Journal and CNBC on Friday that the CFTC was investigating Polymarket.
CNBC reported, citing a person familiar with the inquiry, that the CFTC has an ongoing and extensive investigation into Polymarket, but the timeline for when the investigation began was not shared.
Polymarket declined to comment on the letter or on the reported CFTC investigation.
Prediction markets have recently exploded in popularity and have seen billions of dollars in volume each month, with Senators Curtis and Schiff expressing their concerns about the CFTC’s ability to regulate the platforms.
Source: John Curtis
“The CFTC has repeatedly asserted regulatory authority over prediction markets and event contracts,” the senators wrote. “Yet with content creators routinely portraying prediction markets as ‘free money,’ there is little basis for treating them differently from gambling.”
“These contracts are not in the public interest and should not be treated as derivative products with hedging value,” they added. “We remain concerned that the Commission is neither enforcing the law appropriately, nor is equipped to serve as a federal gambling regulator.”
Related: US senators push to end CFTC ‘assault’ on state oversight of prediction markets
The CFTC has claimed it has authority over prediction markets as the platforms are registered with the agency and operate under federal commodities law.
The regulator has sued nine US states that have filed legal action against prediction markets to accuse the platforms of offering unlicensed sports betting via event contracts.
Senators Curtis and Schiff asked Selig to give written responses to a list of questions by July 10, which asked if the CFTC was investigating Polymarket, if the reported advertising was legal and if it has the resources to police prediction markets, among others.
Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?
[PRESS RELEASE – Palo Alto, United States, June 26th, 2026]
Toss users can now contribute real-world data to train AI and get paid for it, in a first-of-its-kind model launching in Korea ahead of global expansion.
Poseidon, the data infrastructure built to source and license real-world data for AI, today announced a partnership with Toss, the mobile financial platform operated by Viva Republica, to let everyday users contribute to AI training and be paid for what they provide. It is Toss’s first move into AI data, and it opens that market to its roughly 30 million users.
Frontier AI has run out of internet to scrape. The next generation of models depends on real-world data, the kind that captures how people actually speak, move, and react, which does not exist on the open web and has never had a clean way to be sourced, licensed, or paid for. Poseidon is building the infrastructure to change that, and Toss brings the reach to do it at scale.
Through the partnership, Poseidon’s contributor app, Numo, launches inside the Toss app. Toss users can help build Korean-language training data across voice, image, and video, and receive payment tied directly to what they contribute. Poseidon provides the infrastructure that tracks each contribution and its value, while Toss provides the user base and the financial experience that turns participation into payment. Together they offer a working answer to a question the AI industry has struggled with, which is how to compensate the people whose data makes models better.
Every contribution made through Numo is registered on DATA, the AI data network that Poseidon refines data for. DATA gives each record a verifiable provenance trail through Trace, its public audit layer, so a buyer can see where a piece of training data came from and a contributor can see that their work was counted and paid. DATA Foundation, which launched this week from the rebrand of Story, is building this layer alongside integration partners including the human data marketplace Kled, and Poseidon is one of the largest sources of refined data flowing into it.
What Numo collects is first-person data, recorded by real people in real environments, which is among the hardest and most valuable categories to obtain. It is the raw material for physical intelligence, the AI that has to operate in the physical world across robotics, autonomous vehicles, and other applications. Demand from global AI labs for this kind of data is climbing, and Korea is positioned to supply it, with its dense real-life data and Toss’s user base. Poseidon and Toss intend to prove the model in Korea, then expand to global markets.
Changhoon Seo, Executive Director of New Business at Toss, said: “As the AI industry grows, demand for high-quality data is rising just as fast. Toss plans to build an environment where users can take part in the data economy more easily and naturally, and to expand a structure in which the value they contribute is rewarded transparently.”
SY Lee, Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of Poseidon, said: “Korea is one of the few markets where the strategic importance of AI data, a mature financial system, and world-class mobile experience all exist at once. Toss is the right partner to turn user-contributed AI data from an early idea into a standard the rest of the world can adopt.” Lee previously founded the web-novel platform Radish and sold it to Kakao Entertainment, co-founded Story, the IP infrastructure that recently rebranded as DATA Foundation, and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum this year.
About Poseidon
Poseidon is the data infrastructure for AI, built to source, refine, and license the real-world data that frontier models need and the open internet cannot supply. Incubated by the team behind The DATA Network, Poseidon bridges the gap between data supply and AI demand by enabling access to high-quality, IP-safe, and composable training datasets. Poseidon raised a $15 million seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Poseidon’s contributor app, Numo, has recorded more than 711,000 data registrations worldwide and is available and is now available on the Toss app.
The post Toss Brings 30 Million Users Into the AI Data Economy in Partnership With Poseidon appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Crypto World
NOWPayments Expands Its Ecosystem with Crypto Tax Readiness Toolkits for Global Businesses
[PRESS RELEASE – Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 26th, 2026]
As crypto adoption accelerates worldwide, accepting digital assets is becoming easier for businesses. Staying compliant across different jurisdictions, however, remains a major challenge.
To help address this, NOWPayments and KoinX co-created Crypto Tax Educational Assets – practical, jurisdiction-specific resources designed for businesses exploring or already accepting crypto. Free access available NOW!
Rather than theoretical research, the educational assets provide actionable guidance on tax and accounting considerations, reporting expectations, and key regulatory factors businesses should evaluate when working with crypto.
The company says the initiative is particularly relevant for merchants, platforms and global businesses operating across multiple regions where regulatory expectations can vary significantly.
“At KoinX Books, we’re focused on simplifying crypto accounting and financial compliance for businesses operating in the digital asset space,” said Punit Agarwal, Founder of KoinX. “Our collaboration with NOWPayments is another step toward building a more connected and efficient infrastructure for Web3 businesses globally. As crypto adoption grows across regions like Spain and Europe, businesses need financial systems that are transparent, scalable and audit-ready.”
The collaboration reflects a shared goal between NOWPayments and KoinX – making crypto adoption more operationally accessible for businesses.
NOWPayments says payments alone are no longer enough to support business adoption of crypto.
Successful participation in the digital asset economy increasingly requires operational confidence, educational support and infrastructure that helps businesses understand how to work with crypto responsibly across jurisdictions.
“We believe businesses need more than payment tools to succeed with crypto,” said Kate Lifshits, CEO of NOWPayments. “Our ecosystem is evolving to support businesses at multiple stages of their crypto journey – from payment acceptance to operational and compliance readiness. These assets are part of that broader mission.”
Businesses planning to accept cryptocurrency but uncertain about crypto compliance requirements in their target markets can access a free Crypto Tax Checklist for Spain, the EU, UAE, LATAM, and other key regions.
About NOWPayments
NOWPayments is a global crypto payment gateway that enables businesses to accept payments and send payouts in cryptocurrencies. The platform supports 350+ cryptocurrencies and 30+ stablecoins, while offering enterprise-ready tools such as invoices, payment widgets, subscriptions, payment buttons, donation tools, point-of-sale solutions, plug-ins, and fiat payment options. Businesses can also benefit from zero-fee payouts with settlement speeds of up to 1 second, helping streamline operations and scale crypto payments efficiently.
The post NOWPayments Expands Its Ecosystem with Crypto Tax Readiness Toolkits for Global Businesses appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Stablecoin infrastructure company StablecoinX has completed its merger with TLGY Acquisition Corp, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, allowing it to begin trading on Nasdaq on Friday.
StablecoinX is the first public stablecoin infrastructure company focused on supporting the Ethena ecosystem through decentralized verifier nodes and software infrastructure, and will trade under the symbol “USDE,” according to a statement on Thursday.
“We believe Ethena has emerged as one of the most important platforms powering the next generation of digital dollars,” said Edward Chen, CEO and Chairman of StablecoinX.
The Nasdaq debut is a big bet that stablecoins are becoming the plumbing of global finance, and comes despite a broader crypto bear market and Ethena’s relatively small 1.4% market share of the stablecoin market compared with those offered by its competitors, such as Tether and Circle.
Ethena’s USDe is a yield-bearing synthetic dollar-pegged stablecoin. Unlike USDt (USDT) or USDC (USDC), which are backed by actual dollars, USDe (USDE) maintains its $1 peg through a derivatives strategy.
It is backed by crypto collateral in Bitcoin and Ether and short futures positions on those same assets, enabling the long and short positions to cancel out the price volatility, helping to keep its value at approximately $1.
Ethena’s delta-neutral strategy works well in normal markets but is vulnerable during periods when futures funding rates go negative.
USDe supply falls
While stablecoin circulation has grown in recent years, USDe market capitalization has declined by 70% since its peak in October to around $4.5 billion today, ranking it sixth among stablecoins.
USDe supply has fallen since the bull market peak. Source: CoinGecko
StablecoinX’s treasury also holds approximately 3 billion Ethena governance tokens (ENA), or around 20% of the total supply, valued at approximately $275 million. The company announced a $360 million capital raise to purchase ENA on Sunday.
However, the asset is currently trading at $0.08, down 94% from its April 2024 all-time high.
Related: Yield-bearing stablecoins surge as Washington fights over yield
The company has three business lines: a decentralized verifier node (DVN) serving as a cross-chain message verifier for the Ethena ecosystem, a middleware software stack called “Stablecoin Harness” and distribution services, which are currently in development.
The company says the three businesses reinforce one another, though the broader crypto bear market presents a challenging backdrop for its Nasdaq debut.
Crypto SPACs and crypto treasuries have had a tough time this year as the broader market has tanked 52%, with $2.3 trillion leaving the space since October and crypto falling out of favor among investors.
Pre-merger TLGY fell 6.93% on Thursday on OTC markets to end the day trading at $9.40, according to Google Finance data.
Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto
Playnance has expanded GCOIN’s exchange presence to four new trading venues this month after securing a listing on XT.COM, continuing its effort to make the token available to more users worldwide.
Summary
- Playnance has listed GCOIN on XT.COM, making it the token’s fourth exchange listing in June.
- The company says GCOIN powers gaming, sports predictions, and on-chain transactions across its PlayBlock ecosystem.
- Playnance reports more than 300,000 users, 10,000 blockchain games, and a fixed GCOIN supply capped at 77 billion tokens.
According to an announcement from Playnance, trading for the GCOIN/USDT pair on XT.COM began on June 24, 2026. The company said the latest listing gives more users another entry point into its blockchain entertainment ecosystem, where GCOIN is used across gaming, sports prediction, and other on-chain applications.
Latest listing extends GCOIN’s exchange rollout
Coming after listings on WEEX, BitMart, and KoinBX earlier in June, XT.COM becomes the fourth exchange to add GCOIN this month. Playnance said the series of listings forms part of its strategy to increase access to the token as the platform expands its user base.
Commenting on the development, Playnance CEO Pini Peter said the company views exchange availability as an important step toward bringing more mainstream users into Web3 entertainment.
“Four exchange listings in a single month reflect our commitment to increasing accessibility, expanding adoption, and bringing more users into the Playnance ecosystem.”
The company added that easier access to GCOIN allows more participants to engage with its blockchain-powered gaming, sports prediction, and entertainment services without changing how the underlying ecosystem operates.
GCOIN entered the market on March 18 as the native token supporting economic activity across Playnance’s ecosystem. According to the company, the token facilitates gameplay, reward distribution, prediction markets, and settlement transactions while operating on PlayBlock, its blockchain infrastructure built to support gas-free interactions, non-custodial ownership, and full on-chain transparency.
Playnance continues building around its Web3 ecosystem
Founded in 2020, Playnance has focused on developing blockchain products designed to simplify Web3 participation. In March, the company said its ecosystem included more than 300,000 registered users, partnerships with over 30 game studios, and access to more than 10,000 blockchain-based games.
Company figures also indicated that roughly 2 million on-chain transactions are processed each day across the network, while users participate in more than 2.5 million sports events annually. According to Playnance, this activity is supported through a shared wallet system and infrastructure built to handle high transaction volumes.
Alongside the ecosystem expansion, the company has introduced a fixed token supply model capped at 77 billion GCOIN. Playnance said the circulating supply will be controlled through a lock-and-release mechanism under which tokens lost during gameplay remain locked for 12 months before returning to circulation.
Separately, Playnance executives have continued discussing the technology supporting the platform. Speaking recently to crypto.news, Chief Technology Officer Roman Levi outlined Ethereum’s ongoing scalability challenges and discussed emerging approaches that could improve blockchain performance. Read the full interview here.
Ether treasury company Sharplink has bought Ether for the first time in eight months as the token sank to its lowest price this year on Thursday.
On-chain data from Arkham shows a wallet associated with Sharplink received 5,000 Ether (ETH), worth $7.85 million, from crypto prime brokerage FalconX on Thursday. The last time it received Ether from FalconX was on Oct. 26, when it bought $78.3 million worth of ETH.
The purchase comes as Ether hit $1,537 on Thursday, its lowest price in 2026. The latest purchase could suggest a revival of the company’s active Ether accumulation strategy.
“I’m seeing genuine corporate accumulation conviction holding strong amid subdued price action,” Andri Fauzan Adziima, the research lead at Bitrue Research Institute, told Cointelegraph.
Sharplink CEO Joseph Chalom told Cointelegraph in May that he saw three catalysts that could spur growth in the price of Ether.
The first was the passage of the CLARITY Act in the US, while the second was a return to market risk appetite, which will depend on an easing in geopolitical tension and cooling of the artificial intelligence investment thesis. Chalom’s third catalyst was the continued growth of real-world asset tokenization.
The Senate is yet to vote on its version of the CLARITY Act, and the House Financial Services Committee said it would hold a hearing on the bill on July 17. The US and Iran are working toward a final peace agreement to end months of conflict and tokenized real-world assets have now reached a distributed asset value of $31.55 billion, close to its highest level this year.
Sharplink now holds 876,285 ETH
Sharplink was founded in 2019 as an affiliate marketing service provider to the sports betting and gambling industries, but pivoted to become an Ethereum treasury company in June 2025, with Consensys co-founder and CEO Joe Lubin named as chairman.
It became the largest publicly traded corporate holder of ETH, but lost the title to Bitmine in August, just two months after Bitmine launched its own Ether buying strategy.
Related: Bitmine, Sharplink and Joe Lubin back Ethereum R&D nonprofit
The company now holds 876,285 ETH and ETH equivalents, which it has accumulated over time through active ETH purchases and staking rewards. Its competitor, Bitmine, holds 5.67 million ETH after acquiring another 52,203 ETH last week.
Source: Sharplink
“We continue to maintain a steady pace of accumulation throughout 2026. We believe we are in the early stages of crypto spring,” Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said.
Sharplink added to the Russell indexes
The purchase also comes just days before Sharplink is expected to join the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 indexes on Monday.
Inclusion in the indexes is widely viewed as positive because many active and passive funds, including exchange-traded funds, typically buy stocks from them.
Chalom in May said that joining the Russell indexes would broaden the company’s shareholder base and strengthen its access to capital markets.
Magazine: Guide to the top and emerging global crypto hubs: Mid-2026
Canton Network, the privacy-enabled institutional blockchain built by Digital Asset, generated $60.2 million in fees over the trailing 30 days, placing it ahead of Tron and far above Ethereum by that measure, according to DefiLlama data. The DefiLlama fee-tracking dashboard logs Canton's 30-day… Read the full story at The Defiant
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have launched a joint review of crypto derivatives regulations, opening a 60-day public comment period following the approval of U.S. crypto perpetual futures.
Summary
- SEC and CFTC have opened a 60-day public consultation on harmonizing crypto derivatives and portfolio margining rules.
- The review follows the approval of U.S. crypto perpetual futures and covers risk management and regulatory coordination.
- The consultation comes as the CFTC faces legal disputes over crypto perpetual futures and prediction market oversight.
According to a joint press release, the SEC and CFTC have requested public comment on possible ways to better align portfolio margining requirements across securities, security-based swaps, futures, swaps, and related positions.
The agencies said comments will remain open for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.
Regulators seek feedback on derivatives oversight
As outlined by the two regulators, the review will help determine whether closer coordination on portfolio margining could improve risk management, reduce market fragmentation, and strengthen consumer protections. The request comes as crypto derivatives and tokenized financial products continue to expand in the United States.
The consultation follows the recent launch of regulated crypto perpetual futures. Kalshi received CFTC approval to list perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and HYPE, while platforms such as Hyperliquid have also expanded access to perpetual products linked to tokenized securities.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said better coordination between the agencies can prevent overlapping regulatory responsibilities from slowing innovation or reducing market efficiency.
“Cross-margining offers a clear opportunity to unlock liquidity that remains frozen in separate accounts, and we encourage market participants to provide feedback on ideas that will help improve coordination between both agencies.”
CFTC Chair Michael Selig also supported the initiative, saying closer cooperation on portfolio margining “promises to unleash untapped capital while ensuring a more robust risk management framework and market protections.”
Earlier this week, the agencies separately asked the public to comment on how U.S. rules define swaps, security-based swaps, and related derivatives under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.
According to the SEC and CFTC, market structure and trading practices have changed since those rules were first adopted, prompting questions about whether existing definitions still match today’s derivatives markets.
The earlier consultation also seeks feedback on swap exclusions, mixed swaps, jurisdictional issues, alternative compliance, and new financial products. According to the agencies, the responses will help build a common regulatory record that could guide future staff interpretations and court proceedings.
Court disputes continue over crypto derivatives
The latest consultation arrives as the CFTC faces multiple legal disputes tied to crypto derivatives and prediction markets.
Earlier this week, the CFTC sued Kentucky in federal court after the state sought to enforce its gaming laws against prediction market operators, including Kalshi and Polymarket. The regulator argued that the Commodity Exchange Act gives it exclusive authority over federally regulated futures, options, and swaps, while Kentucky maintains that sports-linked event contracts should remain subject to state gambling laws.
At the same time, CME Group continues its legal challenge against the CFTC over the approval of crypto perpetual futures.
As previously reported by crypto.news, CME argues that Kalshi’s perpetual crypto contracts should be regulated as swaps rather than traditional futures and alleges that the regulator approved the products without following the framework established under Dodd-Frank.
The classification question has become increasingly important because swaps and futures follow different rules for clearing, reporting, execution, and regulatory oversight.
The SEC and CFTC’s parallel consultations on derivatives definitions and portfolio margining may help shape how future crypto products are supervised as new trading models continue to enter regulated U.S. markets.
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