XRP price traded near $1.45 on Sept. 4 after breaking above a falling 4-hour channel, but resistance between $1.50 and $1.53 remains the next test for buyers.

XRP price action today

According to data from crypto.news, XRP (XRP) price was changing hands near $1.45 on Friday, consolidating after a sharp recovery from its early September low near $1.33.

The token briefly reached approximately $1.47 during the latest advance before losing some momentum. Even so, the pullback has remained shallow compared with the size of the breakout.

XRP’s 4-hour chart shows that price has moved above the upper boundary of a descending channel that had guided the market lower since its Aug. 22 rally. The channel formed after XRP spiked to a local high near $1.70 and then recorded a series of lower highs and lower lows.

The breakout occurred near $1.37 and was followed by a rapid move above $1.45. XRP is now holding above the former channel resistance, leaving the short-term bullish structure intact while that level remains defended.

The Awesome Oscillator stands at 0.0669 and continues to print positive bars. The reading indicates that short-term momentum remains stronger than longer-term momentum, although the latest bars show that the initial acceleration may be slowing.

The Average Directional Index has climbed to 26.88. An ADX reading above 25 normally points to a developing directional trend, giving the channel breakout more weight than a move occurring under weak trend conditions.

XRP faces resistance at $1.50 and $1.53

The first major barrier sits between $1.48 and $1.50, where XRP repeatedly struggled to hold gains following its August surge. A 4-hour close above the zone could allow buyers to challenge the descending channel’s starting area near $1.55.

The daily chart places additional resistance at $1.53. Crypto analyst ChartNerd identified that level as XRP’s 50-week exponential moving average, while the 20-week EMA sits much lower at approximately $1.28.

According to ChartNerd, XRP remains inside a large weekly compression range between the two averages. The analyst said a convincing move above the 50-week EMA could open the way toward $1.80, while repeated weekly closes below it would raise the risk of a deeper retracement.

Daily momentum supports another resistance test but also calls for some caution. XRP’s 14-day Relative Strength Index is at 66.22, below its signal average of 69.73 and just under the conventional overbought threshold of 70.

The reading shows that buyers still control the broader move, although momentum has cooled since XRP reached $1.70. A push above 70 alongside a price close over $1.53 would provide stronger confirmation that the recovery is extending.

Liquidation map puts $1.43 support in focus

CoinGlass’ three-day XRP liquidation heatmap shows the nearest large concentration of leveraged positions around $1.425 to $1.435. That liquidity sits just below the current market price and could attract a short-term sweep if XRP fails to hold $1.45.

Further downside liquidity is spread across $1.40 and $1.37. The latter level is especially important because it overlaps with the former 4-hour channel resistance. A retest that holds above $1.37 would preserve the breakout structure.

A move below $1.37, however, would place the lower end of the former channel near $1.30 back in play. The daily Supertrend provides a wider structural support level at $1.2439, close to ChartNerd’s 20-week EMA near $1.28.

Above the market, liquidation positions are concentrated from approximately $1.48 to $1.53. A break into that zone could force short sellers to close their positions, adding market buy orders and potentially accelerating the move.

The heatmap does not guarantee that the price will reach either pool. It instead identifies areas where leveraged positions may be vulnerable if volatility increases.

Analysts see higher targets if the breakout holds

A separate analysis published by trader CW said XRP’s previous correction ended near the 0.5 Fibonacci retracement level. The token has since recovered above the 0.618 retracement, according to the analyst’s chart.

CW placed the next extended target at approximately $2.135, corresponding to the 1.618 Fibonacci extension. Reaching it would require XRP to clear several nearer barriers, including $1.50, $1.53, the August high near $1.70, and ChartNerd’s $1.80 target.

The nearer levels carry more importance for the current setup. A sustained move above $1.53 would complete the next stage of the breakout, while rejection could keep XRP confined between roughly $1.37 and $1.50.

US catalysts could raise XRP volatility

US-listed spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded $110.49 million in net inflows during the week ending Aug. 28, their strongest weekly result of 2026. The figure followed an earlier increase in XRP ETF activity, with cumulative inflows reaching approximately $1.6 billion.

Traders are also watching the Senate’s Sept. 15 procedural vote on the CLARITY Act. The cloture motion requires 60 votes to advance and would end debate on the motion to proceed rather than pass the bill itself. The legislation could affect how US regulators divide oversight of digital assets.

Federal Reserve policy represents another near-term risk. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Sept. 3 that three-month core inflation had fallen from 4.76% in February to 3.05% through July.

Waller said he would support leaving rates unchanged if incoming inflation data confirms the cooling trend, but he did not rule out a hike if price pressures return. The August inflation report and the Fed’s Sept. 15–16 meeting could therefore influence liquidity across XRP and the wider crypto market.

For now, XRP’s 4-hour breakout favors buyers above $1.37. A close over $1.53 would strengthen the case for $1.70 and $1.80, while a loss of $1.37 would expose the $1.30–$1.24 support region.

Bitcoin (BTC) reached another multi-month high after reclaiming $80,000, climbing to $81,749 on Thursday after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller tempered expectations of a September rate hike.

However, the flagship cryptocurrency lost momentum after hitting a key resistance zone. If BTC holds above $80,000, it could target a move past $83,500 and confirm a falling wedge breakout.

Bitcoin (BTC) Back Above $80,000 After Rate Hike Odds Drop

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading around $80,826, up almost 4% in the past 24 hours. The rally helped the price overcome recent weakness and retest levels that halted its August rally. Buyers must convert $80,000 into support to sustain the latest breakout.

The reversal came after Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller cooled immediate expectations of a rate hike after the September FOMC meeting if incoming inflation data is favorable. However, he did not rule out a hike if inflation numbers come in higher. Waller’s comments put the focus on the upcoming August Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, making it a factor in whether interest rates remain stable or are raised higher.

Additionally, two- and ten-year Treasury bond yields fell, and the dollar weakened, creating a conducive environment for Bitcoin and other risk assets.

Corporate Demand Provides Additional Support

Returning corporate demand helped support Bitcoin’s latest resurgence. Strive CEO Matt Cole revealed the company could purchase over 20,000 BTC by the end of the year, helping shore up sentiment around the asset. The company disclosed a 1,800 BTC purchase earlier this week. The purchase was completed at an average price of $79,431, taking Strive’s total holdings to 23,156 BTC.

Capital-B, a company listed in France, raised €7.6 million through a private placement from Blockstream CEO Adam Back. The company disclosed it will use the proceeds from the raise to fund a 376 BTC acquisition. Returning corporate demand indicates renewed institutional confidence in the asset and suggests companies are buying and holding BTC on their books as a reserve asset again.

Weakening Dollar Pushes Bitcoin (BTC) Higher

Besides the Fed’s comments and declining Treasury bond yields, a weak dollar has also helped Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market push higher. BTC’s move higher comes against the backdrop of a strengthening Japanese yen (JPY), which some reports state is likely due to central bank intervention.

The USD/JPY pair fell to 158.5 on Wednesday before sliding further to 155.4 on Thursday. This had a domino effect and put pressure on the US Dollar Index (DXY), pushing it down to 99. However, the suspected central bank intervention to prop up the yen has revived concerns about a carry-trade unwind. News outlet The Macro Paper commented on the probable intervention, stating:

“In the last 24 hours, USD/JPY has dropped almost 2.5%, which doesn’t happen without any major intervention. On top of that, BOJ is most likely expected to hike rates this month, with more rate hikes possible in Q4. This is the exact thing that happened in Q3 2024, when BOJ intervened and hiked rates together.”

Can Bitcoin (BTC) Overcome Key Resistance Zones

Bitcoin’s revival sees the cryptocurrency retesting the $81,000 to $82,500 zone that capped its August rally. A close above these levels could confirm a breakout and push the price towards $85,000. One analyst, Franklin, identified $83,450 as a key support level, adding that BTC was testing a falling wedge breakout. However, the price must close above resistance levels to confirm a breakout.

Momentum has strengthened as well, with the fear and greed index at 78 and the relative strength index (RSI) above 70, a level typically associated with overbought market conditions. Additionally, BTC is trading above all four moving averages on its daily chart (20-day at $74,775, 50-day at $68,489, 200-day at $69,602, and 100-day at $66,334). Bitcoin has also broken above the upper Bollinger Band on the 4-hour chart. This confirms substantial upside pressure, but could also suggest price action is getting stretched.

A look at CoinGlass’ liquidation heatmap shows that BTC has cleared several short clusters between $78,000 and $80,500. This likely triggered forced buying as traders closed their positions, accelerating upward momentum. The next major cluster sits between $81,300 and $81,600. If the flagship cryptocurrency clears this level, it could push towards $85,000, liquidating smaller clusters along the way. Meanwhile, downside liquidity is concentrated between $76,400 and $79,800. If the price falls below $80,000, it will likely drop towards these levels.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Binance placed four cryptocurrencies under its Monitoring Tag on Sept. 4 while separately removing 14 tokens from the Binance Alpha recommendation list.

AVA, Gains Network, Scroll and Towns Protocol received the Monitoring Tag following the exchange’s latest project reviews. The designation warns users that the tokens carry higher volatility and risk than other assets listed on the main Binance exchange.

In a separate notice, Binance Alpha removed MTP, BDXN, TALE, BOS, MAIGA, TIMI, SAROS, U, SERAPH, RVV, AIAV, PENGUIN, ODOS and SN3. Selling and withdrawals remain available for those assets.

Binance Monitoring Tag places four tokens under review

The Monitoring Tag does not immediately remove AVA, GNS, SCR or TOWNS from trading. Related Binance services also remain available following the designation, according to the exchange.

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has linked approximately $12.7 billion in suspicious financial activity to digital asset investment scams largely run from overseas scam compounds, based on nearly 34,000 reports filed over more than two years.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Thursday that its analysis covered 33,904 Bank Secrecy Act reports filed by roughly 1,300 financial institutions between Sept. 8, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2025, giving regulators a view of how money moved through banks, crypto businesses and securities firms as victims were drawn into fraudulent investment schemes.

As the industry matures and borrows more pages out of TradiFi’s playbook, crypto projects are starting to adopt some of the behaviors of public companies.

The latest craze rocking cryptoville is token buybacks: using revenue to buy back your own token.

So far in 2026, crypto projects have spent about $640 million on the practice, up around 17% from the same period the year prior, and an order of magnitude more than the $366,000 spent in 2024. Hyperliquid and Pump.fun accounting for almost 90% of the current spend.

So what’s the sudden appeal?

Buybacks can create demand for a token, while burns can reduce the supply making each token more valuable. That dynamic can cause upward pressure on the token price.

It also gives holders a more tangible connection to the economic activity on the underlying protocol. Orest Gavryliak, chief legal officer at decentralized exchange aggregator 1inch, tells Magazine:

“When projects implement revenue-funded buybacks and burns, they typically have one of two objectives in mind: either to decrease the token supply in circulation or to demonstrate the rationale for investing in protocol revenues.”

Gavryliak says that telling users a project has “bought and burned tokens” is “much more straightforward” than explaining how governance rights work, how fees are set, or how the protocol is used.

Related: Pump.fun laid off workers before they received millions in PUMP tokens: Report

But there’s a flipside: every dollar a protocol spends buying its token is a dollar it could have spent hiring developers, expanding the business, strengthening its balance sheet or building the product.

So, as buybacks become one of crypto’s hottest tokenomics tools, are they actually good for the projects using them?

Why crypto projects are buying themselves

You might wonder if projects buying their own token is counterproductive. After all, projects typically sell tokens to raise funds to cover costs.

Almost, but with an important caveat. Using revenue generated to buy back tokens (and then to hold them or burn them) creates an implicit connection between the success of the protocol and the value of its token. That’s something crypto projects have long struggled with. As Max Shannon, senior research associate at Bitwise Europe, explains:

“Buybacks and burns remain an effective way to accrue value to tokenholders: they create a continuous bid in the open market for the token, directly tethering token success to the platform’s adoption.”

That marks a sea-change for an industry that has spent the past couple of years chasing narratives or speculating on the greater fool theory — users who bought Fartcoin or Peanut the Squirrel didn’t do so for their sound economic models.

Some protocols are taking the idea much further than others. Hyperliquid, for example, has used 99% of its revenue to buy back and burn HYPE and 50% of Pump.fun’s revenue goes toward buying and burning its token, with $446.65 million worth of PUMP already removed from circulation.

HYPE Burns. Source: Hyperliquid

DeFi infrastructure protocol Spark offers a slightly different model, acquiring over 143 million SPK through open-market buybacks funded by protocol surplus, according to co-founder and chief executive Sam MacPherson.

But those tokens were not burned, and instead remain in the Spark treasury to reward long-term participants in the ecosystem. MacPherson tells Magazine the point is not simply to reduce supply:

“Tokenholders should participate in the long-term economic success of the protocol, rather than simply receive a distribution every time it generates revenue.”

He says buybacks allow Spark to create that alignment while “retaining flexibility over how and when the acquired SPK is ultimately deployed,” allowing the protocol to make its token economically relevant rather than “a simple dividend mechanism.”

Token buybacks are also a highly tax effective way to return revenue to holders, because users don’t cop a hefty tax bill on dividends or rewards.

Is buying the token really the best use of the money?

While that all sounds perfectly rational, the bigger question is whether buying your own token is really the best use of a project’s funds?

Probably not in every case. MacPherson says:

“The question should be: what is the highest-value use of the next dollar of surplus?”

If a protocol can reinvest capital at attractive returns, he says, that can be “far more valuable” than simply distributing revenue as it arrives.

PUMP Burns. Source: Pump.fun

Buybacks can support token economics without actually improving the underlying business.

There is also no ironclad guarantee that buybacks will translate into higher token prices. Pump.fun has been aggressively buying and burning PUMP since July 2025, but the token is still hovering 50% below its September 2025 all-time high. UNI has also given back around half of the gains it made after Uniswap unveiled its UNIfication proposal in November 2025.

Related: Robinhood Chain nears $1B TVL as Uniswap drives liquidity: Standard Chartered

Shannon points out that “many factors” contributed to those price movements, so they don’t prove buybacks failed, but:

“They have prompted investors to debate whether these startup-like projects would be better served by reducing the share of revenue committed to buybacks and burns and reinvesting more in the team and the project itself.”

Investors should make a careful distinction between a buyback scheme that pumps prices, and a successful business model.

A sustainable protocol that generates genuine surplus may decide that buying its token is the best use of some of that money, but equally a project that’s limping along might simply attempt to buyback tokens to move the price. MacPherson notes:

“A buyback doesn’t make an unsustainable protocol sustainable.”

When a token starts looking like a stock

While token buybacks may superficially resemble share buyback program, that doesn’t mean tokens are becoming more like stocks.

UNI is down around 50% since it started buybacks and burns. Source: Coingecko

A shareholder owns part of a company and may have voting rights, dividends or a claim on its residual assets. Tokenholders generally do not have those same legal rights, and Orest says that distinction is critical. “This is a market mechanism, not a legally enforceable entitlement,” he says.

MacPherson describes SPK as a form of “pseudo-equity” for an onchain protocol. While there isn’t a legal ownership structure in the traditional corporate sense, economically Spark is “trying to create many of the same characteristics: participation in governance, long-term alignment, and a mechanism through which those most committed to the protocol can benefit from its success.”

When buybacks start looking like dividends

But as crypto starts to emulate TradFi buybacks, storm clouds may be gathering on the horizon, as regulators consider what those mechanisms actually amount to.

While the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act of 2025 remains a draft and should not be treated as settled law, Gavryliak says its proposed framework highlights the key question of where a token’s value comes from:

“If it stems from the functionality of the network itself, then the asset looks like a commodity. But if the value is based on the efforts of the project’s team in matters of shipping, marketing, or providing returns to token holders, then it is already a security. In the end, don’t put the clothes of a stock on the token and expect it to be a commodity.”

At the end of the day, crypto investors want to know what sits underneath a token — revenue, users, sustainable economics — and some credible way for the token to benefit from those things.

While buybacks may offer a solution, they can also be just another piece of financial engineering that makes a token look more valuable than it actually is without fixing the issues underneath, as Gavryliak points out:

“If the buybacks stopped, would there still be a reason to hold the token? If the answer is no, the problem runs deeper than tokenomics.”

Magazine: Mystery surrounds why an OG burned $1M in Bitcoin

Bitcoin price pulled back after briefly breaking above $82,000 on Sept. 4, as traders took profits following a short squeeze driven by softer Federal Reserve expectations and renewed demand for US spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Bitcoin price pulls back after testing $82,000

According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price traded near $81,150 at the time of writing, having failed to hold an intraday move above the $82,000 psychological level. The pullback left the asset about 1% below its local high but still well above the $80,000 mark reclaimed during the previous session.

The rally accelerated after Bitcoin moved out of a range around $77,000–$79,000. Short sellers were forced to close leveraged positions as the price crossed $80,000, adding automatic buy orders to the market.

CoinGlass data cited by market reports showed that the broader crypto market recorded more than $500 million in liquidations during the rally, with short positions accounting for most of the total. Bitcoin shorts reportedly absorbed about $415 million of those losses.

Price action has since slowed near a technically important area. Galaxy Research data shared by analyst Quinten François placed Bitcoin’s 50-week moving average near $81,041, almost level with the current market price.

According to François, Bitcoin has not closed a weekly candle above that moving average since November 2025. He said a move through $82,800 would also produce the first higher high of the broader downtrend and bring $90,000 back into consideration.

Fed expectations and ETF inflows supported the rally

Bitcoin’s recovery followed a drop in expectations for another US interest-rate increase in September. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said policymakers could keep rates unchanged if incoming inflation data confirms that price pressures are cooling.

The probability of a September rate increase fell from about 63% to nearly 50% after Waller’s comments, according to CME FedWatch. Lower Treasury yields and a weaker dollar accompanied the shift, improving conditions for risk assets.

The move also followed softer US private employment figures. ADP reported weaker job growth than economists expected, adding to the view that the Fed may have less room to tighten monetary policy further.

US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs provided another source of demand. François, citing Galaxy Research data, said the products recorded $730.8 million in combined net inflows on Sept. 3. The figure marked a sharp improvement from the mixed flows recorded at the beginning of the month.

US investors will now focus on the August employment report and upcoming inflation readings. Waller has not ruled out a hike, meaning stronger inflation data could reverse part of the market’s recent repricing.

Bitcoin technical indicators favor buyers above $78,000

The daily chart shows that Bitcoin has recovered above its major moving averages. The 20-day simple moving average stands near $75,700, while the 50-day and 100-day averages sit at approximately $68,845 and $66,405, respectively.

Bitcoin is also above its 200-day moving average near $69,665. The separation between price and the shorter moving averages reflects the strength of the rebound, but it also leaves room for a larger correction if buyers fail to defend the breakout.

The daily Aroon Up reading reached 92.86%, while Aroon Down fell to zero. The indicator shows that a recent high occurred much more recently than a fresh low, supporting the current bullish trend.

Shorter-term readings are less decisive. On the 4-hour chart, Bitcoin is trading close to the upper Bollinger Band at $82,034. The middle band near $78,678 acts as the first mean-reversion target, while the lower band stands around $75,321.

The 4-hour relative strength index was 67.3, just below the conventional overbought threshold of 70. Momentum remains positive, though the reading helps explain why the first move above $82,000 attracted profit-taking.

Liquidation levels frame the next Bitcoin move

The 24-hour CoinGlass liquidation heatmap shows a dense group of leveraged positions between approximately $81,700 and $82,300. A move back through that range could force additional short liquidations and help Bitcoin challenge the next supply area near $83,000–$84,000.

A larger concentration of liquidity is visible below the market between $79,800 and $80,300. Another band sits near $78,900, making both areas possible targets if Bitcoin loses $80,000.

The heatmap does not indicate which level the price will reach first. However, the concentration of leveraged positions on both sides raises the risk of sharp intraday swings as traders approach the weekly close.

Analyst Dami-Defi said Bitcoin had reclaimed a weekly exponential moving-average ribbon extending roughly from $71,000 to $78,000. According to the analyst, weekly closes above $78,000 would preserve the improved structure, while another loss of the ribbon would invalidate the reclaim.

The immediate bullish case requires Bitcoin to close above the 50-week moving average near $81,000 and clear the local high around $82,800. Such a move would expose $84,000, followed by the wider resistance zone between $95,000 and $96,000 identified by Dami-Defi.

Failure to hold $80,000 would instead put the $78,700 Bollinger midpoint and the weekly EMA region near $78,000 back in focus. A deeper decline could extend toward the 20-day moving average around $75,700.