A bitcoin (BTC) treasury company just bought another BTC treasury company’s dividend-paying shares after selling its own dividend-paying shares. If that sounds circular, that’s not accidental.

The CEO of Nasdaq-listed buyer Strive, co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy and an ex-president of beer company Anheuser-Busch, announced its $50 million cash purchase of Strategy’s STRC today.

Michael Saylor thanked him for the purchase, retweeting Strategy’s post in gratitude.

In the company’s own press release about buying another company’s dividend-paying shares, Ramaswamy admitted, “Instead of holding idle cash earning low yields in money market funds, we believe it makes sense to allocate a portion of those reserves to instruments like STRC.”

In January, Strive raised roughly $118 million through selling 1,320,000 shares of its own dividend-paying SATA.

Three former executives who held high-profile legal, policy and product roles at crypto exchange OKX have unveiled an easy access decentralized finance connectivity platform called Shredpay, which is aimed at both retail customers and institutions in the U.S.

The Shredpay founding team is made up of CEO Mauricio Beugelmans, the former chief legal officer at OKX; president Melissa Muehlfeld, former OKX global general counsel; and CTO Peter Chang, the ex-VP of product at OKX.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) remains a tricky proposition for the uninitiated. The current market offerings are segmented and include no transparent risk information, making mainstream adoption difficult, according to a press release issued by Shredpay.

Beugelmans and co’s solution is to provide an uncomplicated, easily accessible onchain finance platform with clear risk ratings for DeFi protocols that help new users, the firm said.

The so-called ShredPay DeFi Ratings Index, evaluates protocols across smart contract security, liquidity depth, operational transparency, compliance, governance structure, and historical performance, providing users with standardized risk assessment comparable to traditional credit ratings.

“DeFi seems opaque, but it’s not about the technology – it’s about information asymmetry,” said Beugelmans. “Users often can’t easily distinguish between battle-tested protocols and exit scams.”

Shredpay CTO Chang said crypto natives may already know how to assess protocol risk; they read audits, track TVL, monitor governance. “We’re packaging that institutional-grade due diligence into a format that works for mainstream users. It expands the addressable market for every protocol we rate,” he said.

Ripple, the blockchain company closely associated with the XRP Ledger (XRP) network, has begun a share buyback that could value the company at about $50 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The blockchain payments firm plans to repurchase up to $750 million in shares from investors and employees through a tender offer expected to run through April, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Ripple is a major contributor to the XRP Ledger network, a blockchain designed for banks and payment firms to move money across borders and settle transfers in seconds. The firm said it has processed over 100 billion in transactions across its payments ecosystem.

The company has been quickly expanding through acquisitions, building services around trading and digital asset infrastructure. That push included the $1.25 billion purchase of prime brokerage Hidden Road and buying corporate treasury business GTreasury for $1 billion. The firm also issues a U.S. dollar stablecoin, the $1.5 billion RLUSD$0.9999, via its custody arm.

The move comes after a major funding round just months ago. In November, Ripple raised $500 million at a $40 billion valuation from a group of investors that included funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, affiliates of Citadel Securities, Pantera Capital, Galaxy Digital, Brevan Howard and Marshall Wace.

That indicates a 25% higher valuation since the fundraising, despite a crypto market downturn that saw bitcoin BTC$70,536.78 and XRP tumble 30%-40% over the same period.

The crypto derivatives market is sending an unusual signal: directional longs and directional shorts are nearly equal, a condition analysts say is historically unsustainable and could foreshadow a major shift ahead.

According to an analysis published by WuBlockchain yesterday, data from synthetic dollar protocol Ethena’s transparency dashboard reveals that deployed capital, a proxy for excess long demand in futures markets, has fallen to just $791 million, down more than 85% from its all-time high.

Since Bitcoin’s crash to $60,000 on February 8, Ethena’s basis position has shrunk by over 60%, dropping from more than $2 billion to under $800 million, even as the broader market has remained relatively flat.

Ethena operates by taking the short side of perpetual futures contracts against leveraged long traders, effectively running the classic crypto carry trade at scale. When demand for leveraged longs outstrips natural short interest, Ethena steps in to absorb the difference. Its shrinking book, therefore, implies that directional shorts and hedgers are increasingly filling the role that basis traders once dominated.

The author of the analysis, SoskaKyle, attributes the shift largely to a growing wave of hedging activity from crypto VCs and smaller projects seeking to protect their treasuries and lock in gains. With hundreds of small-cap tokens, each backed by dozens of investors and teams needing to manage their runways, the result has been a crowded trade: actively managed structured products that short baskets of correlated assets.

While this near-parity between longs and shorts could theoretically persist, history across asset classes suggests it rarely does for long, leaving the market a potential inflection point.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

Ohio hit the prediction markets platform Kalshi with a hefty legal setback, with a federal court denying its injunction against Ohio gambling regulators. The challenges to the CFTC’s claim of exclusive jurisdiction over prediction market contracts. Kalshi will start the appeals process, but the regulatory landscape for prediction markets has become more unclear.

At the same time, the Pepeto price prediction is in focus as presales grow in popularity. However, since meme coins are falling, smart traders are actually opting for substance and are thus choosing DeepSnitch AI.

With a 31 March TGE locked down, $2M being raised, and the utility centered on analytics sourced by five AI agents, the 100x-300x are gaining solid ground, according to DeepSnitch AI’s growing community.

Prediction markets hit a roadblock

US District Court Chief Judge Sarah Morrison denied Kalshi’s request to block Ohio gambling regulators from treating its contracts as unlicensed betting products. The reasoning behind the ruling is that Kalshi didn’t establish that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts Ohio’s sports gambling laws.

The decision splits from a Tennessee federal court ruling issued just weeks earlier. Despite Kalshi’s planned appeal, both rulings directly contradict CFTC Chair Michael Selig’s February claim that the federal regulator holds exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.

This is another piece of evidence that regulatory clarity in the US remains fragmented.

At the same time, retail traders are more interested in price action, and with the bear market in full swing, are rotating toward presales. Even though the Pepeto price prediction lends itself well for a quick flip, many are parking their assets in DeepSnitch AI and Bitcoin Hyper as their utility-focused approach could result in larger long-term gains.

Top ICOs to put on your radar

1. DeepSnitch AI: DSNT ticks down to anticipated 100x-300x TGE

DeepSnitch AI raised over $2M at $0.04399 during a bear market, confirmed a March 31 TGE, and shipped a live central intelligence layer ahead of schedule.

That’s three things most presales never manage to do.

Case in point: The Pepeto price prediction may lend itself well for flipping a profit, but the project is a simple meme coin with a cross-chain bridge that may or may not happen after the TGE.

When you compare that to DeepSnitch AI, which practically completed a complex analytics suite running on five AI agents a month ahead of schedule, it’s clear who the hard-hitter is.

The utility itself could land DeepSnitch AI on the list of tools that active traders rely on daily. No surprise, as the solution can do rug detection, track sentiment in real time, conduct instant smart contract audits, or even help you dig out some hidden gems.

The DSNT token will be available via Uniswap post-TGE, but since 100x-300x are quickly stacking up and exclusive DeepSnitch AI bonus codes that unlock extra tokens on purchases are still available, the best time to reserve your spot is now.

2. Pepeto price prediction: Is PEPETO worth it?

Based on the Pepe legacy, Pepeto not only brings the lore, but the team plans to deliver a cross-chain bridge post-launch.

The biggest issue is apparent after a short Pepeto market analysis, though: the coin will likely deflate a few days after the initial hype dies down and large investors take the profits.

This is to be expected as the Pepeto crypto outlook fits the lifecycle of most memes. There’s simply no reason to return to the project as it only offers meme value.

So, is Pepeto a hard pass?

Well, the Pepeto price forecast does maintain that a quick flip is valid, but you have to be realistic about long-term expectations. The token is priced at $0.000000186, and the community-sourced Pepeto price prediction sees the coin going to $0.00007128.

3. Bitcoin Hyper price prediction: Worth the wait?

One of the biggest presale fundraises of the current cycle, Bitcoin Hyper is building a Bitcoin L2 rollup that attempts to solve fee limitations and transaction speeds by implementing the Solana Virtual Machine.

Priced at $0.01367, the community expects the coin to target $0.3482, which is a solid 25x upside.

While Bitcoin Hyper is a much better play than what the Pepeto price prediction describes, it’s not without its flaws. This is primarily limited due to slower development and the lack of confirmed dates despite the whitepaper promising a Q1 mainnet launch.

Final thoughts: Don’t settle for scraps

The Pepeto price prediction may be heaven for traders making scalps, but the DeepSnitch AI presale is nothing short of a project with massive breakout potential.

With the presale closing on March 31, the window to secure your gains is getting smaller. Since you don’t want to miss out on the projected 100x-300x gains and DSNTVIP300 bonus that unlocks a 300% bonus on allocations above $30K, the best time to get on board is right now.

Don’t settle for scraps and secure your spot in the DeepSnitch AI presale ASAP. Keep an eye on the posts on X or Telegram to stay on top of the latest developments.

FAQs

1. How does the Pepeto price prediction stack up against DeepSnitch AI’s March 31 TGE potential?

Pepeto’s community targets of $0.00007128 from $0.000000186 make it a valid flip play, but structurally it’s a one-cycle bet. No recurring utility means no daily retention once the launch hype fades. DeepSnitch AI raised $2M, shipped a live intelligence layer ahead of schedule, and has a confirmed March 31 Uniswap TGE with 100x-300x community projections backed by a platform traders will return to daily. The comparison isn’t close on fundamentals.

2. What does the Ohio court ruling mean for prediction markets and crypto regulation broadly?

Chief Judge Morrison denied Kalshi’s injunction, ruling that the Commodity Exchange Act doesn’t preempt Ohio’s sports gambling laws, which directly contradicts CFTC Chair Selig’s exclusive jurisdiction claim. With a Tennessee court ruling the opposite way just weeks earlier, the regulatory landscape for prediction markets is now actively fragmented.

3. Is Bitcoin Hyper a better long-term play than the Pepeto price prediction suggests for meme coins?

Bitcoin Hyper’s $31.6M raise and 25x community price target of $0.3482 from $0.01367 make it a substantially stronger fundamental play than Pepeto. The Bitcoin L2 thesis is legitimate, and the Solana Virtual Machine integration is technically ambitious. The main risk is the lack of a confirmed TGE date despite the Q1 2026 whitepaper targets.

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

The latest rise in the consumer price index (CPI) was “in line with estimates,” and rising inflation has already been priced into the macroeconomic data for the March CPI print, according to market analysts at exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer 21Shares.

Shelter rose 0.2% in February, while the food sector of the CPI rose 0.4%, energy increased by 0.6%, and the index for all items, excluding food and energy, rose by 0.2%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) February CPI report.

Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares, said the upcoming CPI prints place even more pressure on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the body that decides interest rate policy. He said: 

“What matters now is the Fed’s reaction function to the coming higher CPI prints. Do they ‘look through’ this temporary shock despite having been burned in the previous inflation cycle? Or do they tilt hawkish as a precautionary measure?” 

Crypto markets remain resilient following the February CPI report, with the Total 3 market indicator, which tracks the entire crypto market capitalization excluding Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), only declining by about 1% from the intraday high of about $722 billion.

Related: Finance job openings fall to 13-year low as US economy loses 92K jobs

What does this mean for BTC’s price?

“In the immediate term, Bitcoin is likely to remain rangebound between $68,000 and $74,000. However, a breakout past the $75,000 resistance zone appears imminent,” according to Matt Mena, crypto research strategist at 21Shares.

If BTC manages to break above the $75,000 level, it could enter a consolidation phase between $75,000 and $80,000 in the medium-term, Mena said.

Historic price data shows that BTC typically rebounds by 15% or more after geopolitical market shocks, which would put its price in the $77,000 to $80,000 range, he said.

A market recovery to these levels could also be “accelerated” if the FOMC resumes easing interest rates in 2026, according to Mena.

Only 0.6% of traders expect an interest rate cut from the current 3.50%-3.75% range at the March 18 FOMC meeting, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Magazine: The debate over Bitcoin’s four-year cycle is over: Benjamin Cowen