5 Altcoins That Could Explode After Stablecoin Volume Surges $200B

Swiss banking giant UBS has successfully tested its UBS Key4 Gold product on ZKSync, an Ethereum Layer-2 network.

This move highlights the increasing adoption of blockchain technology by traditional financial institutions seeking efficiency and security.

UBS Integrates ZKSync for Blockchain-Based Gold Trading

On January 31, ZKSync reported that UBS, which manages assets worth $5.7 trillion, is exploring how blockchain can streamline gold investments.

The test focuses on allowing the bank’s Swiss customers to purchase physical gold directly through a blockchain-based system while ensuring scalability, privacy, and interoperability.

UBS Key4 Gold enables retail investors to buy fractional gold shares, offering real-time pricing, deep liquidity, and secure storage. The product operates on the UBS Gold Network, a permissionless blockchain that connects vaults, liquidity providers, and distributors.

To optimize efficiency, UBS leveraged ZKSync’s Validium mode. It’s a zero-knowledge rollup solution that enhances scalability by storing data off-chain.

As part of the proof-of-concept, the bank deployed smart contracts on the Validium testnet to simulate the UBS Gold Network. These contracts facilitated gold token issuance and transaction processing.

The testnet also enhanced privacy by restricting participants’ visibility to their transactions while maintaining verification mechanisms.

Additionally, it allowed stablecoin to merge with Ethereum, making gold token purchases more cost-effective and scalable.

Growing Institutional Interest in Blockchain Solutions

UBS’ test reflects a broader shift toward blockchain adoption in traditional finance (TradFi). The bank has previously explored tokenization by launching an Ethereum-based money market investment fund.

UBS’ Digital Assets Lead Christoph Puhr noted that tokenized securities hold great potential, but scalability, privacy, and interoperability remain hurdles. He highlighted that the ZKSync PoC showcased how Layer-2 networks and zero-knowledge technology can help address these challenges.

ZKSync co-inventor Alex Gluchowski echoed this sentiment while pointing out that these initiatives show that the future of finance is on-chain.

According to him, zero-knowledge technology would serve as a catalyst for innovation and provide a robust foundation for tokenized assets, which could accelerate Web3 adoption.

The weekend has started with sellers' pressure, according to CoinMarketCap.CoinMarketCap">

The rate of Bitcoin has declined by 2.25% over the last day.TradingView">

On the hourly chart, the price of BTC might have set a local support of $101,418. If the growth continues, one can expect a test of the resistance level of $102,744 by tomorrow.TradingView">

On the bigger time frame, neither bulls nor bears are dominating. However, if the sellers break the vital zone of $100,000, the accumulated energy might be enough for a more profound correction to the $98,000 range.

Such a scenario is relevant for the upcoming week.TradingView">

From the midterm point of view, sideways trading is the more likely scenario. The volume keeps falling, which means any sharp moves are unlikely to happen shortly.

Bitcoin is trading at $102,018 at press time.

The price of Ethereum (ETH) has shown some significant change in the past day rising by 1.86%. However, according to trading data from CoinMarketCap, the popular altcoin has recorded negative growth since December 2024 despite some significant gains in the past month. Interestingly, underlying market activity points to a potential price breakout.

Ethereum Sees Strong Accumulation Activity Amid Price Dip

Ever since touching the $4,000 price mark, Ethereum has slipped into a downtrend falling as low as $3,000. Amidst notable gains by Bitcoin in January, Ethereum continues to struggle hitting consistent lower lows during this period.

However, a CryptoQuant market expert with the username Crypto Sunmoon has noted an increase in market buying volume amidst the current price dip indicating a bullish divergence in the ETH market. For context, a bullish divergence occurs when an asset’s price is making lower lows while a momentum indicator is making higher lows, thereby hinting at a potential reversal or upward movement.

As for Ethereum, the increase in buying volume amid falling prices indicates a strong demand from buyers especially at the current price levels. This development further suggests a strong confidence in the asset’s profitability as investors expect buying pressure to surpass selling activity in the coming days.

Based on historical data, Crypto Sunmoon predicts Ethereum may experience a price surge such as the one in May 2024 when a similar bullish divergence last occurred. During that month, ETH rose by over 21% suggesting the altcoin will likely return to $4,000 if the projected price breakout occurs, according to current market prices.

ETH Long-Term Holders Signal Strong Market Confidence

In other news, IntoTheBlock reports that long-term holders of Ethereum currently boast an average holding time of 2.4 years showing massive confidence in Ethereum’s future value potential.

However, Ethereum faces other issues including an absence of short-term participants which prevents ETH from experiencing significant levels of speculative trading that can drive up price appreciation. Furthermore, the rapid growth of layer 2 solutions such as Optimism, and layer 1 blockchains such as Solana are also tampering with the potential market demand and attention for Ethereum.

At press time, ETH trades at $3,306 after a gain of 1.86% over the past day as earlier stated. Meanwhile, the asset’s daily trading volume has increased by 55.69% resulting in a value of $30.3 billion. On larger time frames, Ethereum is also up by 0.22% on its weekly chart but down by 2.27% on its monthly chart leaving much to desire for many short-term investors.

Dogecoin , the biggest meme coin by market capitalization, faces a key resistance on the daily chart. This outlook comes amid a spike in the daily trading volume, demonstrating heightened investor interest.

Dogecoin key resistance

According to CoinMarketCap data, DOGE was trading at $0.323, down 1.24% in the past 24 hours. Within this time frame, DOGE touched a high price of $0.35 before dropping to its current level. Now, it is looking at retesting its key resistance level at the $0.3 level.DOGE 1D Price Chart. Source: CoinMarketCap">

The daily chart shows bears have continued to push DOGE down, as indicated by the declining price. As a result, DOGE has yet to enter a consolidation channel that will later become a foundation for recovery. If bulls recover, the effort to flip the $0.33 level could be successful in the short term.

However, traders have increased support for the meme coin, as the volume profile indicates. Within the last 24 hours, 5,459,592,843 DOGE has been shuffled on-chain, amounting to a trading volume increase of over 45% to $1.8 billion, showing increased investor interest.

Over the past few weeks, intense trading volume and accompanying DOGE accumulation have been a precursor to price rebounds.

Surging DOGE institutional interest

Meanwhile, expectations about a DOGE exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval continue to rise in the crypto market. This has sparked rising institutional interest for the leading meme coin.

As reported by U.Today, Polymarket has forecast a 56% chance to launch a DOGE ETF in 2025. Several asset managers, including Bitwise and REX Shares, recently submitted applications for a DOGE ETF.

Furthermore, Grayscale Investments has launched its first Dogecoin Trust to broaden its digital asset offerings. The new product, available only to eligible investors, will offer investors a direct way to gain exposure to DOGE.

As DOGE continues to gain institutional interest, the price is expected to see a corresponding increase. Dogecoin also set a precedent for other ecosystem meme coins to launch their exchange-traded fund.

According to a recent tweet issued by Shibburn, the weekly burn rate of the second largest meme cryptocurrency Shiba Inu has displayed a large four-digit increase, surpassing 2,000%.

A single burn made by a SHIB team member earlier this week has pushed the weekly burn metric reading that high up.

SHIB burns soar 2,085%

The tweet published by the data source mentioned above revealed that over the past seven days, a mind-blowing amount of meme coins has been transferred into a virtual furnace and out of the circulating supply — 1,138,148,465 SHIB. The overall burn rate rise reached 2,085.71%.

Notably, the majority of this tremendous SHIB amount was burned in a single transfer as 1,000,148,675 SHIB coins were torched by the SHIB team — its major developer Kaal Dhairya made an announcement about that on his X account on Friday. This was also shared by the “Shibarium Updates” X account. At the time of the burn transaction, that amount of SHIB was worth roughly $18,800.

A tweet published by the latter revealed that this huge burn was aligned with the launch of ShibTorch V2 — an improved burn system developed to have “greater efficiency, accessibility, and community participation.”

A portion of transaction fees on Shibarium converted from BONE tokens to SHIB was eliminated in this burn. Now, thanks to the above-mentioned upgrade, the automated BONE-to-SHIB conversion will be faster with SHIB burns taking place further. Besides, other changes will be able to participate in burns from now on, apart from Shibarium.

SHIB price reacts unexpectedly

During the past 24 hours, the popular meme-inspired cryptocurrency SHIB has plunged, printing a loss of more than 4%. After reaching a local peak at roughly $0.00001968, it landed at the $0.00001858 price level. As of now, after a tiny rebound, it is changing hands at $0.00001866.

That plunge followed impressive 5.91% growth demonstrated on Friday, Jan. 31. On that day, SHIB nosedived mirroring the price trajectory of the crypto market leader Bitcoin. The world’s flagship cryptocurrency tanked following the stock market after U.S. president’s administration confirmed the implementation of higher trade tariffs for Canada, Mexico and China.

Bitcoin went down by 4.20% and lost the $106,000 mark, now trading at $101,700 per coin.

Dogecoin has experienced significant whale activity in recent days, with large holders accumulating 560 million DOGE in the past week.

According to crypto analyst Ali, whales have accumulated 560 million Dogecoin in the past week following an intense sell-off; Dogecoin’s price has steadily declined since Jan. 18 after reaching highs of $0.434.

The move, according to Ali, signals renewed interest from large holders. This might have been contributed to by the recent optimism stemming from Dogecoin ETF filings this week.

At the time of writing, Dogecoin was down 0.59% in the last 24 hours to $0.324, reflecting slight profit-taking in the markets amid recent inflation data release.

According to inflation data published on Friday, the personal consumption expenditures price index jumped 2.6% year on year in December, while core PCE rose 2.8%, both in line with estimates but significantly above the Fed's 2% objective.

The data comes two days after the Fed voted unanimously to keep its key interest rate at 4.25%-4.5%, taking a pause from three consecutive decreases totaling a full percentage point.

The cryptocurrency market had experienced a sell-off earlier this week as investors awaited the Fed's rate announcement. Dogecoin likewise took a hit, plunging three days at a stretch and reaching lows of $0.305 on Jan. 27.

Dogecoin marks big week with ETF filings

With a now somewhat crypto-friendly Securities and Exchange Commission, asset managers have launched a flurry of applications for spot ETFs covering major cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin.

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, reports up to four Doge ETF filings at present.

On Friday, asset manager Grayscale launched a new trust that provides exposure to Dogecoin and also filed a 19b-4 form to convert the Trust into a proper spot ETF.

On Tuesday, asset manager Bitwise threw its hat into the ring, filing for a Dogecoin ETF. Investment managers Rex Shares and Osprey Funds also filed paperwork for crypto ETFs, including Dogecoin.