Anchorage Digital acquires Mountain Protocol as stablecoin issuer sunsets USDM

Over the past three days, Bitcoin has hovered between $103,000 and $104,500, creating a narrow channel after a notable rally that saw it break above $100,000 last week. Technical analysis of the daily candlestick chart shows the formation of a minor impulsive wave from $103,000, which may mark the final end of the recent consolidation and the beginning of a fresh rally towards new highs.

Notably, recent price action in the past 12 hours or so has seen the gradual end of the consolidation, and attention is now turning to the next psychological level at $110,000. 

Analyst Sees Breakout As Signal For Upside Continuation

In a post shared on the social media platform X, crypto analyst CrediBULL explained the logic behind his current long trade setup, pointing out that Bitcoin has broken away from its three-day consolidation zone with an early impulse that started at the $103,000 level. His analysis predicted that this movement could be the start of a much larger leg upward, especially if the current price structure holds without falling back into a local demand zone between $101,000 and $102,000.

According to CrediBULL, the current trade has a clean invalidation level just below the impulse origin, allowing for a tight stop loss. This setup yields a high reward-to-risk ratio exceeding 5:1, with an upside target of $110,660, as illustrated in the chart. If this breakout is genuine, it could be a signal that Bitcoin is preparing for an aggressive push toward new all-time highs.

On the other hand, CrediBULL cautioned that if the current move proves to be a deviation and price falls below the impulse origin, focus should shift to the local demand zone around $101,800. The chart supports this with a clearly marked green area labeled “local demand.” This is the next major support if Bitcoin bulls fail to hold the current price levels.

$110,000 Bitcoin Target In Sight With Increasing Market Momentum

According to the crypto analyst, his prediction of the next move to $110,000 has at least a 20% chance of playing out. These odds are quite nice, considering the unpredictable nature of the crypto market. 

Notably, price action in the past 24 hours has seen the leading cryptocurrency break above $105,000 again, peaking at an intraday high of $105,503 before easing slightly. This move strengthens the case that the recent consolidation phase may have concluded, and a successful move above $110,000 before the end of the week is underway.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $104,428. A successful rally to the $110,660 target would represent a 6% gain from the current price, while downside risk is capped below the $103,000 level.

Spencer Hakimian, founder of Tolou Capital Management, has estimated that the massive tax-cut bill that was released by the Republicans earlier today is set to add $2.5 trillion to the deficit. 

The bill is supposed to cut spending by $1.5 trillion while allowing for a whopping $4 trillion worth of tax cuts. 

Hakimian, who has emerged as one of the most authoritative voices within the finance community amid the recent economic turmoil, claims that the massive increase in deficit will be amazing for Bitcoin and gold. 

The loose fiscal policy is also expected to positively affect US stocks. 

At the same time, the expansion of the deficit will obviously be "terrible" for bonds since the US government will have to issue more of them in order to raise funds. 

Earlier today, Fox Business reporter Charles Gasparino stated that the notion that the tariffs could pay down the deficit was "off the table," given that the US and China have reached an agreement. 

The Bitcoin price reached a new multi-month peak of $105,503 after the news about the agreement broke out. However, it is now down by more than 2%. 

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis previously claimed that Bitcoin could help solve the national debt problem in the US. 

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes recently opined that the U.S. government is unlikely to actually buy Bitcoin due to concerns about fiscal debt. 

Key takeaways:

• Bitcoin lags as investors shift toward stocks after the US and China strike a deal that could end the current trade war.

• Macroeconomic conditions are swinging away from gold investing and back to stocks.

Bitcoin reached its highest price in over three months at $105,720 on May 12, but was unable to maintain its bullish momentum. Interestingly, the drop to $102,000 came after a temporary easing in the US-China tariff conflict. This has left traders puzzled as to why Bitcoin reacted negatively to what seemed like positive developments.

The 90-day truce reduced import tariffs, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that the agreement could be extended, provided there is a genuine effort and constructive dialogue. According to Yahoo Finance, the topics under discussion include “currency manipulation,” “steel price dumping,” and restrictions on semiconductor exports.

Rohun Vora, better known as Frank DeGods, has resigned as CEO of the popular NFT project DeGods, according to an announcement on Monday. Pseudonymous community members @0x_chill and @pastagotsauce were named successors. 

“i dedicated 3 years of sleepless nights trying to make DeGods & y00ts a success. i'm proud of the work i did,” Vora said in a message on X. “i'm excited to hand the reigns to the team and watch them cook.”

Frank DeGods has been the public face of the titular DeGods projects since it launched in 2021. He gained prominence as a bold marketer (and rave dancer), including attempts to pitch the NFT series as a quasi-lifestyle brand. He is also the creator of the sister project, y00ts.

Both DeGods and y00ts were initially launched on Solana, but migrated to Ethereum in 2023 following a brief stint on Polygon. Dust Labs, which manages the projects, returned a $3 million grant provided by the Polygon team. The projects were also launched as inscriptions on Bitcoin.

DEGODS currently has a market capitalization of 4,980 ETH, or nearly $12.5 million, with a floor price of 0.554 ETH, according to CoinGecko. y00ts, meanwhile, has a price floor of $5,220 and a total market cap of $64.6 million.

The tokens have been outpacing the broader NFT market over the past week. DEGODS has seen a 567.40% increase in trading activity on Solana and 456.40% on Ethereum over the past day. 

Controversial control

Vora’s tenure has been in part marked by controversy, which he hinted at in his resignation announcement on Monday. 

“maybe we'll look back at this fixation on ‘frank degods’ as the thing that was holding us back,” Vora said. "at times i felt like the hate was overdone, but i get it. it's funny. it gets clicks and deep down the people doing it feel like they are protecting the industry they love."

“for the record: i'm not ‘on the run’. there are no investigations, because i have never done anything,” he added. 

Earlier this year, MisakaTrades accused Vora of abandoning several memecoin projects he promoted as part of the so-called LA Vape Cabal influencer group. In February, Vora responded to criticism, saying he received “insider information,” but subsequently walked back the comments.

At the time, Vora retired his public wallet, which reported profits of $4.4 million, citing accusations of insider trading. Critics alleged Vora leveraged private group chats to gain early access to token launches, including the controversial LIBRA token promoted by Javier Milei, the president of Argentina. He is also rumored to have front-run the disastrous memecoin launched by Hailey Welch, of Hawk Tuah fame. 

Additionally, Vora faced backlash after raising 176 BTC for BTC DeGods without a clear roadmap and for his public denouncements of the Solana NFT community. 

That said, Vora has gained a reputation as an innovator. For instance, he introduced a 33.3% tax on DeGods sales below the floor price, in an attempt to penalize "paper hand” investors. The collected fees were used to buy and burn low-priced NFTs, reducing supply and boosting value.

“sounds corny, but the best part of the last few years wasn't the money or clout. it was meeting some of you. made some real friends. it's been fun. time to finally hit the gym. thanks for everything. keep trying [rhymes with smit],” Vora said.

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© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. 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.

Emerging technologies, including quantum computing, could potentially render the cryptography securing Bitcoin and other blockchain networks ineffective, asset manager BlackRock said in a regulatory filing.

On May 9, BlackRock updated the registration statement for its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT). The revised version addressed potential risks to the integrity of the Bitcoin network posed by quantum computing, the filing shows.

“[I]f quantum computing technology is able to advance […] it could potentially undermine the viability of many of the cryptographic algorithms used across the world’s information technology infrastructure, including the cryptographic algorithms used for digital assets like bitcoin,” BlackRock said.

It is the first time the asset manager has explicitly flagged this risk in its IBIT disclosures. The IBIT ETF is the largest spot Bitcoin ETF, with approximately $64 billion in net assets, according to its website.

Quantum computing is an emergent field that seeks to use the principles of quantum mechanics to greatly enhance computers’ processing capabilities.

After a frenzy of heightened trading volume, XRP overtook USDT to become the third-largest cryptoasset by market cap. It maintained this position for over an hour before USDT reclaimed its spot.

Although data analysis clearly shows where this market cap came from, it’s difficult to ascertain the exact motive for traders. The SEC settled the Ripple case last week, but the XRP’s volume began spiking this morning.

XRP Market Cap Nears $150 Billion

Since the SEC vs Ripple case ended last week, XRP has enjoyed heightened activity. In addition to an impressive price rally, the token has also benefited from growing trade volume.

In the previous 24 hours, XRP’s volume spiked by more than 100%, allowing it to surpass USDT to become the third-largest cryptoasset by market cap.

It’s impressive that XRP sped past USDT’s market cap, especially since the stablecoin sector is booming. However, data analysis shows the outsized influence trade volume can have.

According to analysts, a comparatively small volume boost caused the token’s market cap to skyrocket:

In other words, it’s difficult to assess the exact macroeconomic reason for XRP’s market cap spike. The SEC case was settled last week, but most of this 107% increase in trade volume took place this morning.

It’s very possible that a single trader or small group moved $61 million in XRP, which significantly complicates any narrative about the token’s success.

All that is to say, this volume spike had a significant impact, but it didn’t have much underlying stability. After XRP’s price fell in the early afternoon, USDT reclaimed its position as the third-largest cryptoasset by market cap.

Meanwhile, positive developments continue to drive optimism for the altcoin. In the US, recent reports suggest that Missouri could become the first state to exempt digital assets like Bitcoin and XRP from capital gains tax.

Such developments and continued market optimism could drive more traders to hold ‘Made in USA Coins‘ like XRP.