Ethereum Holds Support As Smart Money Steps In – What This Means For Price

Venezuelans are already heavily reliant on blockchain technology for banking after suffering through a decade of economic pressures; however, usage is likely to keep growing if conditions worsen in the South American country, blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs says.

As regional and geopolitical tensions continue to rise, driven in part by US-Venezuela tensions, the TRM Labs team predicted in a report on Thursday that macroeconomic instability and the bolívar’s continued devaluation will likely sustain demand for stablecoins as both a store of value and a medium of exchange.

At the same time, regulatory ambiguity and continued uncertainty surrounding the country’s crypto regulator, SUNACRIP’s, authority and enforcement capacity, and eroding trust in traditional banking infrastructure could prolong the population’s dependence and drive more usage. 

XRP has struggled to create any upside traction over the past few days, with the price rejecting above $2.15 in the middle of the week and now back to lingering just above the $2 level. 

A new long-term technical comparison shared by crypto analyst ChartNerd places XRP’s price behavior since its July all-time high of $3.65 into an interesting context, implying that what XRP is doing now resembles a phase from its 2016 market cycle that points to an incoming huge rally.

Repeating 2016 Rejection And ABC Crash Structure

According to crypto analyst ChartNerd, XRP’s current structure matches a similar price action that unfolded in late 2016. when price rejected an accumulation supply block and rolled into an ABC corrective move. That correction ultimately produced a 69% flash-wick decline that extended into the first quarter of 2017. 

The drop was severe and unfolded over several months, eventually pushing XRP to as low as $0.00240, but it eventually represented the end of the correction rather than the end of the bullish cycle.

The chart accompanying the analysis, which is shown below, highlights a similar rejection pattern forming now. This pattern is based on how the XRP price rejected at its most recent all-time high in July. Since then, the monthly price chart has been printing consecutive red candles, with monthly closes consistently below opens.

At the time of writing, XRP is about a 44% correction from this all-time high. This means a 69% correction is yet to play out in its entirety. Therefore, if history repeats, a full 69% ABC-style move from the all-time high would drag XRP back below $1 and as low as $0.8. This move is expected to play out into the first quarter of 2026.

Ripple Global Partner Success Lead Luke Judges recently took the stage at the Solana Breakpoint event, explaining XRP's multichain vision.

In breaking news from the event, it was announced that XRP was coming to Solana, as Hex Trust and Layer Zero will bridge and issue wXRP, a 1:1-backed representation of the native XRP asset designed to support DeFi activity and cross-chain utility.

This move allows traders, holders and institutions to be able to utilize XRP within leading Solana DEXes, lending markets and liquidity protocols, while maintaining exposure to the underlying asset.

In addition, wXRP’s use case will expand beyond XRP Ledger and will be tradable with RLUSD on Ethereum and other chains that support RLUSD. WXRP expands XRP’s DeFi utility by making it usable on supported blockchains, starting with Solana, Optimism, Ethereum, HyperEVM and additional chains for future integration.

In today's session at the Breakpoint event, Judges puts the icing on the cake: "Phantom wallet's 20 million users can now access XRP, and perps can now deeply embed XRP."

The recent step comes in response to growing demand to use XRP across the wider crypto ecosystem and institutions, which Judges highlighted in his conversation.

XRP Ledger multichain vision

In a recent tweet, RippleX Head of Engineering J. Ayo Akinyele reveals his thoughts on XRP Ledger, saying that for years, his discussions with Ripple CTO David Schwartz had focused on building toward a multichain future.

According to Akinyele, the blockchain ecosystem is shifting, and it has become clear that assets and applications naturally operate across many networks. No single environment is where all activity will happen, and that is simply how crypto has evolved.

In this scenario, a robust mainnet, such as XRP Ledger, remains essential and nonnegotiable, adding that the base network anchors trust, providing the stability, security and predictable behavior that everything built on top of it relies on.

From the RippleX head of engineering's perspective, crypto’s next phase will not be defined by a single chain but by ecosystems that maintain strong foundation while enabling cross-chain innovation.

Pakistan is ramping up its digital asset ambitions, signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with crypto exchange Binance to explore tokenizing up to $2 billion in state-owned assets while also advancing plans for a national stablecoin.

The agreement, announced Friday by the country's finance ministry, sets the stage for Binance to advise on blockchain-based distribution of Pakistan's sovereign bonds, treasury bills, and commodity reserves including oil, gas, and metals, according to Reuters.

Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb characterized the MoU as a signal of Pakistan's reform trajectory and a step toward a "long-term partnership" with Binance. "The next step for us is execution, and we are fully committed to delivering results with speed and quality," Aurangzeb said.

Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, who serves as a strategic advisor to the Pakistan Crypto Council, called the agreement "a great signal for the global blockchain industry and for Pakistan," adding that it marks the beginning of a move toward full deployment of the tokenization initiative. The Binance MoU is non-binding and requires definitive agreements within six months, subject to regulatory approvals.

Binance, HTX secure preliminary clearance

Alongside the Binance MoU, Pakistan's regulator granted preliminary clearances to both Binance and HTX to begin local licensing. The No Objection Certificates allow the exchanges to register with the country's Anti-Money Laundering system and prepare full license applications, though they are not yet permitted to operate. 

The clearances come shortly after the regulator, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA), issued a public call for global crypto firms to apply for local licenses in September. Pakistan ranks as the world's third-largest crypto market by retail activity, according to PVARA chairman Bilal bin Saqib, with an estimated 40 million users and annual trading volume exceeding $300 billion.

"This phased approach allows us to begin providing AML-registered cross-border services to Pakistani users while we continue working closely with PVARA toward full authorization," Binance said in a statement. "It aligns with Pakistan’s regulatory roadmap and reflects our long-term commitment to supporting the country’s digital economy."

Pakistan eyes national stablecoin

The MoU follows remarks earlier this month by Saqib, who confirmed at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai that Pakistan will "definitely launch" a sovereign stablecoin. Speaking on a panel about virtual assets regulation, Saqib framed the stablecoin as a way to "collateralize government debt" and said Pakistan is also developing a central bank digital currency pilot.

"We want to be at the forefront of this financial digital innovation that is happening," Saqib said. "Why should we be at the tail-end of it when we have the muscle and the adoption?"

Pakistan has moved rapidly to build out its crypto regulatory apparatus over the past year, establishing the Pakistan Crypto Council in March and PVARA in July. In April, the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial signed a letter of intent with the Council to explore stablecoin infrastructure and real-world asset tokenization. The following month, Pakistan announced a government-led strategic Bitcoin reserve and allocated 2,000 megawatts of electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI data centers.

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Bitcoin is facing a critical juncture as its macro retracement converges with a tight mid-range battle between $86,000 and $100,000. With bearish patterns confirmed and short-term support holding, the market now waits to see if bulls can reclaim momentum or if a deeper pullback is on the horizon.

Bitcoin Confirms Macro Top: Bearish Phase Underway

According to an update from Crypto Patel, Bitcoin appears to have confirmed a market top and is now transitioning into a broader macro retracement phase. The loss of a key bullish support level has shifted the market structure into a bearish phase.

The chart shows that a Head and Shoulders formation has fully played out. Classical technical rules suggest that the 162% downside projection has already been achieved, reinforcing the view that a cycle top is in place and a larger trend reversal is underway.

Looking at the macro Fibonacci retracement from the bear-market low to the recent peak, several key levels come into focus. These include the 0.382 retracement, which sits near $56,700, and the 0.5 level around $44,000, representing a zone of potential bear-market acceptance. Additionally, the 0.618 retracement near $35,000 stands out as the strongest long-term support area.

On the liquidity side, an unfilled fair value gap between $98,000 and $100,000 acts as a magnet for a short-term relief bounce before the broader downtrend resumes. Overall, the macro outlook for Bitcoin remains bearish. 

While a bounce toward the $98,000–$100,000 region is possible, the dominant path points toward a deeper move into the $70,000–$60,000 Fibonacci supports. Traders are advised to wait for confirmation and remain flexible, respecting multiple scenarios as the market unfolds.

BTC Trapped: $96,000–$100,000 Cap Meets $86,000 Support

Bitcoin remains range-bound between two critical zones as noted by CyrilXBT. Price is hovering near the $90,300 area after facing another rejection from the $96,000–$100,000 supply zone and the 50-day EMA. This region has consistently capped upside attempts over the past several weeks.

On the downside, buyers continue to show up around the $86,000–$88,000 demand zone, preventing the price from slipping into a broader breakdown and keeping BTC locked within its current range. From a broader market perspective, Bitcoin previously cooled off while tech stocks surged. As momentum in tech begins to slow, BTC is attempting to stabilize, but a decisive reclaim of the $96,000–$100,000 zone is still required to shift momentum.

A sustained move above $100,000 would open the door to trend reversal. Conversely, a loss of the $88,000 support could expose Bitcoin to a deeper pullback toward the $72,000–$76,000 region. Until either scenario plays out, price action remains choppy, and patience is warranted.

Long-term Bitcoin whales selling covered calls, a strategy of selling call options that give the buyer the right but not an obligation to purchase an asset in the future at a predetermined price in exchange for the seller collecting a premium, is suppressing spot BTC prices, according to market analyst Jeff Park.

Large, long-term BTC holders, also known as “whales” or “OGs,” introduce a disproportionate amount of sell-side pressure through this covered call strategy, partly because market makers are on the other side, buying the covered calls, Park said.

This means that the market makers must hedge their exposure to buy the calls by selling spot BTC, forcing market prices down, despite strong demand from traditional exchange-traded fund (ETF) investors.