The post Solana rallies 16% after SOL RSI drops to 2023 low: Was that the bottom? appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

The post XRP price to $18K? — One crypto ‘research’ group says it’s possible appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

Santiment’s social sentiment tracker found that traders’ discussions on various social media channels like X, Reddit and Telegram between Feb. 25 and 26 are “showing a very high level of confidence” that this dip is the “the one to buy,’” the platform said in a Feb. 28 post to X.

It’s the highest level of crypto dip-buying interest in seven months, it added. 

Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 on Feb. 25, a day after US President Donald Trump announced his planned 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico are going forward.

The price has since shed even more of the gains made post-US election, dropping below $80,000 on Feb. 28, after Trump threatened a further 10% tariff on China, and amid other macroeconomic uncertainty. 

However, the analytics platform says the high interest in buying the dip isn’t necessarily a signal to jump into the market because it can often move in the opposite direction of expectations.

“Ideally, we are waiting for this crowd enthusiasm to die down as a signal that enough pain has hit retail traders to justify a bounce,” Santiment said.

“Markets move in the opposite direction of the crowd’s expectations, so look for declining optimism and shrinking levels of buy-the-dip calls as a bullish signal.”

Related: Crypto market is seeing a ‘tactical retreat, not a reversal’ — Binance CEO

Santiment’s tracker sifts through crypto-specific social media channels such as X and Telegram for the top 10 words that have seen the most significant increase in social media mentions compared to the previous two weeks, according to its methodology.

Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated over 21% in the past 30 days and is down 5% in the last 24 hours, trading at around $80,400, according to CoinMarketCap data. Ether (ETH) is down over 30% in the past 30 days and has fallen 7.54% in the last day, trading at around $2,139. 

In a follow-up post, Santiment said it is unsurprising prices are falling even further after the “retail crowd was all over the prospects of a dip buy.”

“Look for the crowd becoming disinterested or despondent as a sign that the real dip buy opportunity has arrived,” the platform said. 

Google Trends data shows a similar narrative playing out as search interest in “buy the dip” spiked to 100 on Feb. 26 when looking over a one-week timeframe. However, search interest has since dropped to a score of 49 out of 100.

Meanwhile, searches for the term “crypto” hit its highest level of 100 in the last seven days on Feb. 25 and is currently sitting at 87 out of 100.

A value of 100 is classed as peak popularity for the term, according to the Google Trends FAQ, while a score of 0 means there was relatively low volume for the term on that day. 

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle

The post Bitcoin, crypto ‘dip buy hype’ is now at its highest level in 7 months appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin tested the fair value gap, but BTC has struggled to establish bullish momentum from the $82,000 range low.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs bleed $3.4 billion in February

Between Feb. 24 and Feb. 27, Bitcoin registered a significant drawdown of 12.48%, which was accompanied by an extensive period of spot BTC ETF outflows. Data from SoSoValue pointed out that the collective spot ETFs market registered an outflow of $2.4 billion this week, with Feb. 25 recording BTC’s largest ETF outflow of $1.13 billion since inception.

Overall, the spot BTC ETF market witnessed an outflow of $3.4 billion in February.

Demand for the spot BTC ETF declined during this week’s correction, and crypto analyst Adam suggested historical data points to price reversals whenever large ETF inflows or outflows have occurred.

Adam pointed out that in 14 instances of significant inflows or outflows, Bitcoin price has aligned with the direction of those flows only once. This rare occurrence occurred on Nov. 7, following Trump’s victory, when a price surge and substantial inflows were observed.

Adam said,

“Generally, people see a big red number and start panic selling, or vice versa, which ends up sending the market in the opposite direction.”

Likewise, the trader believed that dependent upon other confluent factors, “some relief rally” should be around the corner. However, Zaheer, an anonymous market analyst, said that the current drop in spot prices and ETF net flows was potentially due to the CME futures basis falling below 5%.

The analyst explained that most market participants unwound their positions once the risk-free rate range is broken. The gradual drop in CME futures open interest highlighted low investor confidence, which was further evidenced by low futures premiums.

Related: Key metric shows Bitcoin hasn’t peaked, has bullish year ahead: Analyst

Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index conveys investor

Cointelegraph reported that the Crypto Fear & Greed Index had reached its lowest level since 2022, projecting a score of 10 into “extreme fear.” According to Ben Simpson, the founder of Collective Shift, the current conditions could present a buying opportunity, as the simple strategy of buying into extreme fear and selling into greed has been a profitable move.

However, Axel Adler Jr, an onchain market researcher, pointed out that the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index’s 30-day moving average is yet to drop below the 50th percentile.

Adler explained that the 30DMA dropping below the 50th percentile has historically signaled Bitcoin price reversals and upward trends, but the current index remains above this level. Adler suggested that the best course of action is to “wait” and see how the market trends over the coming days.

Related: BlackRock Bitcoin fund sheds $420M as ETF losing streak hits day 7

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The post Bitcoin futures and spot ETF traders capitulate as BTC looks for a bottom appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

“The thing people don’t really know about is that the government, in many cases, went to founders of DeFi protocols […] and basically told the founders you effectively have to do a settlement with us,” Krug said on stage at the ETHDenver conference on Feb. 27.

“In many cases, they said you also have to sign a thing that says you will never work in crypto again,” he added. “By the way, this agreement, you can’t really talk about it publicly because there’s a non-disparagement clause.”

Krug’s claim adds to a crypto industry rumor dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” that says the Biden administration tried to kill the local industry through regulators’ enforcement actions and by pressuring banks to cut off or limit services to crypto firms.

“These agencies would basically go to the founders, and they would say, ‘Hey, if you don’t agree to this, you’re just going to end up in jail.’”

Krug said such civil agencies would have to defer to the Department of Justice for it to file criminal charges, but “none of these matters have been referred to the DOJ yet.” He also claimed that “none of these founders actually broke the law.”

Krug said that at first, he “didn’t really believe” such settlements existed, but some founders — who he didn’t name — later showed him their agreements.

“Sure enough, there are clauses that say you can never work in crypto again [and] you can’t talk about this to anyone,” he said. 

“It was just a crazy, crazy administrative state that got really out of control.”

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Related: Saga CEO discusses crypto industry’s shift toward GOP — ETHDenver

Since 1972, the SEC has included a “gag rule” in its settlements that forbids defendants from criticizing the agency’s claims — a clause that Commissioner Hester Peirce has said “undermines regulatory integrity.”

Krug said the only way DeFi founders could comment on the settlements is if Congress asked them to testify. He added there are “a lot of founders who would love to talk about how the government basically really screwed them over if Congress asked them to testify.”

Earlier this month, the bank-regulating Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation released nearly 800 pages of so-called “pause letters” that it sent banks and finance firms over their crypto services.

Both the US House and Senate held hearings on crypto debanking in early February that heard from crypto executives on their claimed torrid dealings with trying to access financial services under the Biden administration.

Magazine: How crypto laws are changing across the world in 2025 

Additional reporting by Turner Wright.

The post SEC pushed DeFi execs to ‘never work in crypto again,’ says crypto VC appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

Bitcoin has fallen under $80,000 for the first time since November amid mounting macroeconomic uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs.

On Feb. 27, Bitcoin (BTC) plummeted to $79,752, according to TradingView data. The price 2.65% decline over the past hour led to $100.01 million in long positions liquidated, per CoinGlass data.

Bitcoin last traded at this level on Nov. 11, just days after Trump was elected US president, amid optimism that his pro-crypto policies would lead a Bitcoin rally in 2025.

Over the past couple of days, most crypto traders eyed $82,000 as a potential bottom for Bitcoin, but many are now bracing for a move toward $70,000.

$70,000 is now a possibility, say traders

Crypto trader dmac said in a Feb. 27 X post, “Dip buyers are getting smoked. I still see $70k as the target.” Bitcoin hasn’t traded at the $70,000 price level since Nov. 5, after election polling results looked favorable for Trump.

“If you liked $80k Bitcoin, then you’re gonna love $70k Bitcoin,” pseudonymous crypto trader Mandrik added.

Meanwhile, pseudonymous crypto trader Rager isn’t so concerned. They told their 201,500 X followers it “wouldn’t be abnormal to drop to mid to low $70ks.”

“Pretty normal in prior cycles, even during bull markets, for Bitcoin to drop -30% to -40%,” Rager said.

Meanwhile, data from crypto predictions platform Polymarket shows the community is split on whether Bitcoin will rebound or drop toward $70,000.

“Nearly 50/50 chance it continues its plummet & falls below $70k,” Polymarket said in a Feb. 27 X post.

Related: Bitcoin analyst eyes ‘near term floor’ as crypto fear hits redline

Many observers point to macroeconomic uncertainty and concerns over US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs as key reasons for Bitcoin’s and the broader crypto market’s decline.

Since Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, when Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $109,000, the asset has dropped nearly 26%.

Despite the recent volatility over recent days, institutions still remain bullish on Bitcoin.

On Feb. 27, Standard Chartered’s head of digital assets research, Geoffrey Kendrick, said he expects Bitcoin’s price to reach $200,000 this year before surging to $500,000 before President Trump concludes his second term.

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

The post Bitcoin sheds nearly all Trump election gains in plummet under $80K appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

The 30-day ETH futures are now trading at a 7% premium over the spot market, up slightly from 6% two days ago. Premiums between 5% and 10% are considered neutral, as traders typically expect higher returns for the longer settlement period. This shift indicates weaker bearish pressure below $2,600, which could boost confidence among bullish investors.

Weak macroeconomic conditions deter ETH price recovery

The journey for ETH to hit $2,800 again might take weeks or months, but data suggests the lowest price point is likely in the past. Still, the recovery speed depends on investor caution, with recent US unemployment and inflation figures raising concerns.

US jobless claims for the week ending Feb. 22 reached a seasonally adjusted 242,000, the highest in three months. Also, US pending home sales in January fell to a record low, down 4.6% from the prior month, per the National Association of Realtors. Economists surveyed by Reuters, as reported by Yahoo Finance, had predicted a smaller drop of 1.3%.

Investors are increasingly anxious about new import tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump, targeting goods from China, Canada, and Mexico. Trump also threatened a 25% tariff on imports from the European Union, prompting the EU to promise a firm and swift response to unfair trade restrictions, according to CNBC. 

Nvidia’s shares fell 3.3% on Feb. 27, despite exceeding quarterly earnings forecasts and providing strong guidance for Q1 2025, reflecting investor nervousness. Meanwhile, gold prices dropped 2.2% in two days, sliding to a two-week low of $2,870, highlighting broader market concerns impacting even safe-haven assets.

Ether options markets display resilience despite the price crash

Currently, the ETH options skew is at -2%, sitting comfortably within the neutral range of -6% to 6%. This suggests resilience among whales and market makers, especially notable since ETH’s price fell 20%. Despite the drop, there’s no significant rush to buy put options, indicating confidence in the market.

Current market conditions resemble Feb. 3, when ETH’s price plummeted 38% in under three days, falling from $3,437 to $2,124. Back then, the ETH delta skew metric stayed near zero, reflecting solid market confidence. Ether quickly recovered to $2,750 within a day and held the $2,550 support level for the following two weeks. 

Related: Nvidia revenues up 80% from ‘amazing’ demand for AI chips

Ether’s path to $2,800 remains achievable as its key competitor, Solana, faces declining momentum in the memecoin sector. Meanwhile, Ethereum maintains its dominance in total value locked (TVL), driven by strong demand for liquid staking, lending, yield aggregators, and automated onchain liquidity protocols.

The pace of ETH’s price recovery largely depends on Ethereum delivering its planned upgrades and fostering incentives for projects to develop their own layer-2 solutions. This, in turn, enhances the base layer’s utility and strengthens staking rewards, creating a clear path for ETH price recovery.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

The post Brutal 20% Ethereum price sell-off is not over, but is there a silver lining for ETH? appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

However, a closer look at its listings suggests that these opportunities are statistically bleak. Some analysts argue the odds are closer to zero, as most new Binance listings follow a predictable pump-and-dump cycle, with no meaningful recovery afterward.

This raises a key question: Is this just the nature of today’s market, or are centralized exchanges actively driving unsustainable speculation?

Recent Binance token listings

Many new token listings at centralized exchanges follow a similar pattern. Prices skyrocket within hours of listing, then crash soon after to stabilize at lower levels.

Here’s a breakdown of all Binance’s new listings since the start of the year:

• LAYER (DeFi) – Listed on Feb. 11, dropped 50% from its listing high.

• TST (Memecoin) – Listed on Feb. 9, dropped 80%.

• BERA (L1 Blockchain) – Listed on Feb. 5, dropped 38%.

• ANIME (Culture Coin) – Listed on Jan. 22, dropped 74%.

• TRUMP (Memecoin) – Listed on Jan. 19, dropped 82%.

• SOLV (DeFi) – Listed on Jan. 17, dropped 78%.

• COOKIE (MarketingFi) – Listed on Jan. 10, dropped 74%.

• AIXBT (AI) – Listed on Jan. 10, dropped 67%.

• CGPT (AI) – Listed on Jan. 10, dropped 68%.

• BIO (Biotech) – Listed on Jan. 3, dropped 88%.

So far, only Berachain (BERA) appears to have a chance at rebounding, thanks to strong fundamentals and an engaged community. The fate of KAITO (an InfoFi token that was listed on Feb. 19) also remains uncertain. But across every sector—DeFi, AI, memecoins, biotech—the pattern repeats.

Related: Bybit exchange hacked, over $1.4 billion stETH moved

Are Binance listings uniquely bad?

Some analysts argue that all new tokens are bound to pump and dump. However, recent listings on other exchanges suggest otherwise. For example, IP (decentralized IP management), listed on Gate.io on Feb. 13, has since surged by almost 5x. Another example is HYPE, which was listed on KuCoin on Dec. 7 and performed well.

In some cases, when Binance lists tokens that already are traded on other exchanges, the familiar pump-and-dump pattern emerges as well. For instance, CGPT had been trading since April 2023, yet its Binance listing in January briefly doubled its price—before crashing below pre-listing levels.

Another example is CAT, which gained 54% on its Binance listing day on Dec. 17 before collapsing 86%. VELO token, which traded since 2022, jumped 147% upon its Binance listing on Dec. 13 before losing 83%. 

Interestingly, the VELO listing on Kraken on Feb. 18 had no major price impact.

Why do CEX token listings pump and dump?

Several factors—alone or in combination—could explain why newly listed tokens dump when trading begins at centralized exchanges.

The most obvious reason is that they provide an ideal exit opportunity for insiders and VCs. Without vesting restrictions, project backers can immediately offload their holdings, cashing out before any real market demand has a chance to form. This could be a signal of the project’s lack of long-term interest or any real utility.

Another contributing factor is limited initial supply and low liquidity. When a token debuts with a restricted circulating supply, early buyers drive prices up quickly. In this case, as more tokens become available—whether through team unlocks, vesting schedules, or liquidity injections—the artificial scarcity disappears, and the price is set to correct.

Finally, over-engineered hype and speculation could play a major role. Exchanges like Binance have a huge user base, and their brand recognition can create what can be described as a “casino effect,” where traders rush in expecting quick and explosive gains rather than sustainable value.

It is also possible, at least in theory, that exchanges can artificially inflate demand, prompting traders to rush in and buy at any price. There is no concrete evidence of such manipulation, but Binance has previously faced allegations of wash trading and market-making tactics designed to inflate demand and trading volume.

Binance itself, however, emphasizes that it has a “robust market surveillance framework that identifies and takes action against market abuse.”

While the above analysis of the recent listings is far from exhaustive, it suggests that some exchanges’ listing mechanics favor short-term speculation over sustainable project growth. By prioritizing trading volume, the exchange benefits from the hype cycle, but this approach risks eroding user trust and drawing regulatory scrutiny. 

Centralized crypto exchanges are not the only player fueling the hype around new token launches. Even the Argentine president Javier Milei has recently been spotted doing the same. Additionally, some CEXs like Binance do attempt to mitigate some of the risks by labeling new listings as “seed” investments and requiring users to acknowledge their high-risk nature.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph. 

The post The crypto exchange listing conundrum continues: Why newly listed tokens keep crashing appeared first on Cryptology IQ.

What’s fueling its rapid growth, and how does HYPE compare relative to Solana’s native token SOL (SOL)?

Hyperliquid’s core offering is its perpetual futures DEX, which enables traders to access up to 50x leverage on BTC, ETH, SOL, and other assets. It features a fully onchain order book and zero gas fees. Unlike Solana, which supports a broad range of decentralized applications (DApps), Hyperliquid’s layer-1 is purpose-built to optimize DeFi trading efficiency.

Hyperliquid raises concerns of centralization, but fees are piling up

Hyperliquid’s native token, HYPE, launched via an airdrop in November 2024, reaching 94,000 unique addresses. This distribution fueled a $2 billion market capitalization on day one, signaling strong community adoption. However, critics like LawrenceChiu14 have raised concerns about the level of centralization on the Hyperliquid chain, pointing out that it controls 78% of the stake.

Hyperliquid generated $12.6 million in weekly fees, surpassing Solana ($11.8 million), Tron ($10.2 million), and Raydium ($9.8 million), according to DefiLlama. For comparison, Solana took over three years to reach $12 million in fees (March 2024), while Raydium needed 18 months.

Hyperliquid’s fee efficiency is notable, with just $638 million in TVL—half of Raydium’s $1.25 billion and a fraction of Uniswap’s $4.22 billion. Uniswap, the top DEX, earned $22.8 million in the same period, but its higher TVL underscores Hyperliquid’s superior margins.

Another point of contention is the reportedly centralized API and closed binary source, according to KamBenbrik. These issues should be closely examined before determining HYPE’s long-term potential.

Hyperliquid has buybacks, but Solana offers a wider range of DApps

A key differentiator is Hyperliquid’s fee structure: all fees are reinvested into the community, funding HYPE buybacks and liquidity incentives, according to its documentation. In contrast, Solana’s fees are distributed across its ecosystem, with protocols like Jupiter and Raydium each surpassing $10 million in weekly revenue. This makes direct comparisons to Solana’s base layer misleading.

Hyperliquid’s $6.7 billion market cap—outpacing Uniswap ($4.7 billion) and Jupiter ($1.8 billion)—faces challenges ahead. Token unlocks begin in December 2025, potentially pressuring HYPE’s price. Additionally, 47 million HYPE tokens are set for distribution to core contributors in the first half of 2026, representing $940 million at current valuations.

Hyperliquid’s rise also pressures Solana, as some of its top DEXs, including Jupiter and Drift Protocol, offer derivatives trading. While Solana benefits from deep integration with major Web3 wallets like Phantom and Solflare, as well as a diverse DApp ecosystem featuring yield aggregators and liquid staking, Hyperliquid’s HYPE buyback program helps offset these advantages.

For Solana, the real challenge isn’t just Hyperliquid but the broader trend of DeFi protocols launching their own layer-1 blockchains. If this continues, demand for Solana’s scalability could weaken. SOL holders should closely monitor Hyperliquid’s growth and other emerging chains like Berachain, which has already attracted $3.2 billion in deposits.

In the near future, Hyperliquid could face competition from BERPS, a perpetual futures trading platform on Berachain. While BERPS currently handles less than $3 million in daily volume, it has already accumulated $185 million in open interest, signaling growing interest from traders.

Currently, Hyperliquid’s $9 billion daily volume remains unmatched in the DEX industry. With its fee structure and buyback mechanism, it will be difficult for competitors to drain liquidity through vampire attacks, hence the bullish momentum for HYPE.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

The post Hyperliquid flips Solana in fees, but is the ‘HYPE’ justified? appeared first on Cryptology IQ.