As Solana (SOL) trades at multi-year lows, some analysts have lowered their 
end-of-year targets. Meanwhile, other market watchers have warned that the 
altcoin risks another 50% correction after a bearish formation was recently 
confirmed. Related Reading: BNB Chain Metrics Show Strong Performance As BNB 
Price Retests ‘Do Or Die’ Level Solana Confirms Head And Shoulders Pattern On 
Wednesday, Solana retraced nearly 10% in the daily timeframe, reaching a two- 
year low of $90. The cryptocurrency had been trading between $120 and $250 in 
the monthly chart since February 2024, retesting and bouncing from its macro 
support multiple times. The altcoin lost this crucial area over the weekend, 
closing January at around $105. After failing to maintain this level, SOL 
started the month attempting to hold the $100 psychological barrier and 
reclaim the $105 resistance as support. Nonetheless, the latest market 
movement, which also dragged Bitcoin (BTC) toward multi-year lows, pushed 
Solana below its bull market lows from last year. Amid this performance, 
market observer Alex Clay affirmed that SOL has “started to look bad.” The 
analyst affirmed that the altcoin’s chart shows a confirmed bearish formation 
after the recent price action, noting that it has also lost an important 
support zone. Per the chart, the cryptocurrency displays a macro Head and 
Shoulders (H&amp;S) pattern in the weekly timeframe, which has been forming since 
early 2024. The left shoulder developed during the Q1-Q2 2024 run, while the 
head formed during its late 2024 and early 2025 rally, which led to its All- 
Time High (ATH) of $293. This performance placed the neckline of the bearish 
formation around the $105 area. Notably, the pattern’s right shoulder began to 
develop after the Q3 2025 rally and was confirmed during the latest market 
crash. Now, the cryptocurrency has fallen below the neckline and could confirm 
it as resistance if the price closes the week under $105. Clay warned that the 
pattern’s first target sits around the $42 mark, which would represent a 55% 
correction from the current levels. SOL’s Chart Tell ‘Grim’ Story Other market 
watchers also expressed their concerns about SOL’s future performance, 
suggesting that a correction toward new lows is likely. Sjuul from 
AltCryptoGems noted that the Solana chart gives “a truly panic-inducing 
feeling” with “a vast no man’s land!” below it. Similarly, Crypto Tony 
asserted that after breaking the $100 low “with conviction,” the next major 
support for the altcoin sits around $50. To him, a correction toward this area 
is “obvious” as Bitcoin has “yet to find a bottom.” Altcoin Sherpa cautioned 
that SOL has also lost the 200-Week Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which is 
“a last stand area before $75 or lower.” He pointed out that the 
cryptocurrency tends to have strong price reactions due to “the gambling 
chain,” but noted that means corrections are usually stronger. Related 
Reading: Crypto Market Crash ‘Worse Than Expected’ But Bottom Might Be Near, 
Says Tom Lee Moreover, a major financial institution has recently lowered its 
end-of-year target for Solana. As reported by NewsBTC, Standard Chartered 
trimmed its near-term forecast from $310 to $250, mentioning the time required 
for the network’s next major use case to scale. Despite its short-term trim, 
the bank raised its longer-term targets, forecasting SOL at $2,000 by 2030 as 
it stops being “a one-trick pony” and evolves “from memecoins to 
micropayments.” As of this writing, Solana is trading at $93.28, a 27.9% 
decline on the weekly timeframe. Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from 
TradingView.com

Solana Eyes Deeper Correction As Bearish Pattern Confirmation Targets $40

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has pushed back against what he described 
as a lack of originality in the current layer-2 and blockchain scaling 
landscape. In a blog post published earlier today, Buterin said the ecosystem 
has grown too comfortable with…

Vitalik Buterin criticizes copy-paste Ethereum scaling projects

Japanese tech firms Startale and SBI Holdings introduce Strium Network, a 
blockchain platform designed to revolutionize trading and settlement of 
tokenized securities and real-world assets across Asia. Strium Network, 
unveiled on February 5, 2026, aims to create a comprehensive infrastructure 
for 24/7 trading of tokenized securities and derivatives. Leveraging SBI 
Holdings’ ecosystem of 80 million […]

Startale and SBI Holdings Launch Strium, a Layer 1 Blockchain for Tokenized Securities

What to Know: Tether&#8217;s record-breaking $187B market cap indicates massive 
liquidity waiting to deploy into risk assets. Market cycles historically see 
capital rotate from stablecoins to high-beta tokens, benefiting projects with 
strong narratives. Maxi Doge ($MAXI) targets this risk-on sentiment with a 
unique &#8220;leverage culture&#8221; utility and trading competitions. Smart money is 
rotating into early-stage utility, with over $526k already raised for the new 
L3 protocol. The stablecoin landscape has officially entered uncharted 
territory. Tether (USDt) has surged past a $187B market capitalization in the 
fourth quarter of 2025. This isn&#8217;t just a vanity metric for the issuer; it 
represents a historic accumulation of &#8216;dry powder&#8217; sitting on the sidelines, 
waiting for deployment. Frankly, the scale of this liquidity buildup is 
unprecedented. Analysts have long tracked stablecoin issuance as a volatility 
indicator. When USDt printing accelerates, asset prices usually follow. 
However, the sheer velocity of this expansion, outpacing even the most bullish 
Q3 projections, suggests a fundamental shift in market structure. We aren&#8217;t 
just seeing capital preservation anymore. We&#8217;re seeing institutional liquidity 
entering the ecosystem to position for a rotation into high-beta assets. The 
implication is straightforward yet critical: this liquidity can&#8217;t sit idle 
forever. History suggests that once Bitcoin and major altcoins absorb the 
initial capital flow, risk appetite moves further out on the curve. This is 
the &#8216;wealth effect&#8217; in action: profits from majors rotate into speculative 
assets with higher upside potential. Current market sentiment indicates that 
retail traders are already front-running this rotation. While headlines focus 
on Tether’s reserves, on-chain data reveals a scramble for assets that capture 
the &#8220;leverage culture&#8221; of this cycle. Traders aren&#8217;t looking for savings 
accounts; they want volatility and narrative dominance. This search for high- 
octane returns has directed significant volume toward emerging projects like 
Maxi Doge ($MAXI), which positions itself as the premier vehicle for this 
aggressive trading sentiment. Buy your $MAXI here. Maxi Doge Capitalizes on 
High-Leverage Trading Narratives As liquidity rotates from stablecoins into 
speculative markets, Maxi Doge ($MAXI) has emerged as a focal point for 
traders seeking to maximize risk-reward ratios. Unlike traditional memecoins 
that rely on passive &#8216;community vibes,&#8217; Maxi Doge engineered its brand around 
the &#8216;1000x leverage&#8217; mentality. It targets a specific psychographic: the 
retail trader who views the market as a gym where financial gains are the only 
metric that matters. The project’s central thesis addresses a common friction 
point: retail traders lack the capital depth of whales but possess higher 
conviction. To bridge this gap, Maxi Doge integrates holder-only trading 
competitions directly into its ecosystem. These contests gamify the trading 
experience, incentivizing active participation rather than passive holding. It 
creates a feedback loop where token utility is tied directly to market 
activity. Plus, the &#8216;Maxi Fund&#8217; treasury introduces a layer of strategic 
sustainability often missing in the sector. By allocating resources for 
liquidity provision and potential integrations with futures platforms, the 
project moves beyond simple meme mechanics. It&#8217;s building an ecosystem that 
mirrors the intensity of professional trading desks, wrapped in the viral 
&#8220;gym-bro&#8221; aesthetic that dominates crypto Twitter. The narrative is clear: in 
a bull market fueled by billions in fresh USDt liquidity, weakness isn&#8217;t an 
option. Explore the $MAXI presale now. Smart Money Accumulation and Presale 
Metrics Signal Strength Narrative drives attention, but on-chain data provides 
the confirmation institutional watchers look for. The flow of capital into 
Maxi Doge has accelerated in tandem with the broader market&#8217;s liquidity 
expansion. According to the official presale page, the project has 
successfully raised over $4.5M , a figure that validates the market&#8217;s appetite 
for this specific brand of utility-focused memecoin. The pricing structure 
also reflects a calculated entry point. With tokens currently priced at 
$0.0002802, the valuation allows for significant upside discovery compared to 
legacy meme assets that have already saturated their market caps. However, the 
most compelling signal comes from wallet analysis. Large-scale accumulation 
during a presale is typically a strong indicator of long-term conviction, it 
suggests well-capitalized players are positioning themselves before the token 
hits public trading desks. Beyond the buy pressure, the protocol’s staking 
mechanics offer an incentive for supply discipline. The smart contract governs 
a dynamic APY system, distributing daily rewards from a 5% staking allocation 
pool. This encourages holders to lock assets, reducing circulating supply just 
as the broader market liquidity from Tether’s expansion begins to seek new 
homes. For traders analyzing flow dynamics, the combination of whale 
accumulation and supply-constricting staking creates a potentially explosive 
setup. Visit the $MAXI presale page. This article is for informational 
purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are 
volatile; invest only what you can afford to lose.

Tether USDt Hits $187B Market Cap in Q4 2025 as $MAXI Keeps Growing

Capital flow in the cryptocurrency market usually follows a script: Bitcoin 
leads, Ethereum follows, and liquidity eventually cascades into high-risk 
altcoins. But the 2024-2025 cycle tore up that script. While ETF inflows 
cemented Bitcoin as pristine collateral, &#8220;smart money&#8221;—VCs, family offices, 
and high-net-worth whales—isn&#8217;t just buying spot BTC anymore. Instead, they&#8217;re 
aggressively positioning themselves in the infrastructure meant to unlock 
Bitcoin’s $1 trillion+ in dormant capital. The thesis driving this shift is 
simple. Bitcoin won the &#8220;Store of Value&#8221; war, but it effectively lost the 
battle for &#8220;Medium of Exchange&#8221; and &#8220;Programmability&#8221; to chains like Solana 
and Ethereum. Main chain fees are too high for daily use, and script 
limitations block complex DeFi. Frankly, it&#8217;s a massive market inefficiency. 
That gap created a vacuum. While Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem is saturated 
with Arbitrum, Optimism, and endless ZK-rollups fighting for liquidity, 
Bitcoin’s Layer 2 ecosystem remains virtually untapped relative to its market 
cap. Sophisticated investors are rotating capital into protocols that solve 
the &#8220;Bitcoin Trilemma&#8221;—security, speed, and programmability—without forcing 
users off-chain. This hunt for high-performance infrastructure has directed 
significant attention toward Bitcoin Hyper, a project attempting to merge 
Bitcoin’s settlement assurance with the execution speed of the Solana Virtual 
Machine (SVM). Bitcoin Hyper ($HYPER) Integrates SVM to Solve the Liquidity 
Trap The bottleneck for Bitcoin adoption in DeFi has always been the execution 
layer. Previous attempts to build on Bitcoin (like Stacks or Lightning) faced 
trade-offs regarding speed or complexity. Smart money is now betting on 
technological hybrids. Bitcoin Hyper uses a modular architecture: it relies on 
Bitcoin L1 for final settlement and security but employs a real-time SVM 
(Solana Virtual Machine) Layer 2 for execution. This technical distinction 
matters because it addresses the &#8220;liquidity trap.&#8221; Currently, billions in BTC 
are wrapped (wBTC) and sent to Ethereum or Solana to be used in DeFi, accruing 
value to those chains instead of Bitcoin’s own ecosystem. By integrating the 
SVM, Bitcoin Hyper enables sub-second transaction finality and Rust-based 
smart contracts directly tied to Bitcoin. For developers, it’s a critical 
evolution. It opens the door for high-frequency trading platforms, gaming 
dApps, and complex lending protocols that need the low latency of Solana but 
rely on Bitcoin&#8217;s security guarantees. The project uses a Decentralized 
Canonical Bridge to ensure trustless transfers, cutting out the centralized 
custodians that have historically been the weak point of Bitcoin bridges. By 
enabling high-speed payments and DeFi applications with negligible fees, the 
protocol creates a venue where Bitcoin functions as money again—not just a 
digital pet rock. Explore the architecture at Bitcoin Hyper. Whales Accumulate 
$31M as Smart Money Targets Infrastructure Plays When analyzing where smart 
money is looking for the best crypto to buy right now, on-chain data often 
speaks louder than market sentiment. Accumulation patterns surrounding Bitcoin 
Hyper suggest that large-scale investors are betting on the &#8220;SVM on Bitcoin&#8221; 
narrative before it hits mainstream discovery. According to official presale 
data, the project has already raised $31,254,198.39—a figure that 
significantly outpaces typical early-stage raises in this environment. That 
capital injection pushed the token price to $0.0136751, yet inflows continue. 
Why? Institutional capital hunts for infrastructure plays—the &#8220;shovels&#8221; for 
the gold rush. If Bitcoin L2s are the next sector to re-rate, holding the 
governance token of a high-performance L2 offers asymmetrical upside compared 
to simply holding the asset (BTC) itself. Whale activity backs up this 
institutional interest theory. Etherscan records show 2 whale wallets 
accumulated $116K in recent allocations. The largest single transaction of 
$63K hit on Jan 15, 2026, signaling high-conviction buying during the presale 
phase. Plus, the protocol’s staking incentives align with the long-term 
strategies employed by smart money. Bitcoin Hyper offers immediate staking 
after the Token Generation Event (TGE) with a 7-day vesting period for presale 
stakers. This structure discourages mercenary capital—investors looking for a 
quick flip—and rewards those committed to governance and network security. For 
investors scanning the horizon, the combination of substantial presale backing 
and a clear technological moat makes this a focal point for capital rotation. 
Visit the Bitcoin Hyper presale here. Disclaimer: This article is for 
informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. 
Cryptocurrencies are volatile assets; investors should conduct their own due 
diligence and never invest more than they can afford to lose. Key Takeaways 
Smart money is rotating from simple asset accumulation to infrastructure 
plays, specifically targeting the under-developed Bitcoin Layer 2 sector. 
Bitcoin Hyper differentiates itself by integrating the Solana Virtual Machine 
(SVM), bringing high-speed execution and smart contracts to Bitcoin. The 
project has demonstrated strong market demand, raising over $31.2 million in 
its presale with notable whale accumulation. Institutional interest is driven 
by the potential to unlock dormant Bitcoin liquidity through high-performance 
DeFi and gaming applications.

Cryptocurrency price in USD