US spot Bitcoin ETFs brought in about $767 million over five straight days of 
inflows for the first time so far this year.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs extend inflow streak to five days for first time in 2026

Bitcoin (BTC) made a notable recovery on Friday, witnessing a 4% surge that 
led the leading cryptocurrency to retest the critical $74,000 resistance 
level, which has remained unbroken for the past month. However, even with this 
upward movement, the cryptocurrency has retraced to approximately $72,215, 
establishing itself at the upper boundary of its ongoing consolidation range. 
Further Declines For Bitcoin Ahead? Analyst Sunny Mom from CryptoQuant 
emphasizes that, despite these recoveries, Bitcoin has yet to establish a 
definitive bottom. She suggests that further price declines may be ahead, as 
current on-chain data reveals that the market is in a significant &#8220;stress 
test&#8221; phase. Diving into the data, Sunny identifies several key factors that 
indicate the challenges ahead for Bitcoin. First, she points to the 6-12 month 
cohort of investors, who are currently underwater due to their Realized Price 
(RP) being concentrated around $100,000. This means that many of these mid- 
term holders are seeing losses, which could continue to exert downward 
pressure on prices until this imbalance resolves. Related Reading: Hyperliquid 
(HYPE) Under The Lens: These 3 Metrics Point To Severe Undervaluation Sunny 
also highlights the MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) ratio, which stands 
at 1.2. This figure is commonly regarded as a &#8220;DCA (Dollar-Cost Average) zone&#8221; 
for &#8220;smart money.&#8221; However, substantial cyclical bottoms typically require the 
MVRV to be less than 1.0, indicating a state of capitulation. Furthermore, the 
importance of long-term holders (LTHs) cannot be overstated. A sustainable 
price floor generally requires that LTHs—those who have held their positions 
for over two years—constitute more than 20% of the Realized Cap. Currently, 
they make up only about 15%, suggesting that the market lacks the robust 
structural support needed for a strong recovery. She outlines two potential 
paths for how Bitcoin could find its bottom. Two Potential Paths To Find A 
True Bottom The first involves a &#8220;Black Swan&#8221; event—a sudden crash that 
triggers forced liquidations among high-cost investors. Although painful, 
Sunny believes this scenario could lead to a faster establishment of a solid 
Bitcoin price floor, potentially within one to two months. The second path, 
referred to as &#8220;The Great Boring,&#8221; envisions institutions maintaining their 
positions, allowing Bitcoin to trade in the $60,000 to $80,000 range for an 
extended period. Related Reading: Bitcoin Historically Surges 54% On Average 
Post-US Midterm Elections, Binance The analyst asserts that this would enable 
new investments to mature into long-term holdings, setting the stage for a 
bottoming process that could extend into late 2026 or early 2027. While the 
market may be at a &#8220;Value Bottom&#8221; conducive to long-term dollar-cost 
averaging, Sunny’s analysis suggests that a true &#8220;Structural Bottom&#8221; for 
Bitcoin has yet to form. Consequently, she noted that volatility within the 
$60,000 to $70,000 range is anticipated. Featured image from OpenArt, chart 
from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Fails To Break $74,000 Resistance: Analyst Predicts ‘Structural Bottom’ Yet to Form

According to local reports, Milei would have been in constant communication 
with Mauricio Novelli, a crypto entrepreneur, just moments before writing the 
post sharing the token contract with his followers on social media. This could 
imply a coordinated strategy behind Milei’s actions. Libra: Milei Held Several 
Phone Calls Before Announcing the Token’s Issuance on Social […]

Libra Case: Milei Had Continuos Communication With Associates Before Token Launch

More than $246 million in crypto futures positions were wiped out in a single 
day as Bitcoin reversed sharply on Thursday, punishing traders who had bet 
against the market. The leading cryptocurrency climbed back to around $73,300 
— a gain of roughly 4.5% over 24 hours — after a stretch of selling had 
dragged prices into the high $60,000 range. Related Reading: Cardano’s DeFi 
Boom: TVL Spikes 23% In Less Than 2 Weeks The move carried the hallmarks of a 
short squeeze. Funding rates had gone deeply negative in the days before the 
reversal, a sign that bearish bets had piled up on exchanges. When prices 
turned higher, those positions were forced to close. Volume surged, and the 
rally fed on itself. Buyers Step In Ahead Of Major Resistance Bitcoin had been 
trading near $71,500 before buyers moved in. Reports from trading data firm 
TradingView placed the price at approximately $72,900 at publication time. The 
recovery came against a backdrop of broader risk appetite returning to 
financial markets, with the S&amp;P 500 posting gains and the US dollar softening 
— conditions that have historically drawn money into alternative assets like 
Bitcoin. Institutional demand played a role too. Inflows into spot Bitcoin 
exchange-traded funds helped put a floor under prices during earlier sell-offs 
this year, keeping losses shallower than they might otherwise have been. That 
dynamic marks a notable shift from past cycles, when Bitcoin often fell in 
lockstep with equities during periods of stress. Geopolitical tensions in the 
Middle East added a layer of uncertainty throughout the week, but Bitcoin held 
its ground, a fact traders pointed to as evidence of broader market acceptance 
of the asset. Open Interest Stays Elevated At $48B The derivatives market 
remains stretched. Open interest across major exchanges sat near $48 billion, 
according to data aggregated by Coinglass, with CME Bitcoin futures alone 
accounting for roughly $7.9 billion — or around 110,000 BTC. Positioning had 
shifted toward call options heading into the move, suggesting some traders had 
already anticipated a push higher. That level of open interest cuts both ways. 
It reflects strong participation and genuine conviction from both retail and 
institutional traders. Related Reading: Ghana’s Crypto Push Begins As 11 
Companies Enter SEC Sandbox But it also means the market stays vulnerable to 
sharp swings if headlines change fast. A single piece of macro news — a 
Federal Reserve signal, an escalation overseas, a policy shift — could flip 
the mood quickly. Bitcoin has shed its old reputation as a pure risk-on trade, 
at least partly. Advocates increasingly frame it as a store of value in 
environments where governments spend freely and currencies weaken. Whether 
that framing holds under pressure remains an open question, but Thursday&#8217;s 
recovery did little to discourage those who believe it. Featured image from 
Pexels, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin Climbs Back To $73,000 As Short Squeeze Wipes Out $246M In Futures Bets

XRP is in a compression phase rather than a breakdown, according to analyst 
EGRAG CRYPTO, who says the chart’s most important trigger now sits at $2.20. 
In a post published Friday, he argued that reclaiming that level would mark 
the point where the current structure turns decisively constructive again. 
EGRAG’s analysis is built around the monthly XRP chart and, specifically, the 
21-period exponential moving average. “I keep repeating this: I don’t predict 
the future. I read charts, study cycles, and utilize on indicators,” he wrote, 
framing the setup less as a directional call than as a structural read of the 
market. “Right now the 21 EMA is the key.” What This Mean For XRP Price On his 
chart, that yellow 21 EMA has acted as the central trend reference through 
multiple XRP cycles. The latest monthly candles show price slipping below that 
line after a sharp rally, then moving into what he describes as a “descending 
compression / falling Channel.” He paired that with another key observation: 
“Price lost the 21 EMA,” “formed a descending compression / falling Channel,” 
and was “rejected from the $2.20 macro zone.” His conclusion from that 
combination was blunt: “This is not a crash structure.” Related Reading: XRP 
Bollinger Bands Are Squeezing—Volatility Incoming? That distinction is the 
core of the thesis. Rather than reading the recent decline as broad 
capitulation, EGRAG says the candle behavior points to a controlled 
retracement. “Look at the candles: shrinking bodies, weakening downward 
momentum, controlled retracement,” he wrote. “That’s seller exhaustion, not 
collapse.” The chart supports that reading visually. The candles on the right 
side of the structure are smaller than during the earlier impulse move, and 
the decline appears more contained than impulsive. The falling yellow guide 
lines drawn over the recent price action show a narrowing channel rather than 
a steep vertical unwind. In practical terms, the setup looks like compression 
into a decision point, not an outright structural failure. EGRAG then laid out 
two possible paths from here. The first is what he called a “Liquidity Sweep 
First,” meaning “a final shakeout toward $0.80-$1.00.” In his wording, that 
scenario would reflect a “wedge measured move &amp; liquidity below,” suggesting 
XRP could still dip toward the lower part of the structure before any broader 
reversal attempt. Related Reading: XRP Accumulation Signal? Binance 
Withdrawals Jump, ETF Demand Grows The second path is the more immediate 
bullish alternative. “Fast Reclaim,” he wrote, would come “if XRP reclaims 
$1.65–$1.80,” at which point “the structure flips bullish again.” That reclaim 
zone matters because it would indicate that the compression has failed to 
produce follow-through to the downside and that buyers are regaining control 
before a deeper flush. Still, the chart’s most important level sits higher. 
EGRAG is explicit on that point: “The Level That Changes Everything $2.20: 
Reclaim that level and the expansion phase reactivates.” He followed that with 
the roadmap above it: “Next targets: $2.20 reclaim, $2.50 retest.” That makes 
$2.20 more than just a nearby resistance band. On this reading, it is the 
macro pivot separating a still-unresolved correction from a renewed expansion 
phase. The analyst had already identified it as the zone where XRP was 
previously rejected, so a move back above it would not just recover lost 
ground; it would invalidate the idea that the market remains trapped below a 
failed breakout area. For now, though, his message is that the market remains 
in waiting mode. “Until then…This is compression, not capitulation,” EGRAG 
wrote. “Structure &gt; Noise.” At press time, XRP traded at $1.41. Featured image 
created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Cryptocurrency price in NZD