Bitcoin options show bulls targeting $115,000 by year-end but are traders 
becoming overly optimistic?

Bitcoin bulls target $115K by December: Does data back the expectation?

Escalating US-Iran tensions could destabilize regional security, disrupt 
global oil markets, and hinder diplomatic peace efforts significantly.
The post US-Iran tensions rise as military exchange escalates in Strait of 
Hormuz appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

US-Iran tensions rise as military exchange escalates in Strait of Hormuz

Genius Sports reported first-quarter 2026 results after absorbing three of the 
largest iGaming and sports betting affiliate properties into its sports-data 
platform, with Casino.org, Casino Guru, and Covers.com now inside the 
company’s combined media and advertising operation following the May 1 close 
of the $1.2bn Legend acquisition. The London-based, NYSE-listed sports tech 
company beat consensus […]

Genius Sports Absorbs key iGaming Affiliates as Q2 Forecast Doubles EBITDA

Trump&#8217;s China visit may ease trade tensions, impacting global markets and 
diplomatic relations amid ongoing geopolitical challenges.
The post Trump confirms China visit for May 14-15 amid diplomatic tensions 
appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Trump confirms China visit for May 14-15 amid diplomatic tensions

Anthony Pompliano says most of the crypto industry is already dead and that 
the market has not fully admitted it yet. In a May 6 video posted on X, the 
Bitcoin investor and commentator argued that the sector’s long tail of unused 
chains, illiquid tokens and speculative projects is being cleared out as the 
parts with real utility merge into the broader financial system. Pompliano 
said the reaction to his initial post on X was immediate and hostile. He had 
written that “most of the crypto industry is dead and it’s never coming back,” 
a message he said followed him through the Consensus conference in Miami. “I 
have been called an idiot, I’ve been told I was wrong, and I must have been 
asked over 50 times about the tweet while I was at the Consensus Crypto 
Conference yesterday down in Miami,” Pompliano said. “But after spending the 
day at the conference, I’m more convinced today than I was yesterday. Most of 
the crypto industry is dead and it is never coming back.” Crypto Ghost Chains 
And Zombie Coins Pompliano’s core argument rests on what he sees as a broken 
business cycle inside crypto. In traditional industries, failed companies are 
shut down, capital is redeployed and talent moves toward stronger ideas. In 
crypto, he said, that clearing mechanism rarely works because blockchains can 
keep running with minimal participation and tokens can linger far above zero 
even after liquidity and relevance have evaporated. Related Reading: Economic 
Disaster Is Coming? Top Author Says Hold These Cryptos Or Pay The Price He 
described the result as an ecosystem filled with “ghost chains” and “zombie 
coins.” Ghost chains are networks that remain technically operational but have 
little meaningful activity. Zombie coins are tokens whose communities or 
markets have collapsed, while remaining holders are often unable to exit 
without taking severe losses. “There are millions of coins and there are 
thousands of blockchains,” Pompliano said. “Just those two things alone would 
make my original claim that most of the crypto industry is dead accurate. 
Because you have to ask yourself: does anyone actually believe that millions 
of crypto coins are going to thrive in the future?” Pompliano said he asked 
that question from the stage at Consensus and “literally zero people raised 
their hand.” Beyond unused networks and dead tokens, Pompliano argued that 
crypto has lost much of the ideological conviction that once defined its early 
base. The industry, in his view, has shifted from “hardcore missionaries” who 
prioritized the success of Bitcoin and the underlying technology toward 
“mercenaries” who chase whichever trade offers the largest financial reward. 
That shift, he said, is visible in short-lived meme tokens, scam coins, market 
manipulation, rising yield-farming incentives and product launches designed 
more for attention than utility. Pompliano’s criticism was not aimed at 
speculation alone, but at an industry culture he believes has become detached 
from solving real user problems. “If you have mercenaries outnumbering the 
missionaries, the broader crypto industry is now run by people who don’t 
understand or believe in the original vision for the industry,” he said. “As 
the saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. 
And I think that’s what’s happening across the industry.” Wall Street Is 
Absorbing Crypto Pompliano also pushed back against what he called the “we 
hate investors class,” pointing to online criticism of venture capital, large 
financial institutions and regulation. He argued that venture firms funded 
much of the early infrastructure that allowed users to buy, store and send 
Bitcoin, while major institutions are now becoming the dominant distribution 
layer for crypto exposure. Morgan Stanley’s plan to launch Bitcoin trading 
through E-Trade was his central example. Pompliano noted that E-Trade has 8.6 
million clients and said Morgan Stanley intends to offer Bitcoin trading with 
lower fees than Coinbase and Charles Schwab, using ZeroHash as infrastructure. 
He framed that as a major “narrative violation” for crypto-native firms. At 
the same time, Pompliano said crypto-native companies are moving in the 
opposite direction by adding equities, prediction markets, options, 
commodities and other non-crypto products. The distinction between crypto 
platforms and traditional brokerages is becoming less clear. Related Reading: 
$150M Crypto Ponzi Crumbles: $41.5M Frozen In DSJ Exchange Collapse That 
convergence also shaped his reading of Michael Saylor’s recent comments that 
Strategy could sell Bitcoin or Bitcoin derivatives to fund preferred dividends 
if doing so served the company’s interests. Pompliano said such an idea would 
have been treated as “blasphemy” years ago, but now looks more like standard 
capital allocation inside a financialized Bitcoin business. The crypto 
industry is dying. That is a good thing. The resilient and valuable aspects of 
the industry need to compete on the biggest stage, not stay pigeon-holed in a 
boutique industry with declining capital and talent. 
pic.twitter.com/TlVJAG6zFz — Anthony Pompliano 🌪 (@APompliano) May 6, 2026 
Crypto Becomes Finance Pompliano said he still sees major value accruing to 
four areas: Bitcoin, stablecoins, infrastructure and tokenization. His thesis 
is not that all crypto disappears, but that the speculative long tail does 
while the useful parts are absorbed into mainstream finance. “We do not need 
more carnivals. We do not need more nonsense,” he said, referring to a “Crypto 
Carnival” booth he saw at Consensus. “We are in a competition with the legacy 
financial firms that have a lot of money and very smart people. We need more 
people focused on building real things for real problems.” At press time, the 
total crypto market cap stood at $2.65 trillion. Featured image created with 
DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

The Crypto Industry Is Dying, That Is A Good Thing, Says Anthony Pompliano

US spot XRP exchange-traded funds recorded net inflows of $11.28 million on 
Tuesday, marking their second consecutive positive day — a streak that 
coincides with a sharp shift in who is actually moving XRP off centralized 
exchanges. Related Reading: Bitcoin Eyes $90K As Bears Get Burned Again Amid 
$30B Open Interest Surge Whales Take Over The Outflow Picture Large holders 
now account for 91.4% of all XRP leaving Binance, according to on-chain data 
compiled by CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha. Retail traders, by contrast, have 
been squeezed to just 8.4% of outflow activity on the platform. The gap is 
striking. And it isn&#8217;t limited to Binance — across all centralized exchanges 
combined, whale-driven outflows have climbed to 90.5%, the highest reading 
recorded since 2024. Retail participation across those same platforms has 
slipped to roughly 9%, its lowest point in the same period. The numbers paint 
a picture of a market where small traders have largely stepped back, leaving 
the heavy movement to bigger players who rarely show their hand. Exchange 
Reserves Shrinking Fast Separate data flagged by market watcher Xaif Crypto 
shows XRP reserves on Binance are falling at a pace not seen since March. 
Deposit and withdrawal flows over the past 30 days have flipped, with 
withdrawals outpacing deposits by a growing margin. Something&#8217;s happening with 
XRP on Binance 👀 net withdrawals just hit a 30-day reversal coins flying off 
the exchange at the fastest pace since March 📉 the supply shock is loading 
…….. $XRP https://t.co/VXOQPJf1EX pic.twitter.com/nlJLdUOCA1 — Xaif Crypto 
(@Xaif_Crypto) May 6, 2026 When tokens leave exchanges at this speed, it 
typically means fewer coins are available for immediate sale — a condition 
that can tighten supply and affect pricing if demand stays steady or grows. 
The ETF inflow data adds weight to that picture. Reports indicate that 
institutional interest in XRP has been climbing, and two straight days of 
positive ETF flows suggest that appetite has not cooled. Related Reading: 
David Schwartz Says Selling XRP Doesn’t Make Him The Villain What The Data 
Doesn&#8217;t Confirm Still, outflows don&#8217;t tell the whole story. Data shows that 
whale withdrawals can reflect several different moves — long-term storage, 
transfer between wallets, or repositioning across platforms. None of those 
necessarily means buying. Taha&#8217;s analysis acknowledged this directly, noting 
that exchange outflows alone cannot be treated as confirmation of 
accumulation. The contrast with mid-2025 is worth keeping in mind. Back then, 
retail participation spiked to around 2% dominance just as XRP approached its 
record high near $3.66. That surge in smaller-player activity was followed by 
a price drop of more than 60%. Today&#8217;s market looks structurally different, 
with large holders driving nearly all movement. Whether that translates into 
price support remains to be seen. Featured image from MetaAI, chart from 
TradingView

Bitcoin bulls target $115K by December: Does data back the expectation?

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