MicroStrategy sharply increased its capital-raising target and 2025 bitcoin acquisition goals in its earnings report, prompting a bullish revision from analysts at H.C. Wainwright. In a research note dated May 2, analyst Mike Colonnese turned incremenetally bullish on Strategy&#8217;s stock…

Strategy’s BTC gains prompt bullish $521 price target from H.C. Wainwright

In a video released on Thursday, crypto commentator Zach Rector dismantled a 
viral claim—popularized by influencer Jake Clover—that XRP tokens are secretly 
changing hands for $100,000 apiece inside clandestine “dark pools.” Rector’s 
rebuttal aims to calm newcomers spooked by the rumor and to re-center the 
discussion on verifiable market mechanics rather than conspiratorial price- 
suppression narratives. XRP OTC Deals Aren’t Market Manipulation Rector opens 
the broadcast by calling the thesis “a new round of misinformation and FUD,” 
stressing that “institutions are [not] going to get XRP at $100,000 on the 
private ledger. That’s not happening.” He explains that what social-media 
accounts now label “dark pools” are simply over-the-counter (OTC) 
desks—private bilateral venues that large holders have used for decades in 
equities, foreign exchange and, more recently, digital assets. “It’s nothing 
new or specific to XRP,” he says, adding that Ripple Labs has been off-loading 
part of its treasury via OTC since 2019 without depressing the open-market 
price. Indeed, XRP has “pumped tremendously since November,” Rector notes, 
even as Ripple distributed fresh supply to institutional counterparties. Much 
of Clover’s allegation hinges on the idea that a separate, private version of 
the XRP Ledger (XRPL) carries its own price—orders of magnitude above the 
public market’s. Rector calls that notion a fundamental misunderstanding of 
how Ripple’s enterprise tooling works. Central-bank or government pilots often 
ask for “private ledgers where they can keep messaging and transactions hidden 
from the public view,” he acknowledges, but those environments are 
permissioned sidechains or wrapped derivatives. “XRP only exists on the public 
XRP Ledger that we all use […]. Your XRP can never leave the XRP Ledger,” he 
states. If testers wanted to model a six-figure price for stress-testing 
purposes, “that’s not the real XRP, never was, never would be.” To underscore 
the point, Rector cites Ripple chief technology officer David Schwartz, who 
“has already addressed this” and clarified that “there are not two prices of 
XRP.” Rector also invokes examples from other enterprise-focused chains—XDC’s 
hybrid architecture and Constellation’s Department of Defense “Metagraph” 
deployment—to show that privacy partitions are standard practice, not evidence 
of hidden liquidity at surreal valuations. OTC Buyers Get A Discount While 
some retail traders fear that Wall Street would happily pay an astronomical 
premium behind closed doors, Rector argues the economics are inverted: “Why 
would an institution pay $10,000 per XRP on the private ledger […] when it’s 
available on the public market for $2?” OTC desks exist precisely so that 
whales can accumulate “without moving the market,” not to overpay. In fact, 
history shows that Ripple has often granted institutional partners a discount, 
not a markup—something revealed in discovery during the SEC vs. Ripple 
lawsuit. Rector reminds viewers that Ripple’s data set includes “over 1,700 
NDAs” and that R3 once negotiated an option to buy five billion XRP “for a 
sub-penny” over three years, ultimately settling for a single billion when the 
broader partnership soured. None of those figures approach the six-figure 
fantasy. At press time, XRP traded at $2.21. Featured image created with 
DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto Pundit Debunks $100,000 XRP ‘Dark Pool’ Theory

Ripple’s $5 billion acquisition bid was reportedly snubbed as one expert says 
Circle is eyeing a $10 billion IPO amid bullish momentum and favorable crypto 
regulation. Ripple’s Acquisition Bid Rejected? Expert Suggests Circle Has $10B 
IPO in Its Sights Attorney John E. Deaton, a well-known advocate for XRP 
holders, explained that Circle’s market value could […]

Ripple’s Failed Bid Explained: Expert Sees Circle’s $10B IPO Play Brewing

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes says the United States is unlikely to add more 
Bitcoin to its reserves beyond what it has already seized due to the country&#8217;s 
high debt levels and the stereotype behind &#8220;Bitcoin bros.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not really into the whole Strategic Reserve situation,&#8221; Hayes said in a 
May 1 interview.
## Hayes doubts any government announcing print money plans for Bitcoin
&#8220;The United States is a deficit country; the only way they can do a Strategic 
Reserve is not sell the Bitcoin they took from people, fine, that&#8217;s 200,000 
Bitcoin,&#8221; he said.
_Arthur Hayes spoke to Kyle Chasse on his crypto interview series. 
Source:__Kyle Chasse_
However, Hayes said it&#8217;s hard to imagine any &#8220;properly elected&#8221; politician 
openly announcing that the government plans to print money to buy Bitcoin 
(BTC).
&gt; &#8220;Especially when the popular narrative is a bunch of Bitcoin bros going to 
&gt; the club.&#8221;
&#8220;Is that really what you want people to think about your policy?&#8221; he asked.
On March 6, Trump signed an executive order to create a Bitcoin strategic 
reserve and digital asset stockpile in the United States. The US holds 198,012 
Bitcoin worth over $18 billion, as per recent data. The reserve is primarily 
formed of Bitcoin seized in criminal and civil cases, including significant 
amounts from the Silk Road and Bitfinex hack cases.
However, many crypto industry leaders believe that if the US government starts 
buying Bitcoin, it could set off an aggressive domino effect.
Sergej Kunz, co-founder of exchange aggregator 1inch, said during 
Cointelegraph&#8217;s LONGITUDE event in Dubai that if the US starts buying Bitcoin 
for a strategic reserve, even smaller countries may soon struggle to acquire 
the cryptocurrency.
He added. &#8220;I&#8217;m pretty sure we&#8217;ll soon see countries battling over who owns 
more Bitcoin. The US will start.&#8221;
## Hayes sees Bitcoin to altcoin rotation playbook staying the same
Hayes remains confident that the Bitcoin cycle leading into altcoin season 
will follow the same pattern as it did in 2021, despite differing views from 
other analysts.
&#8220;I personally think Bitcoin dominance is going back to where it was before the 
2021 altcoin season, which is about 70%,&#8221; Hayes said.
Hayes isn&#8217;t convinced the pattern will change. &#8220;Then people just start 
rotating,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s back at all-time highs; bull markets are back, and 
altcoins should outperform. Should is a keyword there,&#8221; Hayes said. &#8220;Depends 
on what you buy,&#8221; he added.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin price about to &#8216;blast&#8217; higher as Fed rate cut odds 
jump to 60%**_
Bitcoin dominance &#8212; the ratio of Bitcoin&#8217;s market capitalization to the 
entire crypto market &#8212; is 64.78% at the time of publication, according to 
TradingView data.
_Bitcoin dominance was 57.59% on Jan. 1. Source:__TradingView_
This represents an 11.68% increase since Jan. 1, when Bitcoin dominance was 
hovering just below 60%, a level where some analysts said would be its peak 
before altcoin season began. Several analysts doubted that Bitcoin dominance 
would ever return to 70%.
One of those skeptics was Into The Cryptoverse founder Benjamin Cowen, who 
explained in August that he doesn&#8217;t &#8220;think it is going back up to 70%,&#8221; and 
his target for Bitcoin dominance has been 60%.
Meanwhile, in December CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said &#8220;altseason is no 
longer defined by asset rotation from Bitcoin.&#8221;
He said the traditional signal marking the beginning of an altcoin season when 
capital rotates from Bitcoin to altcoins is outdated. Instead, altcoin trading 
volume has become more prevalent against stablecoin and fiat currency pairs.
_**Magazine:**__**Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, and now it &#8216;s becoming 
them in stablecoin fight**_

Bitcoin bros at 'the club' may stop US gov’t from buying BTC — Arthur Hayes

The Bitcoin price has just printed a major bullish signal, officially 
confirming a strong local bottom and sparking renewed sentiment among 
analysts. This bullish shift comes after April closed in the green, reclaiming 
technical levels and signaling the potential for a significant move toward the 
six-figure price territory. Market expert Titan Of Crypto has announced on X 
(formerly Twitter) that Bitcoin has officially hit a local bottom. The analyst 
shared a chart showcasing that Bitcoin is flashing one of the strongest 
bullish signals. Bitcoin Price Establishes Solid Local Bottom According to the 
Ichimoku Cloud analysis, BTC’s price has closed firmly above the Tenkan (red 
line), Kijun (blue line), and Kimo cloud. All of these Ichimoku lines are 
sloping upwards, reinforcing that Bitcoin’s momentum and trend structure are 
aligned. Related Reading: Bitcoin Raging Bull Indicator Turns Back On, But 
This Level Holds The Key A close above the Tenkan signals short-term bullish 
momentum, while the Kijun confirms strength in a medium-trend. The thick Kimo 
cloud represents the most bullish configuration, indicating clear trend 
dominance. Furthermore, when Bitcoin closes above all Ichimoku lines, it 
establishes a dynamic support or resistance zone, validating the overall 
bullish structure. Adding more weight to this bullish signal, Titan of Crypto 
revealed that Bitcoin has reclaimed the April high, a key resistance level of 
around $95,173, which is now acting as a support area. The rectangular zone 
highlighted as “the local bottom” on the chart reflects price action between 
February and April 2025, where BTC formed a higher low above the Kijun. The 
bullish April monthly candle close above this zone officially establishes this 
region as a strong foundational support, which validates the possibility of a 
local bottom from a technical standpoint. With the local bottom confirmed and 
momentum on its side, Bitcoin could be headed to the next likely resistance 
area, marked on the chart as the “Next Point of Interest.” This area sits 
above the $110,000 region, near $115,000. For this bullish scenario to play 
out, BTC must maintain its position above the April high and the Kijun as 
dynamic support. Bulls will need to defend any retracements toward these zones 
to preserve momentum. Failure to do so could lead to a deeper correction, 
effectively invalidating the bullish outlook. BTC Price Action Looks Strong In 
a more recent X post, Titan of Crypto announced that Bitcoin is breaking out 
of a tight range and its price action looks strong. He shared an Ichimoku 
Cloud analysis of the cryptocurrency, showing a potential bullish breakout 
setup on the 1-day timeframe. Related Reading: Bitcoin Price Flashes Golden 
Cross That Only Happens Once Every Cycle, What To Expect Looking at the price 
chart, Bitcoin has been consolidating between $92,880 and $95,800 over the 
past several days, but momentum appears to be building for a potential 
breakout. A confirmed close above $95,800 would validate the breakout and open 
the door for a bullish continuation, with the price target set near $99,000. 
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview.com

Bitcoin Price Confirmed Local Bottom As All Indicators Flash Bullish, Where’s Price Headed?

El Salvador is rapidly cementing its status as a global innovation powerhouse, 
fusing elite bitcoin education with cutting-edge AI training to supercharge 
national transformation and global influence. Bitcoin Advocate Applauds El 
Salvador’s Bold Tech Vision: High Standards, Big Impact El Salvador’s 
uncompromising commitment to high standards in technology education and 
bitcoin policy has earned renewed […]