Pepe faces a crucial moment as it rejects from a key resistance level aligned with the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement. Price action now tests the lower bounds of the current trading range. The memecoin Pepe (PEPE) has seen increased volatility over…

Pepe rejection likely before bullish continuation? key levels to watch.

Bitcoin continues to edge closer to the $100,000 psychological price mark, 
trading at $96,857 at the time of writing. Although the asset pulled back 
slightly from a 24-hour high above $97,000, it still recorded a 2.4% increase 
over the past week, maintaining its broader uptrend. Recent on-chain data 
points to a growing sense of bullish sentiment in the market. Notably, a sharp 
increase in the taker buy/sell ratio on Binance suggests that traders are 
becoming more aggressive in their buying behavior. Some analysts are 
interpreting this shift as a potential prelude to further upside movement, 
especially as exchange outflows signal a tightening supply. Related Reading: 
Traders Rush Into Bitcoin Options as Implied Volatility Drops, Is a Big Move 
Coming? Bitcoin Taker Buy/Sell Ratio Points to Aggressive Buying Behavior Amr 
Taha, a contributor to the QuickTake platform by CryptoQuant, highlighted that 
the taker buy/sell ratio on Binance recently spiked to 1.142—its highest point 
in recent history. This metric compares the volume of market buy orders (taker 
buys) to market sell orders (taker sells). A value above 1 indicates that 
market participants are executing more aggressive buy orders than sell orders, 
suggesting a growing eagerness to enter the market even at higher price 
levels. Taha’s analysis also referenced a visual spike on Binance’s order 
book, signaling a wave of taker buys that reflect immediate interest in BTC 
accumulation. The timing of this spike coincided with Bitcoin’s recent move 
above $96,000. At the same time, data from CryptoQuant’s Whales Screener 
revealed a $200 million BTC outflow from centralized exchanges. This 
withdrawal likely represents a shift from liquid trading platforms to cold 
storage, implying reduced selling pressure and heightened confidence among 
large holders. Futures Traders That Drove October Rally Return In a separate 
update, another CryptoQuant analyst known as Mignolet pointed to the re- 
emergence of entities in the futures market that were active during Bitcoin’s 
sharp rally in October 2023. These futures participants, often institutional 
or high-frequency traders, played a notable role in driving momentum during 
that rally. According to Mignolet, similar entities have started showing signs 
of activity again since late April. Related Reading: North Carolina Passes 
Bill To Integrate Bitcoin Into $127 Billion Pension Fund The return of these 
futures players could suggest that leveraged long positions are being reopened 
in anticipation of another breakout. Combined with the recent net exchange 
outflows and aggressive spot buying on Binance, this resurgence could provide 
additional fuel for Bitcoin’s climb toward six-figure territory. Overall, 
while volatility remains a notable feature of crypto markets, current 
indicators suggest strong bullish undertones may be building beneath the 
surface. Featured image created with DALL-E, Chart from TradingView

Bitcoin Sees Sharp Increase in Taker Buy/Sell Ratio on Binance—What Does It Signal?

Spark, a bitcoin L2 platform fully compatible with the Lightning Network, has 
launched on mainnet. Promoted as &#8220;the fastest, cheapest, most UX-friendly way 
to build financial apps and launch assets on bitcoin,&#8221; the network enables a 
series of use cases destined for monetary applications, such as issuing 
stablecoins on top of bitcoin or building hybrid […]

Lightspark-Built Bitcoin L2 Spark Launches on Mainnet

Crypto app developers are now free to direct users to payments outside of 
Apple&#8217;s ecosystem without restrictions or hefty fees, after a United States 
district judge ruled that Apple violated an injunction in its antitrust legal 
battle against Epic Games.
&#8220;The Court finds Apple in willful violation of this Court&#8217;s 2021 Injunction, 
which was issued to restrain and prohibit Apple&#8217;s anticompetitive conduct and 
anticompetitive pricing. Apple&#8217;s continued attempts to interfere with 
competition will not be tolerated,&#8221; US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers 
said in an April 30 court filing.
## Apple must make changes &#8220;effective immediately&#8221;
&#8220;Effective immediately, Apple will no longer impede developers&#8217; ability to 
communicate with users, nor will they levy or impose a new commission on off- 
app purchases,&#8221; Rogers added.
Rogers reiterated, &#8220;This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no do- 
overs once a party willfully disregards a court order. Time is of the 
essence.&#8221;
_Source:__Hector Lopez_
The ruling stated that Apple must not impose &#8220;any commission or any fee on 
purchases that consumers make outside an app.&#8221; It added, &#8220;no reason exists to 
audit, monitor, track or require developers to report purchases or any other 
activity that consumers make outside an app.&#8221;
It was ruled that Apple can&#8217;t control how developers design or place links 
that lead users to buy items outside the app. Apple also cannot exclude 
&#8220;certain categories of apps and developers from obtaining link access.&#8221;
Following the court ruling, several crypto industry participants noticed that 
Apple guidelines were updated, with some claiming that the tone of the 
guidelines suggests they weren&#8217;t too pleased with the ruling.
Appfigures co-founder and CEO Ariel Michaeli said that people may find Apple&#8217;s 
&#8220;passive aggressive language confusing.&#8221;
_**Related:**__**FTX sues NFT Stars and Kurosemi in push to recover tokens**_
Michaeli summarized Apple&#8217;s update as Apps can now link to an external non- 
fungible token (NFT) collection, can link outside of the App Store without 
needing an entitlement, and can link to an external payment system without 
requiring an entitlement.
Crypto commentator &#8220;Xero&#8221; told their 50,000 X followers on May 2, &#8220;This is 
hugely bullish for mobile crypto games and apps.&#8221; Meanwhile, Alex Masmej said, 
&#8220;This is absolutely huge for crypto.&#8221;
The same day, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Epic would be relaunching 
Fortnite to the US Apple App Store.
&#8220;Epic puts forth a peace proposal: If Apple extends the court&#8217;s friction-free, 
Apple-tax-free framework worldwide, we&#8217;ll return Fortnite to the App Store 
worldwide and drop current and future litigation on the topic,&#8221; Sweeney said.
In August 2023, Justice Elena Kagan declined to let a federal appeals court 
decision take immediate effect as Epic had asked &#8212; with no explanation for 
the decision.
_**Magazine:**__**Crypto wanted to overthrow banks, now it &#8216;s becoming them in 
stablecoin fight**_

Apple softens crypto app rules, 'hugely bullish' for crypto industry

Bitcoin (BTC) has surged 14.6% over the past two weeks, rising from 
approximately $84,500 on April 18 to the mid-$90,000 range at the time of 
writing. With this upward momentum, the leading cryptocurrency appears to be 
setting its sights on a new all-time high (ATH), as several technical and 
momentum indicators hint at a growing bullish trend. Bitcoin Monthly 
Stochastic RSI Turning Bullish In a recent post on X, crypto analyst Titan of 
Crypto shared a BTC monthly chart indicating that the Stochastic Relative 
Strength Index (RSI) is on the verge of a bullish crossover. For the 
uninitiated, a Stochastic RSI bullish crossover signals growing upward 
momentum and is often interpreted as a potential buy signal or the start of a 
potential rally. Titan of Crypto added that if confirmed, the bullish 
crossover may initiate BTC’s next leg up. Related Reading: Bitcoin Flashing 
Pre-Rally Signals Seen Before Major 2024 Breakouts, Analyst Says As an 
example, the analyst referred to BTC’s price action on the monthly chart from 
back in Q3 2021. At the time, a similar bullish crossover in the Stochastic 
RSI preceded a 56.9% surge in Bitcoin’s price. However, Bitcoin must hold 
above crucial support levels to maintain this bullish structure. In a separate 
X post, renowned analyst Ali Martinez noted that BTC could re-test the $95,700 
support zone before advancing toward the $100,000 milestone. On the resistance 
side, Martinez emphasized that $97,530 remains a “key level to watch.” A 
successful breakout beyond this threshold could pave the way for BTC to 
revisit or surpass its previous ATH. As it stands, Bitcoin is trading roughly 
10% below its record high. Analysts Predict BTC’s Next Move Crypto analyst 
Rekt Capital also weighed in on BTC’s potential trajectory. In an X post 
published yesterday, he suggested that once BTC decisively breaks through the 
$97,000 to $99,000 zone, it could face rejection near $104,500. Following 
that, holding the $97,000–$99,000 range as support would be critical for BTC 
to launch toward new highs. Related Reading: Bitcoin Demand Momentum Yet To 
Recover From Deep Negative Zone, Analyst Says Similarly, analyst Ted noted 
that BTC is currently trading in a Wyckoff accumulation phase. The analyst 
added that BTC’s slide below $76,000 in early April was likely the bottom for 
this market cycle. He added: Looking at the Wyckoff accumulation pattern, it 
seems like the $96K-$99K level could act as a resistance. I think BTC could 
consolidate here for a few days, before eventually breaking to the upside. 
Despite bullish momentum, some concerns remain. Analysts caution that Bitcoin 
is unlikely to face a true supply shock in the immediate future, which could 
temper upside potential. At press time, BTC trades at $97,142, up 0.9% in the 
past 24 hours. Featured image created with Unsplash, charts from X and 
TradingView.com

Bitcoin Stochastic RSI Signals Brewing Bullish Momentum – ATH Incoming?

Andreessen Horowitz’s A16z crypto reports stablecoin volumes soaring to $1.82 
trillion, igniting a payments revolution and accelerating adoption of instant, 
low-cost global finance infrastructure. $1.82 Trillion Stablecoin Explosion 
Sets off Payment Revolution in Global Finance Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto 
division, A16z crypto, highlighted a sharp rise in stablecoin activity in an 
April 25 editorial, reporting that […]