The crypto funding market saw $73.2 million in total investments during the week of May 11-17, 2025. During this period, Gnosis HQ&#8217;s $14.95 million M&amp;A deal represented the largest transaction. This week, funding was announced across multiple blockchain ecosystems and…

Crypto VC funding: Gnosis, HQ lead with $14.95m acquisition; Perpl raises $9.25m

Key points:
 * Ether price rose 3% to $2,550 on May 18, triggering $22 million in short ETH liquidations.
 * A bull flag on the chart suggests a $3,700 target, with analysts predicting Bitcoin&#8217;s price to go as high as $5,000 in May.
Ether&#8217;s (ETH) price was up on May 18, rising more than 2.5% over the last 24 
hours to trade at $2,536. This recovery reinforces the optimism among traders 
that ETH price could hit $3,000 in May, citing strong technicals.
## Ether wipes out $7.5 million shorts in an hour
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and Bitsamp shows that ETH rose by more 
than 4.5% to an intraday high of $2,551 on May 18 from a low of $2,440 the 
previous day.
_ETH/USD daily chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView_
Accompanying Ether&#8217;s losses today are significant liquidations across the 
crypto market. According to data from CoinGlass, more than $158 million 
leveraged crypto positions have been liquidated over the last 24 hours, with 
$95 million representing long liquidations.
Short Ether liquidations amounted to $22.25 million, with the $7.5 million 
being wiped out in the last hour alone.
_Total liquidations across the crypto market. Source: CoinGlass_
This means that short traders were caught off guard by Ether&#8217;s return to 
$2,500.
Additional CoinGlass data showed several bands of seller interest above the 
spot price, with ask orders worth over $384 million building up all the way up 
to $3,000. This suggested that the ongoing recovery might be capped at this 
level.
_ETH liquidation heatmap. Source: CoinGlass_
## Is Ether&#8217;s recovery back?
Market analysts believe Ether&#8217;s recent drop was a technical correction to 
retest key support levels before continuing its uptrend toward $3,000 and 
beyond.
Titan of Crypto said that the weekly Stochastic RSI&#8217;s value at 79 suggests 
that ETH &#8220;still has more gas in the tank&#8221; to move higher.
&gt; #Ethereum might still have more gas in the tank ⛽️ 
&gt; 
&gt; The weekly Stochastic RSI suggests there&#8217;s still room before reaching 
&gt; extreme overbought territory, possibly a few more weeks to go. #ETH 
&gt; pic.twitter.com/atCm93napO 
&gt; 
&gt; &#8212; Titan of Crypto (@Washigorira) May 17, 2025
Ether&#8217;s downside may be capped at $2,400, according to pseudonymous analyst 
Chimp of the North.
The analyst shared a chart suggesting that the altcoin could continue its 
retracement to retest $2,400 support before launching another rally toward the 
$3,000-$3,300 range.
_ETH/USD chart. Source:__Chimp of the North_
Fellow analyst Crypto Patel projected a deeper retracement for Ether, saying 
that ETH price could potentially drop $1,800 before launching a move higher.
&#8220;This area is a high-probability zone for bullish re-entry if price shows 
support,&#8221; the analyst wrote as part of a May 17 post of X, adding:
&gt; &#8220;If demand holds here, the next leg up toward $4,000-$5,000 could follow.&#8221;
_ETH/USD daily chart. Source:__Crypto Patel_
As Cointelegraph reported, ETH could hit new all-time highs around $5,000, 
fueled by AI adoption, spot ETF inflows, and the latest improvements through 
the Pectra upgrade.
_**Related:**__**Price predictions 5/16: BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, 
SUI, LINK, AVAX**_
## Ether price bull flag is still in play
From a technical perspective, ETH price is still trading above a bull flag 
pattern in the four-hour timeframe, a bullish setup that forms after the price 
consolidates inside a down-sloping range following a sharp price rise.
The bull flag was confirmed on May 13 when the price broke above the upper 
trendline at $2,550. Ether is now retesting the upper boundary of the flag, 
currently at $2,470, which is acting as immediate support.
A daily candlestick close above this level could see the asset resume its 
uptrend toward the technical target of the bull flag at $3,720, up 50% from 
the current price.
_ETH/USD four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/__TradingView_
Conversely, the RSI has dropped from 60 to 42 over the last 24 hours, 
suggesting that the ongoing correction may continue if profit-taking 
intensifies.
A daily candlestick close below the support level at $2,470 will increase the 
chances of a price drop to $2,400 and then to the flag&#8217;s lower boundary at 
$2,300.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every 
investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their 
own research when making a decision.

Ethereum back to $3K in May? Latest rebound says ETH price 'still has more gas'

The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow initiated the arrest of a former Binance 
executive and co-founder of the Blum tap-to-earn app, Vladimir Smerkis, on 
fraud charges. According to Russian news site TASS, citing law enforcement 
agencies, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court granted…

Russian authorities detain Blum co-founder in criminal fraud case: report

The U.S. Department of the Treasury revealed that China reduced its exposure 
to U.S. debt in March, selling close to $19 billion in Treasuries. This 
reduction was recorded in March as the trade conflict between the two 
countries escalated. China Reduced Exposure to U.S. Debt Amid Tariff Conflict 
China is willing to reduce some of […]

China Reduces US Treasury Holdings Amid Trade War Escalation

_**Opinion by: Igor Mandrigin, co-founder and CTPO of Gateway.fm**_
Every couple of weeks, it seems another layer 2 rolls out, much to the chagrin 
of some Web3 industry commentators who are concerned about fragmentation. A 
recent Gemini Institutional Insights report actually noted how a new Ethereum 
L2 solution is launched approximately every 19 days. In response to the 
seemingly endless conveyor belt of new zkEVMs and optimistic rollups coming to 
market, the chorus of criticism continues to grow louder: &#8220;This is definitely 
the saturation point, no more chains are needed.&#8221;
Some of the most outspoken critics of L2s argue that L2s are redundant, but 
this is narrow thinking. In many ways, the idea that creating new L2s should 
be slowed down is like arguing that there were too many websites in 1998. The 
proliferation of L2s is not causing the Web3 space to become overly bloated or 
fragmented at all. The number of chains today isn&#8217;t too many. It&#8217;s laughably 
few, and right now is the early innings of a multi-decade explosion in 
specialized, modular blockchain infrastructure.
## The rise of L2s is far from a passing fad
While some contend that this L2 surge we&#8217;ve been experiencing is merely a 
temporary frenzy led by DeFi degenerates, it&#8217;s really an enterprise-grade 
infrastructure expansion, as banks (including Deutsche Bank), game studios 
(gaming activity on some L2 blockchains rose by over 20,000% in February 
2025), logistics networks and global manufacturers get on board.
Industries like banking and logistics, which are typically risk-averse, don&#8217;t 
make major tech pivots lightly. They do so because they have to, and in many 
cases, public blockchains do not meet their needs. Returning to their inherent 
risk-averse DNA, large enterprises and institutions in these sectors generally 
won&#8217;t want to build on shared, general-purpose L1s. Instead, they&#8217;ll want to 
deploy their own chains where they can enjoy custom performance, predictable 
costs, jurisdictional compliance and granular-level privacy.
This focus on proprietary networks isn&#8217;t solely a Web3 thing. Let&#8217;s think 
about it. Did Facebook, Netflix and JPMorgan co-host on GeoCities? Of course 
not, so why would Web3 be any different? Shared L1s and monolithic 
architectures might have worked for early token experiments and composable 
DeFi primitives. Still, realistically, they can&#8217;t support real-world 
businesses&#8217; complexity, regulatory burden or contractual requirements.
## The growing viability of L2s
Thanks to modular stacks, rollup-as-a-service platforms and breakthrough zero- 
knowledge proof technology, spinning up a dedicated chain is becoming 
increasingly viable and accessible to a wide range of enterprises across the 
industry spectrum. As the infrastructure improves, the cost of launching and 
maintaining specialized chains will also reduce, so a substantial rise in the 
number of L2s can be expected as time goes on.
_**Recent:**__**Devs introduce Ethereum R1 layer-2 scaling solution**_
Some onlookers will argue that this future will be convoluted for users forced 
to hop between chains while voicing concerns about liquidity fragmentation and 
the dispersal of tradable assets across multiple platforms. These are short- 
sighted concerns. We&#8217;re building toward seamless interoperability through 
shared settlement layers, trust-minimized bridges and unified account 
abstraction. Ultimately, the end-user won&#8217;t care whether they&#8217;re on rollup 
#4,318 or chain #9,072; they&#8217;ll just transact with ease and be happy with 
that.
In the same way that cloud computing unlocked hyper scale by abstracting the 
hardware layer, modular blockchains are unlocking hyperscale for value 
transfer, asset issuance and programmable trust. Irrespective of what the 
doubters say, specialized L2s won&#8217;t cannibalize each other. They&#8217;ll serve 
different verticals, jurisdictions and use cases. There is no reason why an L2 
for high-frequency trading can&#8217;t easily coexist with an L2 for national land 
registries.
We&#8217;re not drowning in chains &#8212; we&#8217;re barely ankle-deep in the grand scheme of 
things. Anyone seriously betting on consolidation or some magical &#8220;winner- 
take-all&#8221; chain is just betting against scale and sovereignty. The real bet is 
hundreds of L2s and thousands of use cases as part of one modular, scalable 
future.
_**Opinion by: Igor Mandrigin, co-founder and CTPO of Gateway.fm.**_
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and 
should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and 
opinions expressed here are the author&#8217;s alone and do not necessarily reflect 
or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Don’t believe the noise: There can never be too many L2s

Bitcoin prices have registered impressive gains in recent weeks amidst an 
ongoing price rebound. Since dipping below the $75,000 mark in mid-April, the 
asset’s price has jumped by over 37.5% to trade as high as $105,490. While the 
BTC market appears to be cooling off, renowned crypto analyst Ali Martinez has 
tipped the premier cryptocurrency to hit a market top of $120,000 before the 
current bull cycle runs out. Related Reading: Golden Ratio Multiplier Called 
Bitcoin Top In 2021 – Here’s What It’s Saying Now CVDD Metrics Hint At $120k 
Peak, But Only If $90k Support Holds The Cumulative Value Days Destroyed 
(CVDD) is an on-chain metric that measures the total coin-days destroyed when 
dormant BTC moves, thus capturing the spending activity of long-term holders. 
Basically, a surge in CVDD indicates significant profit-taking by long-term 
holders, which is often an indicator of overheated market conditions. 
Meanwhile, reduced CVDD action marks accumulation phases. Based on the chart 
presented by Martinez, prominent analytics firm CryptoQuant extrapolates 
Bitcoin’s current CVDD at $34,154 into multiple layers, each representing 
different aspects of the bull market. Firstly, there is the Accessing Tops, 
i.e, the black line which extrapolates the CVDD into an upper band that the 
price has reached at the major tops, such as at $20,000 in 2017 and $69,000 
and 2021. Presently, the Accessing Tops is around $120,000, suggesting this 
could be the next market peak of this bull run. Another important layer in 
CryptoQuant’s extrapolation of the CVDD is the Accumulating Phase 2, the 
second-tier support band that has repeatedly underpinned price throughout 
2025. It is presently positioned at $90,000, marking the first major support 
line for bulls. With the present Bitcoin price at $103,242, Ali Martinez warns 
that preserving the price support at $90,000 is critical to maintaining 
Bitcoin’s bull structure and enabling a potential rise to $120,000. Related 
Reading: Ethereum Faces Resistance Against Bitcoin – ETH/BTC Bullish Structure 
In Question Bitcoin Price Overview At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at 
$103,573, reflecting a slight market gain of 0.09% in the past day. Meanwhile, 
the asset’s daily trading volume is down by 17.92%, indicating a fall in 
market participation. Presently, the next resistance level stands at $105,000. 
However, Martinez has stated that major positive developments will only follow 
when a price close above $107,000 is achieved. Meanwhile, bullish sentiments 
remain high as illustrated by another impressive performance by the Bitcoin 
Spot ETFs, which registered a net inflow of $1.81 billion in the past week. 
With a market cap of $2.04 trillion, Bitcoin continues to remain the most 
valuable digital asset, holding about 62.8% of the crypto market. Featured 
image from Pexels, chart from Tradingview