Virtuals Protocol, a top AI agent generator, has performed well in recent weeks, surging over 350% from its lowest point in April. Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) price was trading at $1.9400 on Tuesday, May 20, giving it a market cap of…

Virtual price ripe for a surge as ecosystem AI agents rise

Crypto veteran Raoul Pal has shared his thoughts on the XRP price, predicting 
it still has more room to rally to the upside. The altcoin is expected to hit 
a new all-time high (ATH) as it rallies higher. XRP Price Primed For Another 
Leg Higher In a YouTube video, Pal remarked that XRP’s chart is one to behold 
and that its price will likely get another leg higher at some point. His 
accompanying chart showed a bull flag that had formed for the altcoin since 
last year, after its parabolic rally to the $2 range. Its price is currently 
in the consolidation phase, with a breakout usually occurring after this 
phase. Related Reading: XRP Price Explosion To $5.9: Current Consolidation 
Won’t Stop XRP From Growing Based on the chart, the price could rally to as 
high as $5, which would mark a new all-time high (ATH) for the altcoin. 
Interestingly, before its surge late last year, the crypto veteran had advised 
investors to sell their dino coins like XRP and ADA. However, following the 
pump, he admitted he was wrong and became bullish on the altcoin. This 
prediction comes amid the launch of the CME XRP and Micro XRP futures, which 
are bullish for its price. These products will provide institutional investors 
with exposure to the altcoin and are also integral to the approval of a Spot 
XRP ETF. An XRP ETF is one of the factors that crypto analyst BarriC believes 
could quickly drive prices to $10. In the short term, crypto analyst Ali 
Martinez has suggested that the XRP price could retrace before it rallies 
higher. In an X post, he stated that the asset could return to $2 if it loses 
the critical $2.30 support. Crypto analyst CasiTrades had also warned that the 
altcoin could witness a correction following its failure to hold above $2.6 
successfully. The Altcoin Could Hit ATH After This Correction Crypto analyst 
Dark Defender has suggested that the XRP price could hit its ATH after this 
market correction, stating that the rally to ATH is closer than anyone else 
can think of. This came as he revealed that the token has completed the A Wave 
and is now on the B Wave of Wave 2, meaning that this corrective wave is in 
its midway. Related Reading: $40 Billion Worth Of XRP On The Move – Where Are 
They Headed? The crypto analyst predicts that the XRP price could reach $3.333 
after the B and C Waves in this Wave 2 corrective move. Meanwhile, the support 
levels to watch out for are $2.3502 and $2.2222, while the resistance levels 
to keep an eye for are $2.58 and $3.3333. At the time of writing, the XRP 
price is trading at around $2.38, up over 2% in the last 24 hours, according 
to data from CoinMarketCap. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from 
Tradingview.com

XRP Price Will Still Rally From Here, Crypto Veteran Raoul Pal Forecasts

After weeks of speculation among crypto enthusiasts and news outlets, Tron 
founder Justin Sun has claimed he owns the wallet that purchased the largest 
amount of Donald Trump&#8217;s memecoin, allowing him to qualify for a dinner and 
reception with the US president.
In a May 19 X post, Sun said he had received an invitation to attend Trump&#8217;s 
dinner at his golf club outside Washington, DC, as part of a reward for the 
top 220 memecoin holders. The Tron founder claimed he controlled the top 
wallet on the TRUMP token leaderboard under the username &#8220;Sun,&#8221; which held 
roughly $19 million worth of the memecoin at a price of $13.20.
According to Sun, he plans to network at the May 22 memecoin dinner, &#8220;talk 
crypto,&#8221; and &#8220;discuss the future&#8221; of the industry. It&#8217;s unclear why the Tron 
founder chose to announce his planned presence at the event now, when the 
leaderboard was finalized on May 12.
Cointelegraph reached out to a spokesperson for Sun for comment, but had not 
received a response at the time of publication.
_Source:__Justin Sun_
Though not a surprise to many who speculated that Sun was the individual 
behind the memecoin purchases, his attendance at the dinner only deepens his 
ties to the Trump administration and the president&#8217;s family. In addition to 
the dinner for the 220 tokenholders, Trump said he would hold a reception and 
&#8220;VIP tour&#8221; for the top 25 wallets on the leaderboard.
_**Related:**__**What to expect at Trump &#8216;s memecoin dinner**_
Sun spent $75 million on tokens through World Liberty Financial, the crypto 
platform backed by Trump&#8217;s three sons, including a $30 million investment a 
few weeks after the 2024 election. The Tron founder is also an adviser to the 
company.
Before Trump won the November election, Sun had been facing a lawsuit from the 
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed in 2023 over the alleged 
&#8220;orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and 
unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.&#8221; In February, roughly a month 
after Trump took office and appointed Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair 
of the SEC, the regulator and Sun jointly filed a motion for a federal judge 
to stay the case, which was granted.
## Memecoin&#8217;s potential conflicts of interest are affecting Congress
Sun&#8217;s and others&#8217; involvement in Trump&#8217;s crypto ventures has prompted calls 
for investigations and oversight among many Democratic lawmakers, who argued 
that some individuals could use digital assets to essentially purchase 
influence with the president. The concerns initially slowed progress on a bill 
to regulate stablecoins in the Senate, the GENIUS Act, complicated by World 
Liberty Financial&#8217;s own stablecoin, USD1. The chamber voted to move forward on 
the bill on May 19, a few hours before Sun&#8217;s announcement.
&#8220;How convenient: the day after the Senate advances the GENIUS Act, Justin Sun 
&#8212; a major investor in the Trump family crypto venture &#8212; announces he&#8217;s 
getting a private dinner as the president&#8217;s top crypto buyer,&#8221; said 
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, according to Bloomberg. &#8220;It&#8217;s critical 
that everyone understands the GENIUS Act doesn&#8217;t stop this type of corruption 
&#8212; it greenlights it.&#8221;
At a May 20 oversight hearing, Maryland Representative Glenn Ivey questioned 
SEC Chair Paul Atkins on Sun&#8217;s case being stayed, as well as his investments 
in World Liberty Financial and Trump&#8217;s memecoin. Though the case was stayed 
before Atkins was sworn in as chair, Ivey expressed concern about the timeline 
between Sun&#8217;s investments and the SEC not pursuing its own enforcement action.
The memecoin dinner applicants are likely still subject to background checks 
before meeting Trump in person. As of May 20, those planning to attend 
included Kronos Research chief investment officer Vincent Liu, Hyperithm co- 
CEO Oh Sangrok, Synthetix founder Kain Warwick, a consultant named Vincent 
Deriu, crypto user Morten Christensen, a World Liberty Financial adviser going 
by the pseudonym &#8220;Ogle,&#8221; and a representative from the startup MemeCore.
_**Magazine:**__**Trump &#8216;s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider 
trading questions**_

Justin Sun to attend Trump's dinner with memecoin backers

Dune has launched Sim, a multichain, real-time developer platform offering 
scalable APIs for onchain applications, starting with wallet data integration 
across 60+ blockchains. From Dashboards to APIs: Dune’s Sim Aims to Streamline 
Onchain Development Dune, a leading blockchain data platform, announced the 
full launch of Sim, its multichain developer platform designed to provide 
real-time APIs […]

Dune Expands Beyond Analytics With Real-Time Developer Platform Sim

**Key takeaways:**
 * Bitcoin futures open interest hit a record $72 billion, signaling rising use of leverage among institutional investors.
 * $1.2 billion in shorts at $107,000 to $108,000 are at risk of liquidation, boosting BTC&#8217;s breakout odds.
The aggregate open interest in Bitcoin (BTC) futures surged to a record high 
on May 20, raising questions about whether bearish positions are now at risk. 
Despite repeated failures to break above the $107,000 level since May 18, the 
sheer volume of leveraged positions could propel Bitcoin to a new all-time 
high.
_Bitcoin futures aggregate open interest, USD. Source: CoinGlass_
The total open interest in BTC futures climbed to $72 billion on May 20, 
marking an 8% increase from $66.6 billion just a week earlier. Institutional 
demand continues to be a major driver of this leverage, with the Chicago 
Mercantile Exchange (CME) leading at $16.9 billion in BTC futures, followed by 
Binance, which holds $12 billion in open interest.
## $1.2 billion in bearish BTC liquidations cluster at $107K-$108K
According to CoinGlass estimates, the largest concentration of bearish BTC 
futures liquidations is clustered between $107,000 and $108,000, amounting to 
approximately $1.2 billion.
_Bitcoin futures leverage heatmap, USD million. Source: CoinGlass_
While it&#8217;s impossible to predict what could spark a breakout above $108,000 to 
force those leveraged shorts to unwind, there is growing optimism tied to 
rising concerns over United States fiscal debt. Uncertainty remains about how 
the government plans to achieve economic growth while reducing spending, 
especially in light of ongoing disagreement between Democratic and Republican 
lawmakers.
More importantly, yields on the 20-year US Treasury remain close to 5%, up 
from 4.82% two weeks earlier. Weak demand for long-term government debt may 
compel the US Federal Reserve to step in as the buyer of last resort to 
maintain market stability, reversing a 26-month trend. This approach puts 
downward pressure on the US dollar and drives investors to seek alternative 
hedging strategies, including Bitcoin.
## Gold dominates, but Bitcoin absorbs flow amid reserve reallocations
Gold remains the dominant alternative asset, but its 24% year-to-date gains in 
2025 and $22 trillion market capitalization make it less attractive to many 
investors. For context, the entire S&amp;P 500 index is valued at $53 trillion, 
while US bank deposits and Treasury bills (M1) amount to $18.6 trillion. In 
contrast, Bitcoin currently represents a $2.1 trillion asset class, roughly 
equivalent in size to silver.
Meanwhile, some regions, notably the US, have begun laying the groundwork to 
shift portions of their gold reserves into Bitcoin&#8211;an action that could 
easily propel BTC to a new all-time high. A modest 5% reallocation from gold 
into Bitcoin by those nations would translate into a $105 billion inflow, 
equivalent to 1 million BTC at a price of $105,000.
_**Related:**__**Bitcoin ready to &#8216;vaporize&#8217; shorts once price discovery above 
$110K begins**_
For perspective, Strategy, the US-listed firm led by Michael Saylor, currently 
holds 576,230 BTC. There is little doubt that institutional buying remains the 
primary catalyst for Bitcoin to break above the $108,000 level. Such a move 
would trigger the liquidation of heavily leveraged bearish positions, likely 
accelerating the push to a new all-time high. However, persistent 
macroeconomic uncertainty continues to weigh on overall investor sentiment.
As Bitcoin flirts with the $107,000 mark, those holding short positions face 
heightened risk of forced liquidations&#8211;an outcome that could further fuel 
upward momentum in price.
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.

Bitcoin open interest hits record high as bulls stampede toward new BTC price highs

SEC delays decisions on XRP and Dogecoin ETFs, extending review period to 
examine compliance with fraud prevention and investor protection.
The post SEC delays decisions on XRP and Dogecoin ETFs appeared first on 
Crypto Briefing.