Bitcoin's market structure and the recent rally to new highs suggest an accelerated phase of price discovery has just begun. Key point: Bitcoin’s momentum continues to accelerate above $113,000, leading traders to predict a rally to $150,000. Bitcoin (BTC) made a new all-time high above $113,788 on Thursday, and several analysts expect the uptrend to continue. 10x Research head Markus Thielen told Cointelegraph that BTC has a 60% probability of rising more than 20% in the next two months. Read more
The Tornado Cash co-founder is scheduled to go to trial on Monday, but his defense attorneys are still waiting on rulings for motions over witnesses in the case. Attorneys representing Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm have suggested they may request a brief continuance for his criminal trial if a judge denies a motion to exclude a particular witness. In a Thursday filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Storm’s legal team moved to exclude testimony from an unnamed witness who is the “claimed perpetrator of an alleged hack who allegedly used Tornado Cash.” His attorneys argued that prosecutors disclosed the witness after a scheduled deadline, also claiming their testimony could be “highly prejudicial” to Storm. “[The testimony] would be unfairly prejudicial as it would likely confuse and mislead the jurors into believing that Mr. Storm was involved in the underlying purported hack or intended to facilitate it, which is not true,” said the Thursday filing. ...
Social engineering scams, from the Meeten campaign to fake crypto support scams, have become a troubling occurrence in crypto. Threat actors are using an elaborate social engineering scheme to target crypto users and drain their wallets, according to a Thursday report from cybersecurity company Darktrace. The company wrote that the techniques are similar to those used by “Traffer Groups,” which use malware to steal credentials and data. The social engineering scheme involves gaining the trust of users by posing as representatives from fake startup companies in the industries of AI, gaming, Web3 and social media. Compromised X accounts are often involved, and the threat actors supplement the fraud with Medium articles and GitHub entries. “Each campaign typically starts with a victim being contacted through X messages, Telegram or Discord,” the report reads. “A fake employee of the company will contact a victim asking to test out their software in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment.” Read more
Coinbase market data will power the AI “answer engine” in a two-phase rollout, starting with COIN50 index prices. On Thursday, the CEO of Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN), Brian Armstrong, announced a partnership with Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that answers users’ questions with cited, real-time data pulled from the web. According to Armstrong, the move will integrate the crypto exchange’s market data into Perplexity’s large language model (LLM), further connecting AI and crypto and helping users make more informed decisions about digital assets. The partnership is being rolled out in two stages. Starting Thursday, Perplexity will pull market data from Coinbase, including from its COIN50 index, to power “market analysis” in Perplexity’s new Comet browser. Read more
Soaring capital inflows and an uptick in Bitcoin wallets identified as “accumulators” suggest BTC price is on a path to $130,900. Key takeaways: Bitcoin rallied to $113,800 as onchain data shows a 71% surge in the BTC holdings of accumulator addresses. Bitcoin’s MVRV metric suggests that meaningful profit-taking may not begin until BTC hits $130,900. Read more
Ether price chases $3,000 as trading sentiment turns bullish amid multiple corporate ETH treasury announcements. Key point: An ETH treasury purchase by SharpLink Gaming boosted investor sentiment, clearing the path for a potential rally to $3,153. Ether (ETH) price entered a strong uptrend this week, leading many analysts to predict a rally to $3,000 before the end of July. These traders cite an uptick in spot ETH ETF inflows and multiple corporate Ether treasury announcements as a primary factor in the recent bullish momentum. Read more
While headlines focus on giants like Strategy and Tesla, companies like Aker ASA, Méliuz and Rumble have quietly added BTC to their balance sheets. While companies like Strategy and Tesla made headlines, many others have discreetly added Bitcoin to their treasuries. Firms use Bitcoin to hedge against inflation, fiat devaluation and macroeconomic shocks. Its fixed supply, digital scarcity and 24/7 liquidity make it appealing. Firms like Arkham and Glassnode trace Bitcoin ownership through address clustering and timing correlation. Read more