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Bitcoin bulls who still think the cycle peak has yet to come as retail investors haven’t piled in yet might be using an outdated playbook, according to a crypto executive.“The idea that the cycle isn’t over just because onchain retail activity is absent needs reconsideration,” CryptoQuant founder and CEO Ki Young Ju said in a March 19 X post. Ju said that those tracking retail movements using only onchain metrics will not have seen the full picture. “Retail is likely entering through ETFs — the paper Bitcoin layer — which doesn’t show up onchain,” Ju said. “This keeps the realized cap lower than if the funds were flowing directly to exchange deposit wallets,” he added, noting that 80% of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows come from retail investors — a trend that Binance analysts already once observed in October last year. Since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024, inflows have totaled around $35.88 billion. Source: Farside At the time, the analysts said most of the ETF buying likely came from retail investors moving their holdings from wallets and exchanges into funds with more regulatory protection.Ju was responding to counter-arguments over his earlier prediction on X that the “Bitcoin bull cycle is over” on March 17. “I’ve been calling for a bull market over the past two years, even when indicators were borderline. Sorry to change my view, but it now looks pretty clear that we’re entering a bear market,” he said. Ju explained that certain indicators are showing a lack of new liquidity, which is likely being driven by macro factors. He also clarified when he said the bull cycle was over, he meant Bitcoin could take “6-12 months” to break its all-time high, not that it’s about to crash.Related: Bitcoin is just seeing a ‘normal correction,’ cycle peak is yet to come: AnalystsTraders often look at retail investor activity to spot signs of exhaustion or as a signal to start selling when the market appears overheated.There are several sentiment indicators which help market participants understand the level of retail interest in the market. One of these is the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, reading a “Fear” score of 31, down 18 points from its “Neutral” score of 49 yesterday.Other common signals used to track the level of retail interest in the crypto market include Google search trends for “crypto” and related keywords and the popularity of crypto applications in major app stores worldwide.While the Google search score for “crypto” worldwide was at a score of 100 during the week of Jan. 19 - 25, when Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $109,000 and US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, it has since declined by almost 62%.The amount of searches on Google for “crypto” has declined almost 62% since the end of January. Source: Google TrendsAt the time of publication, the Google search score for “crypto” stands at 38, with Bitcoin trading 22% below its January all-time high.Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plungeThis 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.

Australian federal police have alerted over 130 people of a new text message scam aimed at crypto users that copies the same “sender ID” as legitimate crypto exchanges such as Binance. The impersonation scam involves the fraudsters sending out messages through text and encrypted messaging platforms by impersonating a Binance representative, telling users of a crypto account breach and instructing them to set up a new wallet, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a March 21 statement.The text messages look real at first glance because they appear in the same legitimate text message thread as Binance communications.Australia’s federal police say they have found at least 130 people who have been targeted by this scam so far. Source: Australian federal police“The messages allegedly contained fake verification codes and were often ‘spoofed,' meaning they appeared in a legitimate existing message thread from the well-known cryptocurrency exchange,” the AFP said.“A support phone number was also sent, but when the targets called it, they were instructed to protect their accounts by transferring their cryptocurrency to a ‘trust wallet,' which was controlled by the scammer and allowed the assets to be stolen.”Online text messaging services allow messages to be sent from a Sender ID, such as a company name, rather than a phone number and can be exploited to spoof text messages, according to a March 1, 2019 report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Once a phone receives the sham communication, it’s reportedly grouped based on the Sender ID, appearing in the same thread as other messages with the same ID. The AFP says it conducted an email and text blitz to warn the 130 people they identified who might have been exposed to this scam. AFP Commander Cybercrime Operations Graeme Marshall said once the funds are transferred to the thief’s wallet, they are quickly transferred through a network of wallets, making seizure or recovery difficult.The attack mimics another string of scam messages reported by X users on March 14, where fraudulent emails spoofing Coinbase and Gemini attempted to trick users into setting up a new wallet using pre-generated recovery phrases controlled by scammers.Related: Australia’s ‘Barefoot Investor’ takes on crypto scammers stealing his likenessThe police said red flags for this type of scam include unsolicited contact from someone claiming to be from Binance about an account breach, pressure to act quickly and prompts for a seed phrase.Binance Chief Security Officer Jimmy Su said in the AFP statement scammers often impersonate trusted platforms, exploiting certain telecom loopholes to manipulate sender names and phone numbers. Su says Binance has a tool to confirm official Binance channels, and if in doubt, “stop and verify through official sources,” such as the contact information on the official website.Source: Binance AustraliaIn December last year, the Australian government announced plans for an SMS Sender ID Register and an enforceable industry standard to crack down on similar scams, which have impacted Australian airline Qantas and tech giant Apple in the past. Under the standard, telecom companies must determine whether messages sent under a brand name correspond with the legitimate registered sender and submit and provide their legitimate Sender IDs for the register. The register is set to launch in late 2025, with a pilot SMS Sender ID Register operating as a stopgap in the meantime, according to Australia’s minister for communications, Michelle Rowland. In August last year, the AFP revealed that a total of 382 million Australian dollars ($269 million) had been lost by Australians to investment scams during the previous 12 months, with around 47% of them being crypto-related. Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis

NASDAQ-listed biopharmaceutical firm Atai Life Sciences says cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin could be key to survival for biotech startups as they wade through years of regulatory approvals. Atai, which is developing mental health treatments using psychedelics like DMT and MDMA, has become the latest public company to announce plans to buy Bitcoin.It plans to buy $5 million of Bitcoin (BTC), its founder and chair Christian Angermayer wrote in a March 20 Substack post.“Drug development is a cash-hungry, long-term venture,” he said. “The necessary steps to achieve regulatory approval can easily take more than a decade.”TechCrunch reported in January that, according to multiple data sets, the number of startups shutting down rose in 2024 compared to 2023 as firms failed to receive more funding to keep running.Angermayer said the approval process is essential for drug development, but it exposes firms to financial risks while sticky inflation and high interest rates have caused the current “biotech winter.”Source: Christian AngermayerHe added that the current industry approach is to put cash reserves in near-zero-yield accounts, as “preserving capital was more important than earning a return on their cash balance.”“This context sets the stage for considering unconventional treasury moves — like adding Bitcoin to the treasury — to address the twin threats of inflation and low-yielding reserves, and in general to optimize and maximize shareholder value.”Atai will join at least five other public medical companies that have bought Bitcoin in recent months with the aim of boosting shareholder returns.Biotech firm Quantum BioPharma said on March 20 that it had now spent $3.5 million in total to buy BTC and other cryptocurrencies after an initial $1 million investment in December. Medical device maker Semler Scientific said last month that since it started in May, it had spent a total of $280.4 million buying 3,192 BTC.Hoth Therapeutics, Acurx Pharmaceuticals and Enlivex Therapeutics said in separate statements on Nov. 20 that each of them would buy $1 million in Bitcoin.Related: Michael Saylor’s Strategy plans to offer 5M shares to buy more BitcoinAtai’s Angermayer said his firm’s Bitcoin buy would primarily be as a long-term inflation hedge but also a short-term diversification play. He added that Bitcoin is likely to have short-term price fluctuations, so the Berlin-based firm is holding mostly US dollars, short-term securities, and stocks for its desired run rate into 2027.Atai’s $5 million put would mean it is able to buy just over 59 BTC at its current price of around $84,300 and make it the world’s 52nd largest holder among public firms, according to Bitbo data.Bitcoin has struggled to keep afloat amid a wider market rout due to US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and fears of a US recession, which Trump hasn’t ruled out.Atai’s share price rose early in March 20 trading to a peak of $1.47 but tapered off to close the day down 1.44% at $1.37, according to Google Finance. Its stock has sunk nearly 93% from its mid-2021 public debut peak but is up 3% so far this year.Magazine: Crypto fans are obsessed with longevity and biohacking — Here’s why

The serial entrepreneur who founded the Mt. Gox crypto exchange and co-founded Ripple has shared new details about his ambitious space station company Vast, which he hopes will help expand the human race into a multi-planetary species.In a March 20 interview with Bloomberg, Jed McCaleb confirmed that Vast is on track to launch Haven-1 — a commercial space station still under construction — into orbit by May 2026.If McCaleb’s startup succeeds, it will be better positioned to win a lucrative contract from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration to replace the International Space Station. Contracts are expected to be handed out in mid-2026.If Vast fails or loses the NASA contract to a competitor, McCaleb could see $1 billion wiped from his net worth and the commercial future of his space station firm would be in doubt, according to the report. “There are not that many folks who are willing to dedicate the amount of resources and time and risk tolerance that I am,” McCaleb told Bloomberg.Vast’s founder, board chair and tech fellow Jed McCaleb. Source: VastMcCaleb is known to be a “deliberate risk-taker” with hyperrational tendencies, according to long-time friend and former business partner Sam Yagan, who added:“He’s maybe slightly eccentric in his willingness to take what you and I would see as a lot of risks.”McCaleb’s aspiration to put humans on other planets draws similarities to multibillionaire and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.“It’s super important that people take this leap from where we are today to this potential world where there’s a lot of people living off the Earth,” said McCaleb, who founded Vast in 2021.Vast is building its spacecraft with components developed by SpaceX, such as a docking adapter to connect SpaceX’s Dragon capsule to Vast’s station and an in-space internet system that will provide WiFi on the station via Starlink.Key specifications Vast’s Haven-1 model. Source: VastMcCaleb’s firm has also booked SpaceX flights to send its hardware into orbit and deliver crew to its station, and SpaceX has agreed to carry astronauts for Vast as long as NASA gives its go-ahead.Vast’s close ties to SpaceX stem partly from it hiring key personnel who previously worked there, including Max Haot, who now serves as Vast’s CEO and president.Vast is competing with the likes of Axiom Space, Voyager Space Holdings, Lockheed Martin and the Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin to win the next major NASA contract.McCaleb also wants to create ‘artificial gravity’Part of Vast’s long-term plans is to create artificial gravity replicating Earth-like conditions by accelerating or rotating the spacecraft, as many ISS workers who have spent lengthy periods in space have reported organ damage.The ISS also uses a technology that recycles wastewater into potable water and carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen. Haven-1 won’t feature this due to its short-term crew visits, but Vast plans to incorporate it into its future model, Haven-2, by 2028, which will be designed for longer-term stays.Both McCaleb and Haot say they’re willing to board flights themselves.Related: SETI, NASA scientists think AI could teach aliens about EarthMcCaleb has followed an unconventional pathway into the space industry.After McCaleb’s first success with the internet file-sharing service eDonkey in the 2000s, his next notable achievement was founding Mt. Gox in 2010.His time at Mt. Gox was short-lived, with McCaleb selling a majority stake in 2011. Mt. Gox went on to become the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) exchange until 2014 when a $400 million hack sent the company into bankruptcy.Several months later, McCaleb began his next venture — creating the XRP (XRP) crypto token on the Ripple protocol in 2012.McCaleb owned 9% of the XRP tokens from the onset but sold the majority of them after 2013 when he left Ripple following disagreements with the company’s other founders.He has netted billions of dollars from those XRP sales and Ripple equity between 2014 and 2022.McCaleb also founded the Stellar network in 2014 — a fork of the Ripple protocol — along with the Stellar (XLM) crypto token, which now boasts an $8.7 billion market cap, CoinGecko data shows.Magazine: Big Questions: Did the NSA create Bitcoin?

Bitcoin-stacking firm Metaplanet has appointed US President Donald Trump’s son Eric to its newly established strategic board of advisers to further Metaplanet’s mission to become a “global leader in the Bitcoin economy.””His business acumen, love of the Bitcoin community and global hospitality perspective will be invaluable in accelerating Metaplanet’s vision of becoming one of the world’s leading Bitcoin Treasury Companies,” Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich said in a March 21 announcement on X.”As a globally recognized business leader and entrepreneur, Eric Trump brings a wealth of experience in real estate, finance, brand development, and strategic business growth and has become a leading voice and advocate of digital asset adoption worldwide,” Metaplanet added.Metaplanet’s March 21 letter appointing Eric Trump to the firm’s Strategic Board of Advisors. Source: MetaplanetThe move is part of Metaplanet’s plan to establish a board of influential voices, speakers and thought leaders around the world who are committed to furthering Bitcoin adoption.Metaplanet shares increased 17.8% to 4,730 Japanese yen ($31.74) over the first 80 minutes of the March 21 trading day on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Google Finance data shows.Source: Simon GerovichMetaplanet currently holds 3,050 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth nearly $4.1 billion — making it the 12th largest corporate Bitcoin holder, BitBo’s BitcoinTreasuries.NET data shows.The Japan-based investment firm set a target to accumulate at least 10,000 Bitcoin before the end of 2025. Gerovich’s firm has purchased 1,288 Bitcoin over the first 11 or so weeks of 2025 — a substantial rise in pace compared to 2024 but not quite on track to reach the ambitious target.Related: Bitcoin price thaws after Trump statement — Trader says ‘stay nimble and cashed up’The company has been adopting a range of financial instruments to bolster its Bitcoin reserve since it made its first purchase on April 23, 2024.Meanwhile, Eric Trump has been a key contributor to the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto platform, which completed its second token sale in March 2025, bringing its total funding to $550 million.The Trump-affiliated platform currently holds $80.8 million worth of crypto assets, according to crypto analytics platform Arkham Intelligence.The president’s son also recently revealed that his personal crypto holdings include Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and Sui (SUI).Magazine: Trump’s crypto ventures raise conflict of interest, insider trading questions

Today in crypto, Canary Capital is seeking regulatory approval to list an exchange-traded fund backed by Pudgy Penguins’ governance token. Meanwhile, Coinbase has emerged as the largest node operator on the Ethereum network, and Solana Labs’ founder expressed regret for downplaying backlash over a controversial Solana ad mocking gender identity.Canary files for PENGU ETFAsset manager Canary Capital has filed to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Pengu (PENGU), the governance token of the Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token (NFT) project, US regulatory filings show. The ETF is the latest in a slew of filings for new US investment products tied to spot cryptocurrencies, including altcoins and memecoins. According to the filing, the ETF is intended to hold spot PENGU as well as various Pudgy Penguins NFTs. It would be the first US ETF to hold NFTs if approved. Additionally, “[t]he Trust will also hold other digital assets, such as SOL and ETH, that are necessary or incidental to the purchase, sale and transfer of the Trust’s PENGU and Pudgy Penguins NFTs,” the filing said. Launched in December, PUDGY has a roughly $438 million market capitalization as of March 20, according to CoinGecko.Pudgy Penguins is among the most popular NFT brands. Source: CointelegraphCoinbase becomes Ethereum's largest node operator with 11% stakeCrypto exchange Coinbase is the largest node operator on the Ethereum network, controlling 11.42% of the total staked Ether, according to the company’s latest performance report.Coinbase said it had 3.84 million Ether (ETH), worth about $6.8 billion, staked to its validators. The exchange said that, as of March 3, it has 11.42% of the total staked ETH.Source: Anthony SassanoCoinbase also shared that it exceeded its target for validator uptime, which indicates the percentage of time when validators are operational.Solana CEO breaks silence over controversial ad backlashSolana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko has broken his silence over the “America Is Back — Time to Accelerate” advertisement, which blended American patriotism and tech innovation with political messaging around gender identity.“The ad was bad, and it’s still gnawing at my soul,” Yakovenko said in a March 19 X post after receiving immense backlash over the controversial ad. Source: Anatoly Yakovenko“I am ashamed I downplayed it instead of just calling it what it is - mean and punching down on a marginalized group.”Yakovenko praised those in the Solana ecosystem who called out the “mess” that was posted on Solana’s X account, which accumulated around 1.2 million views and 1,300 comments before it was deleted roughly nine hours later.Yakovenko said he will use the learning experience to ensure Solana stays focused on open-source software development and decentralization while staying “out of cultural wars.”

Bitcoin (BTC) price rallied to an intraday high of $87,453 in the early hours of the NY trading session but quickly retraced its gains to $83,655 shortly after US President Donald Trump made a video appearance at the Digital Asset Summit in New York. Prior to the video statement, rumors circulated on X, suggesting that President Trump would announce zero capital gains taxes on certain cryptocurrencies or issue a favorable statement about the US strategic Bitcoin reserve. To the disappointment of some traders, neither rumor proved to be true, and Trump simply doubled down on his promise not to sell Bitcoin that has been confiscated by the government, and he called for Congress to enact clear stablecoin legislation as soon as possible. The most positive statement made by President Trump was his restated goal of making the US the leader in all things crypto. “Together, we will make America the undisputed Bitcoin superpower and the crypto capital of the world.” As is commonplace for crypto markets, traders clearly bought into the rumor that Trump would make some sort of pro-Bitcoin executive order statements, and once this was clearly not the case, they sold on the news. In an X post, chartered market technician Aksel Kibar said that there is still a chance of Bitcoin price correcting to $73,700. BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Aksel Kibar / X Kibar said, “Long-term chart on BTC/USD. Still looks like a pullback to the broken $73.7K. What follows from here will decide on the following several month’s price action.” Not all of Bitcoin’s recent strength is attributed to excitement over today’s Trump statement. On March 19, BTC responded positively to the release of FOMC minutes and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s confirmation that the Fed’s quantitative tightening regime would reduce its pace and that the possibility of two interest rate cuts in 2025 remained on the table. BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes took a victory lap at what he described as the Fed’s admission that QT would essentially end on April 1, but he cautioned that while $77,000 may have been the Bitcoin price bottom, surprise bouts of volatility could lead to more pain in stocks and BTC. Hayes said, “JAYPOW delivered, QT basically over Apr. 1. The next thing we need to gt bulled up for realz is either SLR exemption and or a restart of QE. Was BTC $77K the bottom, prob. But stonks prob have more pain left to fully convert Jay to team Trump so stay nimble and cashed up.” Related: Trump says US will be ‘Bitcoin superpower’ as BTC price breaks 4-month downtrendAs reported by Cointelegraph, a majority of Bitcoin’s recent price action has been driven by activity in the futures markets, but the reappearance of the BTC Coinbase premium could be a sign that spot demand is returning to the market. Bitcoin Coinbase premium index. Source: CryptoQuantThis 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.

Marco Santori, former chief legal officer at crypto exchange Kraken, praised the political campaign donations made by industry firms during the 2024 election as “democracy at work.”In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, the former Kraken executive argued that crypto voters tilted the election in favor of then-candidate Donald Trump and the Republican Party.The executive also said that the donations from crypto firms, many of which are now having regulatory lawsuits dismissed, do not represent conflicts of interest. Santori told Cointelegraph:"Detractors only call it a conflict of interest when it is a cause they do not believe in, otherwise, it's just democracy at work. It is people advocating for their own benefits — people like you and me. That is what is happening, and that is what happened in the last election."“Look at what happened in November. Who can deny that crypto was responsible for 4%-5% of the vote,” Santori added. “It was a huge swing in an American election in every state across demographics.”2024 US electoral map. Source: 270 To WinIn September 2024, Dr. Tonya M. Evans, a law professor at Pennsylvania State University, told Cointelegraph that the 2024 US elections would be decided by razor-thin margins and that crypto voters had the voting power to swing the elections.Related: Rep. Mike Collins now accepting crypto donations for campaignCrypto industry spends big on 2024 US electionsThe crypto industry was responsible for nearly half of all corporate political campaign contributions during the 2024 US election cycle.According to data from Public Citizen, a nonprofit watchdog group, digital asset firms donated over $119 million to support pro-crypto candidates and policies in the 2024 US elections.The crypto industry’s share of corporate campaign contributions during the 2024 election cycle. Source: Public CitizenThis included money spent on the presidential and congressional elections, such as the re-election campaign of Rep. Bryan Steil, on which crypto political action committee Fairshake spent $760,000 in a last-minute media ad supporting the lawmaker.According to former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, the crypto industry built a professional lobbying operation during the most recent election cycle — something that was absent during 2016 and 2020.The lobbying of the crypto industry is credited as the catalyst that allowed the GOP to secure both chambers of Congress, the popular vote, and the presidency in 2024.Magazine: Harris’ unrealized gains tax could ‘tank markets’: Nansen’s Alex Svanevik, X Hall of Flame