Bitcoin's new ATH is here!

Reading time: 5 minutes

News | Crypto Converter | Crypto Calculators

Bitcoin hits $118K, registers new ATH after $1 billion in shorts get wiped out

Key points:

• After weeks of trading within a tight price range, Bitcoin finally broke out to hit a new ATH.

• Fear and Greed Index held firm with a reading of 71 at press time.

News - The crypto-market is on a high again. Especially after Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, finally broke out past its previous all-time high to hit a new one around $118,150 on the price charts.

As expected, this had a profound effect on the market’s short sellers, with the latter seeing positions worth over $1 billion liquidated in just under 24 hours. Bitcoin’s price uptick had a corresponding impact on the larger crypto market too, with the cumulative market capitalization climbing to $3.63 trillion - Another new all-time high.

Dry fuel comes to the rescue - Bitcoin’s latest upside shouldn’t come as a surprise though. Especially since over the past few days and weeks, the cryptocurrency had been flashing a few bullish signals. What might be surprising, however, is the scale of the upside.

For example, consider the Stablecoin Supply Ratio and its latest bullish crossover. This metric is often considered to be the “dry fuel or powder” that alludes to a particular market’s available buying power. Such a crossover is often the precursor to new liquidity inflows, a development that often precedes a major price move.

Given that Binance saw record-breaking USDT and USDC reserves recently, it can be assumed that much of this capital is now finding its way into Bitcoin’s growing market.

These aren’t the only factors affecting BTC’s price performance either, with accumulation activity hitting a new yearly high recently. It corresponded with the Fear and Greed Index flashing “Greed” with a reading of 71 at the time of writing.

Is $130K the next target now? - The last time market demand was so high was back in December 2024, when Bitcoin last hit its all-time high on the charts. Needless to say, this fuels the question - Is this likely to last? How high is BTC likely to go?

Well, according to CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr., traders might not take profit just yet. He added,

“Based on the MVRV oscillator and its data over the last 4 years, when the MVRV mark of 2.75 is reached, Bitcoin's price will be approximately $130,900 USD. This will essentially be the first selling pressure point.“

Altcoins ‘outperform’ Bitcoin after BTC.D falls by 2% in 2 weeks

Key points:

• Bitcoin’s latest uptick to a new ATH had a significant impact on the value of the market’s altcoins.

• Ethereum and XRP’s percentage gains over the last 24 hours dwarfed those of Bitcoin.

News - The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit a new all-time high of over $118K on the price charts. As expected, thanks to its high correlation with most of the market’s altcoins, the latter profited immensely, with the likes of Ethereum, XRP, and Solana leading the charge.

In fact, on some level, they even outperformed BTC in terms of percentage gains over the last 24 hours. For example, while Bitcoin saw a hike of just over 6%, Ethereum and XRP’s gains were closer to 8% over the same timeframe.

They weren’t anomalies either, with popular memecoins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu also surging significantly with gains of over 10% and 8% in just 24 hours.

Altcoins’ performances take the cake - Here, it’s worth pointing out that BTC’s latest rally came on the back of a long period of consolidation within a tight price range. That hasn’t been the case as far as the market’s altcoins are concerned. In fact, when Bitcoin was holding steady between $105K and $112K on the charts, the Altcoin Performance Index was seeing crazy volatility.

Given that this volatility coincided with surging Altcoin ETF inflows, it can also be argued that the latest surge was preceded by a mini altcoin season on its own. This was the argument made by Alphractal’s Joao Wedson two days ago.

Similarly, the Whales vs Retail ratio has been above 1.1 since the end of June. Whales have been increasingly interested in the market’s altcoins lately, with the likes of ALGO, UNI, and LINK emerging as very popular choices.

Here, the correlation with whale acquisition stats is important. Especially since it can often be a sign that whales are getting ready for more upside on the price charts.

BTC.D has its say - More than anything though, the clearest evidence of the altcoin market’s performance is the BTC.D chart. Over the last two weeks, for instance, Bitcoin’s market dominance has fallen by almost 2% in just 2 weeks - A sign that capital may be rotating out of Bitcoin and flowing into the altcoin market.

This also means that traders now have a higher tolerance for risk and speculation.

LIBRA creator cites ‘lack of jurisdiction’ to oppose class action lawsuit

Key points:

• Creator Hayden Davis is arguing that the claims do not arise out of actions “directed towards New York.”

• LIBRA was in the spotlight earlier in the year thanks to Javier Milei.

News - Months after the creators of LIBRA memecoin were taken to court in New York, they are in the news again after one of them cited jurisdictional issues. According to Hayden Davis, Co-founder of Kelsier Ventures, New York’s Federal Court should dismiss the class action lawsuit before it since the memecoin and its operation “wasn’t directed solely towards New York.”

A statement from the defendant’s latest filing read,

“Davis does not reside in New York, does not transact business in New York, was not physically present in New York when the allegedly tortious conduct occurred, and made no specific effort to advertise to or serve the New York market in connection with the worldwide offering of $LIBRA meme coins.”

Hayden’s siblings, Gideon and Thomas, are also parties to the aforementioned lawsuit. According to the plaintiffs, a group of LIBRA buyers, all three of the defendants deliberately misled investors about plans to boost Argentina’s economy, while also siphoning off +$100M from one-sided liquidity pools.

Milei’s promotions and legal action - Here, it’s worth pointing out that this lawsuit isn’t LIBRA’s claim to fame. In fact, that has to do with Argentina’s President Javier Milei promoting the memecoin on his social media early this year. At the time, he had claimed that LIBRA is a “private project dedicated to the growth of Argentina’s economy.”

Soon after Milei’s promotion, the token lost around 95% of its value, a fall many in the industry characterized as being evidence of a rug pull. For his part, Milei refuted any crypto fraud allegations, claiming that he was not “aware of the details of the project.” Soon after, the country’s anti-corruption unit cleared the President of any wrongdoing in the episode.

Argentina is at the center of the defendant’s arguments. Davis is using it to argue that LIBRA tokens and its promotions weren’t specifically targeting New York residents, with the filing stating,

“… project was conceived of in Argentina.”

The ongoing class action lawsuit will have to prove the opposite to succeed. That will be the next step for this class of LIBRA buyers after they succeeded in making Circle freeze $57M in USDC linked to the LIBRA project.

United States’ IRS removes much-hated DeFi broker rule from tax code

Key points:

• Rule was first adopted in December, but it was never implemented before it was repealed.

• Repeal arose out of a Congressional resolution signed into law by President Trump.

News - Months after a controversial DeFi broker rule was adopted by the Biden administration during its final weeks, it has been finally laid to rest. Thanks to the incoming Trump administration, it was never implemented. Instead, it was repealed by a Congressional resolution, one that was later signed into law by President Trump.

In an announcement made on Thursday, the Internal Revenue Service finally removed this much-hated rule from the U.S Tax Code. In doing so, the IRS has formally eliminated the rule from the country’s law. As per a Treasury Department memo, a decision to do so was made on 17 June, but it was only recently announced and implemented.

Here, it’s worth noting that the so-called rule would have required DeFi brokers to collect the same financial information as traditional brokers in the market.

Not “killing” DeFi anymore - The erstwhile DeFi broker rule announced by the Biden administration wasn’t received well by many, especially by those in the crypto-community. In fact, some even went as far as claiming that this rule would “kill” decentralized finance in the United States.

At the time, the Blockchain Association argued that the rule broadens the meaning of the term “broker” and imposes an “impossible standard on DeFi projects.” According to Senior Counsel Marisa Tashman Coppel, for instance, such a rule had the potential to “drive U.S.-based decentralized projects abroad or out of existence, full stop.“

The IRS’s latest update is also evidence of the Trump administration’s efforts to align with the country’s crypto industry and its thousands-strong crypto users.

More stories from the crypto ecosystem

• Ethereum: What’s standing between ETH and $3K? – Data suggests…

• Breaking down dogwifhat’s 13% surge – Can WIF flip $1?

• Cardano [ADA] price prediction – 8% rally next, but here’s why you should be careful!

• Hyperliquid to onboard 10M Phantom users – Will HYPE hit $120 now?

• Stellar [XLM] – Here’s what traders should look for after $0.30

Crypto scams uncovered

• Turkey-based Thodex closed for an “emergency 6-hour maintenance period” in 2021. Soon after though, Founder Faruk Fatih Özer escaped to Albania after defrauding over 10K customers of over $2 billion. He has since been sentenced to over 11,000 years in prison.

• The United States’ Department of Justice has so far seized over $225M in crypto tied to pig butchering scams. The Secret Service and the FBI used blockchain analytics to trace these stolen assets. The seized funds will now be subject to forfeiture, with the proceeds used to return money back to victims.

• In 2024, Jonathan and Tanner Adam deceived investors with promises of high and easy returns thanks to a crypto-trading bot that didn’t exist. They raised $60M together, all of which was spent on expensive cars and condo. The brothers were later charged by the SEC, with the agency freezing their assets too.

Top 3 coins of the day

Ethena (ENA)

Key points:

• At press time, ENA was trading at $0.36 after major gains over the last few days.

• ENA also saw the most gains among the market’s top-100 cryptos in the last 24 hours.

What you should know:

Ranked 53rd on the price charts, Ethena [ENA], at press time, was among the crypto-market’s biggest winners over the last 24 hours. In fact, such has been its uptrend that ENA climbed by just under 45% in a matter of days. Worth pointing out, however, that ENA is still well off from its ATH on the price charts. That’s not all though, with ENA some way off its local high from mid-May 2025 too. The scale of ENA’s price appreciation was best evidenced be the findings of its technical indicators. The Bollinger Bands’ mouth, for instance, expanded around the altcoin’s price candles - A sign of incoming volatility. Similarly, the RSI inched towards the overbought zone on the charts.

Official Trump (TRUMP)

Key points:

• TRUMP’s latest bout of upside came out of the blue after a consistent downtrend.

• TRUMP will need to be consistent to be back among the market’s top 3 memecoins.

What you should know:

TRUMP was quite a revelation in the memecoin market in the days immediately after its launch. However, those days are gone now. In fact, for much of the summer, the crypto had been on a downtrend on the charts. That is why its most recent bout of upside came as a surprise to many. TRUMP gained by just under 20% in the last few days, with the scale of its price appreciation doing enough to reverse a few key technical indicators. The Parabolic SAR’s dotted markers, for instance, were perfectly positioned under the price candles at press time. Similarly, the Chaikin Money Flow surged to hit 0.25 - A sign of capital flows into the market. Since whale accumulation has been climbing lately, it is safe to assume that in the short-term, the memecoin might be able to sustain these gains.

Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Key points:

• Market’s second-largest memecoin recorded gains of over 17% on the charts.

• Thanks to the same, the crypto is now trading close to its early-June levels.

What you should know:

Like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu [SHIB] has been among the market’s biggest winners over the last 24 hours. The memecoin’s 17% gains were significant, with the same doing much to reverse the somewhat lukewarm market movement SHIB was indulging in previously. Worth pointing out, however, that it will be a while before SHIB reclaims its local high from mid-May 2025. The bullishness of its latest upside was evidenced by the Simple Moving Average being found below the price candles. Also, the Awesome Oscillator’s histogram flashed green, with the same highlighting a reversal in market trend too.