Coindesk

Wall Street bank Citi (C) refined its crypto valuation models to reflect the evolving dynamics of the digital asset market, producing a new year-end forecast that puts bitcoin (BTC) at $135,000 in its base case.In the bank's most optimistic scenario, the largest cryptocurrency could climb to $199,000 by the end of the year, while a more bearish outlook, shaped largely by weak equities, pulls the forecast down to $64,000.The updated outlook incorporates a trio of key drivers: user adoption, macroeconomic conditions and demand from spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the bank said in a report Thursday.The core of Citi’s approach begins with an adoption model based on user activity. The bank's analysts projected a 20% increase in user growth, along with...

Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange OSL Group has raised $300 million in an equity sale.OSL, which was the first exchange to win a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), said it will use the new capital to develop new business initiatives, such as building payment and stablecoin services.Hong Kong will start allowing stablecoin issuance under a new regulatory regime taking effect at the start of August. It is in the process of unveiling a range of policies for the regulation of digital assets, establishing a framework to oversee exchanges and custodians for the purposes of risk management and investor protection.It also plans to allow professional investors to trade derivatives. OSL also plans to use the capital to support acquisition...

What to KnowXRP posted sharp losses during the July 24–25 session, dropping 8% as the token traded in a $0.30 range from $2.96 to $3.26. An early session rally fizzled after profit-taking intensified near the resistance level, while a sudden liquidation wave wiped out more than $100 million in long positions. Despite the selloff, key support at $3.06–$3.10 held through repeated tests, with late-session price action showing signs of potential stabilization.Nature’s Miracle and Brazil’s VERT made headlines with new XRP-based strategies, but institutional sellers dominated the tape amid fears that ETF approvals may face delays.News Background• XRP traded in a 7.85% range between $2.96 and $3.26 over 24 hours starting July 24 at 05:00.• Coinglass data showed over $18 billion...

Bitcoin's (BTC) price dropped early Friday, marking a bearish resolution to the recent range play as the U.S. equity markets showed signs of an uptrend exhaustion at key price resistance.The leading cryptocurrency by market value slipped over 2.5% to $115,170, hitting the lowest since July 10, according to CoinDesk. The move marked the downside break of the recent consolidation between $116,000 and $120,000.The so-called range breakdown follows bearish hints from key technical indicators and has increased the possibility of prices revisiting the former resistance-turned-support at $11,956, the high clocked in May.The broader cryptocurrency market wilted, with ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP (XRP) losing 2% to 3%. The CoinDesk 80 index, the broader market gauge, stood at 898 points at...

NEW YORK — The government officially rested its case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on Thursday, bringing eight days of witness testimony to a close.Storm’s defense introduced its first witness, Ethereum core developer Preston Van Loon, on Thursday afternoon. Van Loon told the jury that he was a user of Tornado Cash, describing it as a privacy tool for Ethereum that allowed people to separate their identities from their money. Van Loon explained that he’d used the protocol for “operational security and personal safety” to protect himself from hackers and other unknown adversaries. Van Loon — who sued the U.S. Treasury Department for sanctioning Tornado Cash and won, leading to the sanctions being reversed — did not testify about his related lawsuit,...