Waseem Ahmad mir

Bitcoin privacy is back in focus after researchers published a proposal designed to bring Zcash-style shielded transfers to Bitcoin without changing Bitcoin’s consensus rules.
The proposal, called Shielded Bitcoin, was published on September 24 by researchers Clara Shikhelman, Mikhail Komarov and Aleksei Moskvin of [alloc] init. It describes a metaprotocol that would use encrypted notes, public nullifiers and zero-knowledge proofs to hide the sender, recipient and amount of shielded transfers. Bitcoin would mainly act as a layer for publishing and ordering the encrypted data, while separate indexers would verify the Shielded Bitcoin rules.
Eli Ben-Sasson Welcomes the Direction
Zcash co-founder and StarkWare co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson responded positively to the broader idea.
Ben-Sasson said the original Zerocash vision was to bring privacy and scalability to Bitcoin through zero-knowledge technology. However, there is an important qualification: he also stated that he had not yet read the new Shielded Bitcoin paper.
That means his comments should not be interpreted as a technical endorsement of every part of the proposal. Instead, his support is for the broader goal of bringing ZK-based privacy to Bitcoin's base layer.
How Shielded Bitcoin Would Work
The proposal takes several concepts associated with Zcash and adapts them to Bitcoin.
Users would hold value in encrypted “notes.” When a transfer occurs, the transaction would include encrypted information together with a zero-knowledge proof demonstrating that the transaction follows the protocol's rules.
A nullifier would reveal that a note has been spent without revealing which private note was used. This allows the system to prevent double spending while keeping transaction details private.
Bitcoin itself would not validate these Shielded Bitcoin rules. Instead, independent indexers would read the published data, verify the proofs and reconstruct the shielded state.
There is also an important limitation at this stage: the current paper focuses on transfers within the shielded system. The researchers say the mechanism for moving Bitcoin into and out of the system will be detailed separately. The proposal is therefore research and protocol design, not a live Bitcoin privacy feature.
ZEC Has Already Passed Ben-Sasson's Earlier Target
The development comes as Zcash continues to trade at elevated levels.
Ben-Sasson previously said he expected ZEC to trade above $1,200 by September 25, 2026. On September 25, ZEC was trading around $1,549 in Investing.com's historical data, meaning that earlier price target has been exceeded.
Ben-Sasson has also continued to stand behind his $5,000 year-end ZEC target, according to today's reporting. Reaching $5,000 from roughly $1,550 would require an additional gain of more than 220%, so the target remains a personal price prediction rather than an established outcome.
Why the Story Matters
The significance of Shielded Bitcoin goes beyond ZEC's price.
Bitcoin's public transaction history can expose payment amounts, transaction links and counterparties. Shielded Bitcoin is attempting to address that limitation while leaving Bitcoin's existing consensus rules unchanged.
For Zcash, the development also highlights how ideas originally developed around privacy-focused cryptocurrency could influence the wider Bitcoin ecosystem.
But the proposal still needs to be evaluated technically, and important components such as the BTC entry and exit mechanism remain under development. For now, Shielded Bitcoin should be viewed as an ambitious research proposal rather than an upgrade already operating on Bitcoin.
The key takeaway: Ben-Sasson has welcomed the direction of Shielded Bitcoin, but he has not claimed to have technically reviewed the paper. Meanwhile, ZEC has already moved beyond his earlier $1,200 September target, while his $5,000 year-end prediction remains a personal forecast not a guarantee.#BitcoinSpotETFsNetInflow$191M $ZEC

The AI trade is showing renewed strength, but I think the more important question is no longer simply whether AI demand exists.
The question is how long the extraordinary spending behind AI infrastructure can continue and whether the revenue generated from that spending can keep pace.
NVIDIA's latest results provide strong evidence that demand remains substantial. For its fiscal Q2 2027, NVIDIA reported $46.7 billion in Data Center revenue, up 8% sequentially and 70% year over year, while total revenue reached $96.2 billion, up 106% year over year. NVIDIA also guided for approximately $108 billion in Q3 revenue.
But there is an important distinction behind the “doubling” narrative.
On NVIDIA's earnings call, CFO Colette Kress discussed customers' forecasts and said their expected growth implies NVIDIA's growth could roughly double next year. That is not the same as NVIDIA saying chip sales themselves will double.
The spending required to support this growth is enormous. NVIDIA says frontier AI companies have exceptionally strong demand for training and inference compute, while their ability to expand is increasingly constrained by access to compute and infrastructure.
That creates both an opportunity and a risk for AI investors.
On one side, real revenue is being generated from AI infrastructure. On the other, the industry is committing huge amounts of capital before we know exactly how durable the eventual returns will be.
Reuters recently reported that major technology companies are increasingly using debt and equity financing to fund AI infrastructure, highlighting how capital-intensive the current expansion has become.
And the market itself is showing how quickly sentiment can change. On September 21, AMD crossed the $1 trillion market-capitalization mark for the first time, while the Nasdaq reached a record close as AI-related stocks rallied.
So I'm not looking at this as simply “AI stocks are going up, therefore buy.”
I'm watching whether the underlying numbers continue to justify the investment.
My view
I'm cautiously bullish on the AI industry, but selective on individual stocks.
The evidence for strong AI-compute demand is real. NVIDIA's revenue growth and Data Center performance demonstrate that.
But the sustainability question is still open.
If AI companies continue converting massive infrastructure spending into recurring revenue and productivity gains, the investment cycle could remain powerful.
If spending grows much faster than monetization, valuations and expectations could become a bigger risk.
For me, the next phase of the AI trade is about earnings, cash flow, compute demand and actual AI monetization not just headlines.
What is your view?
🟢 Bullish — AI demand still has room to grow
🔴 Bearish — expectations are getting ahead of fundamentals
⚖️ My view bullish on AI adoption, selective on AI stocks
If you're sharing an actual position, use the trade-sharing widget with your real entry and risk levels. $NVDAB
#AIStocksWhatNext

I checked the latest available information from official sources and Binance market data before writing this. I would describe the setup as constructively bullish, but not guaranteed bullish going into Monday.
Bitcoin is holding around the $81K area. A Binance Square market snapshot from September 20 showed BTC at $81,256, while ETH was around $2,631. The same snapshot showed ZEC at $1,478.72, down 5.94% over the preceding 24 hours, which is important because ZEC has pulled back while BTC has remained relatively firm.
The bigger story is the Fed
The Federal Reserve raised its target rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% on September 16. The decision was unanimous, and the Fed explicitly said inflation remains elevated.
Yet Bitcoin subsequently recovered above $80K.
That tells me the market is currently absorbing the rate decision rather than simply selling every risk asset because of it. But I would not call the Fed decision bullish by itself. Monetary conditions are still an important risk for crypto.
Tokenization is another major development
On September 17, the SEC issued a temporary, conditional Innovation Exemption concerning certain venues trading tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools.
Binance has also continued expanding its tokenized-stock infrastructure. Its official announcements list recent bStocks developments, including GoPro and Reddit trading pairs, additional tokenized securities as collateral, and dividend-distribution support for several bStocks.
For me, this is one of the more interesting narratives going into the new week: crypto is not only about coin prices anymore; tokenized traditional assets are becoming an increasingly important part of the blockchain story.
What I’m watching Monday
BTC: Can the $80K area continue acting as support?
ETH: Can ETH maintain the recovery around $2.6K?
ZEC: After the pullback, can buyers reclaim the higher levels? I would watch the $1,500 area first rather than assuming another immediate vertical move.
Altcoins: If BTC remains stable rather than sharply accelerating, I’ll be watching whether capital rotates back into selected altcoins.
My view
I’m leaning cautiously bullish on the short-term structure, but I don't want to call Monday’s direction a certainty.
The cleaner confirmation for me would be BTC holding above $80K and reclaiming/holding the recent highs, while altcoins begin recovering alongside it.
If BTC loses $80K decisively, that bullish scenario needs to be reassessed.
Monday watchlist:
BTC — $80K support
ETH — $2.6K area
ZEC — recovery after pullback
RWA — tokenized-stock development
Fed — rate/liquidity expectations
#BTCBreaks80K #SaylorHintsStrategyBitcoinBuy #BitcoinMarketCapTopsTesla $BTC $ZEC $BNB

The crypto market has given traders a strong rebound this week, but I’m looking beyond the green candles.
As of September 19, Bitcoin is trading around $81,250, up about 5.62% over 24 hours, with Binance showing a 24-hour high near $81,690.
What makes this move more interesting is the backdrop.
On September 16, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its target federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%. The decision was unanimous, and the Fed said inflation remains elevated while economic activity is expanding at a solid pace.
So the market is now dealing with an important combination: Bitcoin strength alongside tighter monetary policy.
But there is another development I think deserves more attention.
On September 17, the U.S. SEC issued a temporary, conditional Innovation Exemption for certain venues that want to facilitate trading of tokenized NMS stocks through permissioned on-chain systems, including automated market makers and liquidity pools. The exemption comes with conditions covering areas such as transparency, recordkeeping, technology safeguards and trading limits.
For me, this is significant because the discussion around crypto is increasingly moving beyond simply buying and selling coins.
We are seeing infrastructure being developed around tokenized securities, on-chain settlement and blockchain-based financial markets.
Binance itself has also continued expanding its tokenized-stock infrastructure. Its official announcements show recent additions involving bStocks, including GoPro and Reddit trading pairs, while Binance announced support for cash-dividend distribution for Broadcom, QQQ, Meta and Seagate bStocks.
And on the blockchain side, Solana recently activated its larger transaction-size upgrade on mainnet. The maximum transaction size increased from 1,232 bytes to 4,096 bytes, with Solana saying the additional capacity can support workloads such as larger multisigs and ZK proofs.
My takeaway
I’m not looking at this as a reason to assume crypto can only move higher.
I’m watching whether BTC can continue holding the $80K area, while the broader industry keeps building infrastructure that connects blockchain with traditional financial markets.
For me, the more interesting story is no longer just “crypto prices are rising.”
It is whether blockchain infrastructure is gradually becoming part of a much larger financial-market system.
What are you watching most closely?
1️⃣ BTC holding above $80K
2️⃣ Tokenized stocks & RWAs
3️⃣ Fed policy
4️⃣ Blockchain infrastructure growth
#BTCBreaks80K #BitcoinMarketCapTopsTesla #SECReceivesAmendedInjectiveETFFiling $BTC $AR $ZEC

The crypto market is showing renewed strength, with Bitcoin reaching the $81,000 area during the latest move. Reports tracking Binance’s BTC/USDT market recorded Bitcoin briefly around $81,050. Because crypto trades continuously, I’m treating this as a market price observation rather than an “official” announcement.
The bigger backdrop is still the Federal Reserve. On September 16, the FOMC voted 12–0 to raise the federal-funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00%. The Fed said inflation remains elevated while economic activity is expanding at a solid pace.
That makes BTC's move particularly interesting: the market is pushing higher even after a fresh rate increase.
Binance activity is also expanding
Binance's official announcements today include the launch of multiple new USDⓈ-margined perpetual contracts, including PATHUSDT, AMCUSDT, CYPHUSDT, ANETUSDT and HUTUSDT.
Binance also confirmed completion of its USDT contract swap on Optimism, with the related services reopened following completion.
Meanwhile, Binance announced support for the upcoming STG token merge to LayerZero's ZRO, with the relevant STG spot trading pairs scheduled for removal on October 6.
Ethereum remains in development
Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade is progressing through testing. The next major testing milestone is scheduled for October 6 on Sepolia, while the mainnet timing remains targeted for Q4 rather than having a finalized date.
My market view
For me, the important question isn't simply whether BTC touched $81K.
I'm watching whether Bitcoin can hold the higher range while strength spreads across major altcoins. A breakout is one thing; maintaining that strength is another.
Right now, my watchlist is:
🟠 BTC — $81K area
🔵 ETH — Glamsterdam development
🟢 BNB — Binance ecosystem activity
⚡ ZEC — continued momentum
Which part of the market are you watching most closely? #ZcashSpotETFTops$230MMonthlyInflow #BTCBreaks80K $BTC $ZEC $BNB

Yesterday’s Fed meeting is now behind us, and today the crypto market is trading with a completely different set of information.
The Federal Reserve raised the federal funds target range by 25 basis points to 3.75%–4.00% in a unanimous 12–0 decision. The Fed said economic activity was expanding at a solid pace, while inflation remained elevated.
The updated projections are also important. The Fed’s median projection puts the federal funds rate at 4.1% at the end of 2026, compared with 3.8% in the June projections. The median 2026 PCE inflation projection was raised to 3.7%, while the unemployment-rate projection is 4.1%.
For me, the important point is that the Fed has not promised another hike. The projections represent policymakers’ individual assessments of an appropriate policy path, so I’m treating the 4.1% year-end median as a projection, not a guaranteed future decision.
Bitcoin after the decision
Bitcoin initially moved higher after the announcement, reaching about $76,500, before giving back much of the move. Reuters reported Bitcoin around $76,562 early Thursday, showing how quickly the market reacted and then stabilized.
That is what I’m watching now: not just the first reaction to the Fed, but whether BTC can actually build momentum after the volatility settles.
ZEC remains the standout
Zcash is still getting much more attention than most major altcoins.
Current Indian market data showed ZEC around ₹1.33 lakh, up roughly 23%, while BTC was around ₹73.4 lakh and BNB around ₹69,694 at the cited 9:07 AM IST snapshot. These prices change continuously, so I’m treating them as timestamped observations.
There are several documented developments behind the ZEC story.
The NU7 coinholder vote closed on September 14. Recent reporting says holders supported reducing the target block time from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and keeping the Bitcoin-style halving schedule.
Zcash Labs has also committed $80,000 toward integrating the Ironwood shielded pool with Ledger hardware wallets, according to reporting on the announcement.
The important distinction for me is that governance approval and development work are not the same as an upgrade already being deployed. I’m watching the official implementation timeline next. The official Zcash voting page confirms the voting period and says final totals are revealed after voting closes.
$BNB is moving too
BNB is also showing a positive move today, with the latest Indian market snapshot showing it around ₹69,694, up about 1.95%.
On the infrastructure side, BNB Chain’s latest major announcement remains BSC Payment Lane, planned for Q4 2026. The system is designed to reserve minimum blockspace for qualifying payment transactions during congestion. BNB Chain says eligible payments include native BNB transfers, USDT, USDC and governance-approved audited tokens.
Binance also published a September 17 notice about tick-size adjustments for multiple USDⓈ-M perpetual contracts, scheduled for 06:30 UTC. Binance says the adjustment does not affect existing orders or the underlying futures trading operations.
My takeaway
Today is different from yesterday because we finally have the Fed’s actual decision.
Rates: 3.75%–4.00%.
Fed vote: 12–0.
2026 median rate projection: 4.1%.
2026 PCE inflation projection: 3.7%.
Now I’m watching how crypto digests that information.
BTC needs to show whether it can hold its post-Fed range, while $ZEC is attracting unusually strong attention and BNB continues to benefit from ongoing BNB Chain infrastructure development.
For me, the biggest lesson is simple:
Don't trade the expectation once the fact is available. Read the actual decision, watch the reaction, and then let price confirm the next move.
What are you watching today $BTC after the Fed, ZEC’s continued strength, or BNB?#ZcashRises6%

Today is one of those days where I don't want to react to every price move. There are several important developments happening at the same time, and for me the bigger question is what is confirmed versus what the market is simply expecting.
Bitcoin is trading around the $76K area. Binance's official market update reported $BTC at $76,008.98, down about 1.28% over 24 hours at 10:43 UTC on September 16. Prices are moving quickly, so I’m treating that as a timestamped market observation rather than a fixed price.
The Fed is still the biggest macro event
The FOMC meeting is taking place on September 15–16. According to the Federal Reserve's official calendar, the policy announcement is scheduled for 2:00 PM ET, followed by the press conference at 2:30 PM ET.
The latest official Fed data available before the decision showed the effective federal funds rate at 3.63% on September 14. The 10-year Treasury yield was 4.97% on that date.
I’m not going to call a rate hike or a hold before the Fed actually publishes its decision. Market expectations can change, but expectations are not the official result.
U.S. economic data is also important
The Census Bureau reported that August retail and food-service sales reached $773.9 billion, up 1.2% from July and 6.0% from August 2025.
The latest BLS release also has August import and export price data scheduled for today. Earlier official data showed August CPI rising 0.4% month over month and 3.4% over the previous year, while August PPI final demand increased 0.4%.
So there is plenty for the Fed to consider when communicating its view on inflation and economic conditions.
$ZEC has its own important development
Zcash is also on my radar today.
The official Zcash Labs NU7 voting page confirms that the coinholder vote closed on September 14, 2026 at 19:00 UTC. The vote covered the scope and readiness of the proposed NU7 upgrade.
I’m being careful here because I don't want to publish unofficial vote numbers. The official page confirms the voting period and that final combined totals are revealed after voting closes, but I won't turn unverified figures into facts.
For me, the next important ZEC information is the official follow-up on the NU7 outcome and what happens with implementation.
$BNB has a longer-term infrastructure story
BNB is also showing pressure today. Binance reported BNB at 709.919983 USDT, down 0.91% over 24 hours at 07:44 UTC. Again, that is a timestamped figure rather than a claim about the price later in the day.
But the more interesting part for me is what BNB Chain is building.
BNB Chain announced BSC Payment Lane, with a planned Q4 2026 launch. The system is designed to reserve minimum blockspace for qualifying payment transactions during congestion. BNB Chain says eligible payments include native BNB transfers, USDT, USDC and audited tokens approved through governance. It also says normal transaction ordering, DEX swaps and MEV logic remain unchanged.
The important word here is planned. It isn't something I would describe as already live.
Ethereum is also moving forward
Ethereum's development work continues as well. The Ethereum Foundation says the Glamsterdam hard fork is in public testing, while the scope of Hegotá is being narrowed down. The Foundation also scheduled a Protocol AMA for September 16 at 2 PM UTC covering topics including Glamsterdam, Hegotá, post-quantum Ethereum, L1 zkEVM, privacy and client development.
My takeaway
For me, today's market is not just about whether BTC goes up or down.
The Fed decision is the immediate macro event. ZEC has a governance and upgrade story developing after the NU7 vote. BNB has a planned payment-infrastructure upgrade coming later this year. Ethereum continues its protocol development work.
I’m keeping the facts and my interpretation separate.
No confirmed Fed decision means no reason to guess the outcome. No confirmed ZEC implementation means no reason to call it already live. And a planned BNB upgrade should be described as planned, not completed.
That is the approach I’m taking today: check the official information first, then watch how the market reacts.
What are you watching most closely today BTC and the Fed, ZEC/NU7, or BNB?
#FedRateWatch #ZcashRises6% #ZcashHoldersBackNU7Upgrade #BitcoinETFsShed$450M