ZeroBlock

Lighter has been moving very fast lately.
LIT gained another 13 percent in the last 24 hours and reached a new local high around $4.67.
That makes it three straight green days.
What caught my attention is that this move is not happening without activity behind it.
Lighter was recently added to Robinhood Wallet and network activity picked up after the integration.
Protocol fees also jumped from around $124K to $195K in just 24 hours.
That matters because part of those fees is used to buy back LIT.
If this activity continues then the token could get support from real usage instead of only market speculation.
The numbers around open interest are also interesting.
LIT open interest increased from around $138 million at the start of September to roughly $180 million.
That shows traders are becoming more active around the token.
But there is a risk here.
Lighter has moved a long way in a short period.
The token was already up around 465 percent while HYPE was up around 136 percent and ETH was up around 24 percent over the period mentioned in the report.
That kind of performance can attract buyers quickly.
It can also attract profit taking just as quickly.
Another thing I noticed is the size difference.
Lighter's market value is around $1.09 billion while HYPE is around $21.92 billion.
That means LIT is still much smaller.
So even a relatively small amount of new money can have a bigger effect on its price compared with a much larger asset.
Network activity is also growing.
LIT transfer activity increased from 1914 on August 29 to 6196 six days later.
That is a major jump in activity.
The Robinhood Wallet integration appears to be playing an important role here.
But I would still separate network growth from price expectations.
More users and higher fees are positive.
They do not guarantee that LIT will keep making new highs.
For the chart I would watch the old range between $3.20 and $3.85.
LIT has moved well above that area now.
If the price pulls back and buyers defend the previous range then it could show that the breakout has some strength behind it.
If the price falls back into the range and loses it then the recent move could start looking more like a short term spike.
For now LIT has a lot going for it.
Strong price momentum.
Higher open interest.
More network activity.
Higher protocol fees.
And a major wallet integration bringing more attention to the project.
But after a 13 percent daily move I would not chase blindly.
The next pullback may tell us more than the next green candle.
The real test is whether LIT can turn this recent strength into lasting demand.

Bitcoin entered September after a very strong August.
BTC moved from around $64.7K to $78.3K during the month. That was almost a 25 percent gain.
But here is the part that caught my attention.
The market did not look as confident as the price.
Santiment data showed average Bitcoin sentiment at around +32 in August. That was much lower than the +72 level seen in July.
So Bitcoin was going up while traders were still not fully convinced.
Now September has started and Bitcoin is still struggling to stay above $80K.
That is where the risk starts becoming interesting.
Traders have become more long biased during the past week. The Bitcoin long short ratio moved above 1 and reached around 1.08.
Funding rates are also positive.
This tells us that many traders are positioning for a breakout.
They are basically betting that Bitcoin will finally move above the resistance that has been holding it back.
But crowded long positions can become a problem if the breakout does not happen.
If Bitcoin suddenly moves lower then those traders may rush to close their positions. That can add more selling pressure to an already weak market.
Some traders are even looking much lower.
One analyst has suggested that Bitcoin could eventually fall toward $52K before finding a stronger bottom.
I would not treat that target as a prediction.
It is simply one possible downside scenario if the current structure breaks badly.
There is another thing worth watching too.
ETH/BTC finished August above its 20 month moving average.
If Ethereum continues gaining strength against Bitcoin then Bitcoin dominance could weaken further.
That could make September even more difficult for BTC.
This is why the September trap idea is getting attention.
Bitcoin had a strong August but strong August performances have sometimes been followed by weaker September moves.
That does not mean history must repeat itself.
Bitcoin can still break above $80K and completely change the picture.
But right now the market is sitting between two very different possibilities.
A breakout could bring fresh buyers and push BTC toward new highs.
A failed breakout could create a wave of long liquidations and send Bitcoin into a deeper correction.
For me the key thing is not the $52K target.
The first thing I would watch is whether Bitcoin can finally hold above $80K.
If it cannot then the market needs to respect the downside levels.
The September trap is not confirmed yet.
But with long positions increasing and demand signals looking weaker I think traders should be ready for both directions.
Sometimes the biggest risk comes when everyone is positioned for the same breakout and the market decides to move the other way.

Revolut has taken an important step into the US banking market.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has given Revolut conditional approval to establish a national bank.
This is a big move because it would allow Revolut to build its own banking system under federal supervision in the US.
But there is an important detail.
This is not the final approval yet.
Revolut still needs to meet the conditions set by the OCC. It also needs approval from the FDIC and the Federal Reserve before it can fully begin banking operations.
Still this move is interesting for crypto.
Revolut already has its euro backed stablecoin called EURR.
The stablecoin has received mixed reactions since its launch. But having a regulated banking structure in the US could give Revolut more room to build financial products around digital assets and stablecoins.
That is where I think the bigger story is.
Crypto companies are slowly moving closer to the traditional banking system.
Over the past year several major crypto firms have also received conditional approvals for national trust bank charters.
This shows that US regulators are creating a path for companies working with digital assets to operate under federal banking supervision.
But not every approval will automatically be good for crypto.
The important part is how these companies use the access they receive.
A bank charter can bring more trust and stronger infrastructure. But it also brings more rules and more responsibility.
For Revolut the next challenge is proving that it can satisfy the remaining requirements.
There is also a bigger regulatory question hanging over the market.
The CLARITY Act has already faced delays and the House now has a very limited voting schedule in September.
That means the crypto industry could still be waiting for broader market structure rules while individual companies continue moving forward through existing regulatory channels.
This is an interesting situation.
The legislation is moving slowly.
But the industry itself is not waiting.
Companies are finding ways to build regulated products and financial services while the wider legal framework is still being discussed.
Revolut's conditional approval does not mean crypto has suddenly received full regulatory clarity in the US.
But it does show that digital asset companies can move deeper into the banking system if they meet the required standards.
And EURR makes this even more interesting.
A euro backed stablecoin combined with a US banking structure could give Revolut a much larger platform for future financial products.
For now I would not treat this as the finish line.
It is the first major step.
The real story will be what Revolut does after getting through the remaining approvals.
That is where the impact on stablecoins and crypto could become much clearer.

El Salvador's Bitcoin story has taken another interesting turn.
The country's official Bitcoin balance has continued to grow even though its agreement with the IMF placed limits on new public sector Bitcoin purchases.
So how did the balance keep increasing?
The IMF has now explained that the Bitcoin added to official holdings since June 2025 came from private donations.
According to the IMF there were no new public purchases behind this increase. It also said that no further buying beyond the documented donations is expected.
This explains the growing balance.
El Salvador's official tracker showed around 7764 BTC at the time of the report.
The balance also received a major increase of around 1000 BTC in November. After that the country continued receiving around one Bitcoin per day.
The interesting part is that the IMF did not disclose who the donors were or exactly how much Bitcoin each person or group provided.
That leaves some questions open.
But the main point is clear.
The increase in Bitcoin holdings was not coming from the government simply buying more BTC with public money.
This matters because Bitcoin has been one of the biggest points of discussion between El Salvador and the IMF.
The country agreed to several changes as part of its $1.4 billion financing programme.
One of those changes was making Bitcoin acceptance voluntary for private businesses.
The government also agreed to limit its involvement in Bitcoin purchases.
Another major change involved the Chivo wallet.
Most of its operations and ownership control were moved to a private operator while the government kept responsibility for customer asset custody.
This shows how different El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy looks today compared with 2021.
Back then the country made Bitcoin legal tender and wanted it to become part of everyday payments.
But actual usage did not grow as much as expected.
Over time the focus shifted more toward holding Bitcoin rather than using it for daily purchases.
And now the country continues to hold a large Bitcoin balance while the increase is being explained through private donations.
I think this is an important distinction.
Seeing El Salvador's Bitcoin balance rise does not automatically mean the government has restarted aggressive buying.
The source of those coins matters.
For Bitcoin supporters this may still be a positive story because it shows that private groups are willing to contribute BTC to the country's official holdings.
But from an investment point of view the bigger story is how El Salvador's role with Bitcoin has changed.
The country started with the idea of everyday Bitcoin use.
Today it looks much more like a long term Bitcoin holding strategy.
The IMF clarification removes some confusion around why the balance keeps rising.
But it also shows that El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment is still evolving.

El Salvador's Bitcoin story has taken another interesting turn.
The country's official Bitcoin balance has continued to grow even though its agreement with the IMF placed limits on new public sector Bitcoin purchases.
So how did the balance keep increasing?
The IMF has now explained that the Bitcoin added to official holdings since June 2025 came from private donations.
According to the IMF there were no new public purchases behind this increase. It also said that no further buying beyond the documented donations is expected.
This explains the growing balance.
El Salvador's official tracker showed around 7764 BTC at the time of the report.
The balance also received a major increase of around 1000 BTC in November. After that the country continued receiving around one Bitcoin per day.
The interesting part is that the IMF did not disclose who the donors were or exactly how much Bitcoin each person or group provided.
That leaves some questions open.
But the main point is clear.
The increase in Bitcoin holdings was not coming from the government simply buying more BTC with public money.
This matters because Bitcoin has been one of the biggest points of discussion between El Salvador and the IMF.
The country agreed to several changes as part of its $1.4 billion financing programme.
One of those changes was making Bitcoin acceptance voluntary for private businesses.
The government also agreed to limit its involvement in Bitcoin purchases.
Another major change involved the Chivo wallet.
Most of its operations and ownership control were moved to a private operator while the government kept responsibility for customer asset custody.
This shows how different El Salvador's Bitcoin strategy looks today compared with 2021.
Back then the country made Bitcoin legal tender and wanted it to become part of everyday payments.
But actual usage did not grow as much as expected.
Over time the focus shifted more toward holding Bitcoin rather than using it for daily purchases.
And now the country continues to hold a large Bitcoin balance while the increase is being explained through private donations.
I think this is an important distinction.
Seeing El Salvador's Bitcoin balance rise does not automatically mean the government has restarted aggressive buying.
The source of those coins matters.
For Bitcoin supporters this may still be a positive story because it shows that private groups are willing to contribute BTC to the country's official holdings.
But from an investment point of view the bigger story is how El Salvador's role with Bitcoin has changed.
The country started with the idea of everyday Bitcoin use.
Today it looks much more like a long term Bitcoin holding strategy.
The IMF clarification removes some confusion around why the balance keeps rising.
But it also shows that El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment is still evolving.

Zcash has suddenly become one of the biggest stories in crypto.
ZEC briefly moved above $1000 before pulling back toward the $980 area. The move pushed Zcash into the top ten crypto assets by market value.
Its market value reached around $16.5 billion.
The trading activity is also hard to ignore.
ZEC trading volume jumped by 173% and reached around $1.62 billion in 24 hours.
That is a huge amount of activity for a coin that was trading below $500 back in August.
Since then the move has been almost nonstop.
ZEC moved above $800 and then pushed toward the $1000 level. The broader crypto market has also improved during this period which has helped create better conditions for buyers.
But crossing $1000 is one thing.
Holding above $1000 is another.
ZEC reached around $1027.80 before falling back below the milestone.
That quick rejection tells me some holders were ready to take profits once the psychological $1000 level was reached.
This is not automatically a bad sign.
After such a strong move it is normal for early buyers to take some money off the table.
The bigger question is whether new buyers are strong enough to absorb that selling.
The current momentum reading is around 78.33 which shows how strong the recent buying has been.
But it also tells us that the move has become stretched in a short period.
When a coin moves this quickly the risk of sharp pullbacks also increases.
For me there are two levels that matter now.
The first is $1000.
If ZEC can reclaim $1000 and then break above the recent high around $1028 with strong volume then the bullish move could continue.
But if buyers fail to reclaim the level then I would watch $900.
That area could become the first serious test of whether buyers are willing to step back in after the recent rally.
The most important thing here is not the number $1000 itself.
It is how ZEC behaves after reaching it.
A strong coin should eventually turn an old resistance level into support.
If ZEC can do that then this move could have more room.
If it keeps getting rejected around $1000 then the market may need more time to cool down.
Right now ZEC has strong momentum and huge trading activity.
But after a move this fast I would rather watch the pullback than chase the green candles.
The next reaction around $1000 and $900 could tell us much more than the move above $1000 itself.

Bitcoin pushed above $82K on September 3 but the move did not last long.
BTC quickly faced selling pressure near $82.2K and pulled back from the level.
What makes this move interesting is that Bitcoin had some strong support behind it.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded around $730.8 million in net inflows on Thursday. Comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller also helped the market as expectations around a September rate hike became weaker.
Yet Bitcoin still could not hold above $82K.
That tells me the problem may not be the lack of money coming into Bitcoin ETFs.
The bigger issue could be the lack of wider demand.
One important level right now is the 365 day moving average. It sits around $82.2K and Bitcoin was rejected almost exactly there.
This level has been important during previous market cycles. Breaking above it and holding could give bulls a much stronger setup.
But Bitcoin has not done that yet.
Another warning comes from apparent demand.
This metric has been showing weaker demand around the current price area. That means the rally is facing resistance while fresh buying is not growing as strongly as bulls would want.
The Coinbase Premium Index is also worth watching.
It briefly moved positive in late August which suggested stronger demand from US investors. But it has since weakened again.
So the picture is mixed.
ETF money is coming back.
But some of the broader demand signals are moving in the opposite direction.
There is also another risk.
Bitcoin's Capital and Flow Regime Index has stayed at a level that has previously appeared during periods before price declines.
This does not mean Bitcoin must crash.
But when several warning signs appear near a major resistance level I would rather watch the reaction than chase the move.
The $82K area is now very important.
Bitcoin also has the previous swing high around $82.85K sitting above it. A clean break above that zone could change the picture and bring more confidence to the bullish side.
But if BTC starts losing support then the downside levels become important.
A break below $75.5K could open the door toward $70.2K.
If that level also fails then $66.9K becomes another possible target.
For now I think Bitcoin is at a decision point.
The ETF inflows are clearly positive.
But price needs to prove that fresh demand is strong enough to absorb sellers around $82K.
Until Bitcoin can reclaim this area and hold it I would stay careful.
The next move could tell us whether this was the start of a bigger breakout or simply another rejection near a major resistance zone.

XRP has an interesting problem right now.
Money is flowing into XRP ETFs but the price is still struggling.
By the end of August cumulative XRP ETF inflows had reached around $1.67 billion. Weekly inflows also increased from about $39.78 million to $110.49 million.
Weekly trading volume moved higher as well. It increased from around $253 million to more than $363 million.
ETF assets also grew from about $1.33 billion to $1.44 billion.
Normally this kind of demand should give XRP some support.
But the price tells a different story.
XRP moved from around $1.70 down toward the $1.35 to $1.40 area during the same period.
That tells me something important.
Strong ETF demand does not automatically mean the price will rise.
There is still enough selling in the wider market to absorb that demand.
Another interesting part is the amount of XRP being held through these ETF products.
The seven XRP ETFs together are estimated to hold around 1.11 billion XRP.
That means more than 1 percent of the total supply has been taken away from immediate market circulation.
This could become more important over time.
If ETF products continue collecting XRP while fewer coins remain available for trading then even a moderate increase in new demand could have a bigger effect on price.
There is also growing interest from large financial firms.
Goldman Sachs reportedly holds around $87.4 million in XRP exposure and increased its position by more than $80 million compared with the previous quarter.
Jane Street and Millennium also have exposure of around $16 million each.
Yet XRP is still around $1.38.
So the main question is not whether institutions are buying.
The bigger question is whether their buying is strong enough to overcome the sellers already in the market.
The growing number of XRP ETF products is another positive development.
More products give investors more ways to get regulated exposure to XRP. It also spreads trading activity across different funds instead of keeping everything concentrated in one place.
But I would still be careful here.
ETF inflows are a good sign for long term demand. They are not a guarantee of an immediate price breakout.
For XRP to really change its trend the market needs to see stronger fresh demand outside these ETF flows too.
Right now the setup is interesting.
More XRP is being locked away while the price remains weak.
If selling pressure finally slows down then all that accumulated demand could start becoming much more visible in the price.
Until then I would watch the $1.35 area closely.
Holding that zone could give XRP room to recover.
Losing it could show that sellers still have control despite the strong ETF numbers.

The CLARITY Act was expected to get an important vote on September 15. But now the situation looks much less certain.
The biggest issue is the House schedule.
House Republican leaders have reportedly canceled the voting weeks planned for September 21 and September 28. That leaves lawmakers with only a small number of working days in September before they leave Washington for the midterm election campaign.
This creates a serious timing problem for the bill.
Even if the Senate moves quickly and passes the CLARITY Act on September 15 the House may not have enough time to take up the new version before lawmakers leave.
There is another problem too.
The bill still has major disagreements around its details. So even with a tight schedule there is no guarantee that both sides can reach an agreement quickly.
Still there is some optimism.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill has called September 15 an important test for the bill. He also pointed out that the House already passed the CLARITY Act last year with support from 78 Democrats.
That shows there has already been some room for both sides to work together.
But the market does not seem very confident right now.
The approval odds have fallen sharply and are currently around 18 percent according to the data mentioned in the report.
That is a big change from the optimism seen earlier.
For the crypto market this matters because the CLARITY Act is not just another political story. A clear market structure law could give crypto companies and large investors a better idea of what rules they will have to follow.
Without that clarity the market may continue dealing with uncertainty.
Interestingly the SEC and CFTC are still moving ahead with their own crypto rulemaking.
That could help fill some of the gap if Congress fails to move the bill forward. But agency rules are not the same as a full market structure law passed by Congress.
So I think September 15 should be watched closely.
The important question is not only whether the Senate votes.
The bigger question is whether lawmakers can actually find enough common ground to move the bill through the next stage before the election schedule takes over.
If the House runs out of time then the CLARITY Act could face another long delay.
For crypto investors that would mean more waiting for the regulatory clarity that the market has been expecting.
Right now the September 15 vote looks important.
But getting the bill across the finish line is a much bigger challenge.

Bitcoin has pushed back above $80K and at first look the move feels very bullish. But I think it is still too early to call this the start of another strong Bitcoin rally.
What I find interesting is that some data is actually showing investors are holding their Bitcoin instead of moving it around.
Bitcoin's 1 year active supply recently dropped to around 7.49 million BTC. This means fewer coins have been moving over the past year.
Usually this kind of decline can show that holders are becoming more patient. People are keeping their Bitcoin instead of selling it quickly. That can be a positive sign when the market is trying to build a new move higher.
Bitcoin reserves on exchanges have also fallen.
Reserves reached around 2.73 million BTC on August 17 before dropping to around 2.70 million BTC.
That may not look like a huge change but it matters because fewer coins sitting on exchanges can mean less immediate selling pressure.
But this is where things get interesting.
The price is rising while sellers are still active.
Around $1.2 billion worth of Bitcoin was sold between August 23 and September 1. That comes to roughly $120 million in selling every day.
Bitcoin's apparent demand also turned negative over the last 24 hours. This suggests that the recent price move is not being supported by strong fresh demand yet.
There was also a large amount of Bitcoin leaving exchanges. Around 127940 BTC moved out during the period.
So we have two different stories happening at the same time.
On one side holders seem willing to keep their coins. Exchange reserves are falling and long term holding behavior looks stronger.
On the other side sellers are still taking profit and fresh demand has not fully returned.
This is why I would not chase Bitcoin just because it crossed $80K.
For me the bigger test is still around $76K.
If Bitcoin can stay clearly above this area after a pullback then the recent move could start looking much healthier.
But if BTC loses $76K and sellers become more aggressive then this move above $80K could turn into another local high.
Right now Bitcoin looks strong on the chart but the data is giving a more mixed picture.
The next move matters more than the $80K headline.

Bitcoin has been through another interesting change.
Its connection with gold is getting stronger while its connection with tech stocks is getting weaker.
According to recent data Bitcoin’s correlation with gold has reached around 50 percent.
At the same time its correlation with the Nasdaq has fallen from around 60 percent to about 30 percent.
That caught my attention.
For years Bitcoin often moved like a risk asset. When stocks were weak Bitcoin could feel the pressure too.
Now the picture looks a little different.
The market is becoming more worried about rates and the wider economy.
The US 10 year Treasury yield reached around 4.79 percent on September 1. That was its highest level since January 2025.
Higher yields can make investors more careful with risky assets because safer investments start looking more attractive.
There are also fresh concerns around oil prices and rising tensions between the US and Iran.
So the market has plenty of reasons to stay cautious.
But Bitcoin has not reacted like a normal risk asset.
August gave BTC a strong 25 percent rally and its growing link with gold adds another interesting part to the story.
The BTC and gold relationship does not mean Bitcoin is now a perfect safe haven.
Correlation can change quickly.
That is the part I would keep in mind.
Bitcoin still has to prove that it can hold up when markets become truly nervous.
Interestingly the BTC to gold ratio is also showing strength.
Bitcoin has been gaining against gold this month after two months of weakness.
That suggests some investors are still willing to choose BTC even while traditional safe haven assets are getting attention.
There is also a possible source of support from the Federal Reserve.
The Fed is expected to purchase around $12.5 billion in US Treasury debt. This is not the same as quantitative easing but it could add some liquidity to the market.
So Bitcoin is sitting between two forces.
Higher yields can put pressure on it.
More liquidity can help it.
The most interesting part is that BTC is showing signs of becoming less tied to stocks and more connected to gold.
If that continues then the safe haven story around Bitcoin becomes much more interesting.
But I would not call it proven yet.
The next major market shock may tell us more than any correlation chart can.

CASHCAT has been moving very fast.
The memecoin gained more than 29 percent in one day and reached a new high around $0.30.
Its weekly gain is now above 40 percent.
That is a big move for any coin. But with memecoins I always want to look beyond the price.
A big part of this move seems to be coming from the growing meme activity on Robinhood Chain.
CASHCAT is now one of the biggest meme coins on the network by market value.
Trading activity has also picked up across the chain. This has brought more attention and more money into these coins.
There is another reason the move became so strong.
A large number of short positions were closed as the price moved higher.
More than $611K in short positions were liquidated within the day. More than $377K was wiped out in less than an hour.
When shorts get forced out during a fast move it can push the price even higher.
But this also creates a problem.
CASHCAT is now sitting at a new high after a very quick move.
The next test is whether buyers can keep the price above the old high near $0.259.
If that level turns into support then the current trend still looks healthy.
If the price falls back below it then the recent breakout could start losing strength.
There is another area around $0.217 to $0.225 that could matter during a deeper pullback.
But the bigger support sits around $0.17.
That level has held during the recent price action and could be the line that keeps the larger trend alive.
If CASHCAT loses $0.17 then the story changes quickly.
For now the bulls are clearly in control.
But after a 29 percent daily move I would be more interested in seeing how the price behaves during a pullback than chasing another green candle.
A strong coin should be able to hold its old high after breaking it.
That is the test CASHCAT faces now.
The next move will tell us whether this is just another memecoin spike or a trend that still has buyers behind it.

SYRUP has made a strong move over the past day.
The token gained around 14 percent while Maple Finance also showed some solid numbers.
What caught my attention is that the price move is happening at the same time as the protocol is growing.
Maple Finance made around $1.13 million in profit in August.
That is not its best month this year since April was higher at around $1.32 million.
Still the number shows that the protocol is generating real income while the market is recovering.
TVL is also worth watching.
Maple Finance crossed $3 billion in TVL for the second time this year. It reached around $3.07 billion on August 25 before moving slightly lower to around $2.97 billion.
That means the recent growth has not simply been a price story.
There is still a large amount of money sitting inside the protocol.
The trading side is also getting more active.
SYRUP open interest jumped around 26 percent and reached about $29 million.
Funding also stayed positive at around 0.0077 percent.
This tells me that many traders are leaning toward the upside.
But there is one thing I would be careful about.
When price rises quickly and traders start adding leverage at the same time the move can become crowded.
If SYRUP keeps rising without too much leverage building up then the move may have room to continue.
If leverage grows too fast then even a small drop can force some traders to close their positions.
There is also more attention around SYRUP right now.
Mentions increased around 20 percent in one day and reached nearly 1,490.
Market sentiment was also strongly positive.
So the story around SYRUP is getting louder.
But I would not use that alone as a reason to buy.
The more useful thing to watch is whether Maple can keep its TVL close to $3 billion while continuing to generate strong income.
If that happens then the recent 14 percent move starts to look less like a random pump.
It starts looking like the market is reacting to better numbers from the actual protocol.
For now SYRUP has momentum.
The next test is whether that momentum can stay healthy without too much leverage getting involved

XLM has lost some of its recent strength.
The token moved above $0.20 in late August but has slowly given back part of that move. It is now trading around $0.172.
The short term chart does not look very strong either.
The RSI is close to the middle which shows that buyers are not in full control. The MACD has also turned weaker and is now below its signal line.
The derivatives market tells a similar story.
Open interest dropped from around $95 million to about $78.6 million during the past week.
That means traders are using less leverage than before.
Funding is still slightly positive though. So traders are not fully betting against XLM.
They just do not seem very confident right now.
But this is where the bigger story gets interesting.
Stellar could have something important coming later this year.
DTCC is preparing to launch its tokenization service in October. Stellar is expected to be part of the rollout.
This matters because DTCC is already working with tokenized assets and major institutions.
Stellar is also expected to have tokenized DTC assets available on its network in the first half of 2027.
That does not mean XLM will suddenly jump when October arrives.
Crypto markets do not always price real world progress immediately.
Sometimes the market reacts first.
Sometimes it waits for actual usage.
That is why I think the October launch is more important as a test than as a simple price catalyst.
It could give the market a clearer idea of how much public blockchains can actually be used for large scale tokenized assets.
And Stellar is going to be part of that conversation.
For now the price still needs to prove itself.
Holding around the current area would be a good start.
A move back above $0.20 would make the chart look much healthier.
Until then XLM remains a coin with an interesting future story but a weak short term setup.
The next few weeks may be quiet.
But October could give the market something much more important than another short lived price pump.
It could give investors a better idea of whether Stellar is actually becoming part of the growing tokenized asset market.

PYTH has made a strong move over the past day.
The token gained more than 12 percent and recovered the ground it lost during the recent pullback.
What caught my attention is not the size of the move.
It is what happened before it.
PYTH had been moving inside a wide range for months. The price later pushed above that range and came back to test the breakout area near $0.045.
That test held.
Now buyers are trying to push the price higher again.
The next level I would watch is around $0.0576.
If PYTH can move above that area and stay there then the current move could have more room.
But there is also something interesting happening with buyers.
Large buyers started placing bigger orders when PYTH was around $0.04 after falling as low as $0.03.
That is worth watching because large buyers often become more active when prices have already fallen a lot.
At the same time retail activity is still fairly quiet.
This is important because retail interest has often become much stronger near previous PYTH price peaks.
When too many small buyers entered during earlier rallies the price later suffered large drops.
So the current setup looks different.
Large buyers are active.
Retail traders are not showing the same level of excitement.
That does not prove that PYTH will keep rising. But it does make the current move more interesting.
There is another risk that should not be ignored.
A lot of leveraged long positions are sitting below the current price. Around $0.0513 has a large group of leveraged positions.
If the price drops into that area then some of those positions could be forced to close.
That could create extra selling in the short term.
So I would not chase the 12 percent move blindly.
The important levels are now easier to see.
Around $0.045 is the area that helped the breakout.
Around $0.0576 is the next test for buyers.
Below that there is a large group of leveraged positions around $0.0513.
If PYTH keeps holding the breakout area and breaks the next resistance then this rally could be more than just a short bounce.
For now the price is giving buyers a chance.
The next few moves will show if they can actually use it.

The recent move by Aave and LayerZero to cut support for low activity chains caught my attention.
At first it looks simple.
Remove chains with little activity and reduce the number of places where something can go wrong.
But the deeper problem is not really the number of chains.
It is how those chains are secured.
DeFi exploits have already caused around $1.3 billion in losses during the second half of 2026. More than 40 percent of those losses came from just two major incidents involving KelpDAO and Drift Protocol.
What makes this more interesting is that these were not simple smart contract bugs.
The bigger issue was infrastructure and how systems were operated.
The KelpDAO case is a good example.
Its cross chain setup relied on a single verifier. That means one party could approve a message without another independent verifier checking it.
That creates a very small safety net.
This is where ghost chains become interesting.
Low activity chains can have fewer users and lower fees. But the cost of running infrastructure does not simply disappear.
When rewards fall some operators may leave.
That can leave fewer operators handling important systems.
So a chain can still exist and look fine from the outside while its security setup becomes weaker underneath.
But removing these chains does not solve everything.
Cross chain systems still depend on signing setups and operational processes. A protocol can remove dozens of low activity networks and still face serious risks if its core verification system is weak.
There is also another side to this move.
If support is removed too quickly then new chains may struggle to get infrastructure support before they have enough users.
That creates a difficult problem.
A new chain needs infrastructure to grow.
But infrastructure providers may not want to support a chain until it already has enough activity.
So the industry is now facing a different mindset.
The old idea was to deploy everywhere and chase users.
The new idea may be to ask whether every deployment is actually worth the security cost.
That is probably a healthier question for DeFi.
More chains can bring more users.
But they can also bring more weak points.
The real test now is whether DeFi can become smaller in reach while becoming stronger in security.

XRP has taken a sharp step back after its recent rally.
The price moved from around $0.98 to nearly $1.70 in a short period. It has now pulled back toward $1.35.
At first glance this looks like a normal correction after a strong move.
But there are a few things that make this pullback worth watching.
The first thing is XRP demand.
Spot XRP ETFs saw strong buying during the second half of August. Nine trading days in a row brought more than $150 million in total inflows.
That does not mean XRP has to keep going up. But it does show that buyers were still interested even after the price had already moved higher.
Another thing I noticed is the amount of XRP sitting on exchanges.
Exchange reserves have been falling for months. The recent reading also moved below the low seen in July.
When fewer coins are sitting on exchanges it can mean that some holders are moving their XRP away from places where it can easily be sold.
The Sharpe Ratio also looks much better now.
It moved from around -0.3 in July to 0.207. That is the highest level since August 2025.
This does not tell us that XRP will definitely rise. It simply shows that the return compared with the risk has improved.
Now comes the important part.
The $1.13 to $1.25 area is the zone I would watch during this pullback.
XRP also has another important level around $1.30.
If buyers step in around these areas then the recent breakout may still have room to continue.
But if XRP loses these levels with strong selling then the setup becomes much weaker.
The recent move already changed the market structure by breaking above the old July high near $1.18.
So I would not focus only on the current price.
I would watch how XRP reacts when it reaches the old support areas.
A strong reaction there could tell us that buyers are still around.
A weak reaction could tell us that the recent rally needs more time to recover.
For now XRP is in the middle of a test.
The next move may depend less on how high XRP went and more on whether buyers defend the levels below it.

Bitcoin has started September with a lot of selling. More than $1.2 billion in net selling has hit the market over the past ten days.
What caught my attention is that Bitcoin has still managed to stay around the $76K to $78K area.
Usually when sellers keep coming in for days the price starts to break down. That has not happened yet.
This makes the $76K level very important.
If Bitcoin keeps holding above $76K despite this selling then buyers may be taking in the coins that long term holders are selling. In simple terms the market may be absorbing the supply instead of falling under it.
There is another part of the story that matters.
Long term holders started taking more profit when Bitcoin moved above $80K in August. From August 18 to August 28 the amount of Bitcoin being moved by long term holders rose from around 174K BTC to nearly 282K BTC.
That makes sense.
When someone has held Bitcoin for a long time and the price gives them a good profit some selling is normal. It does not always mean that they think the market is finished.
The long term holder MVRV also moved higher during that period. It reached around 1.64 before moving back to around 1.60. This means long term holders were still sitting on large unrealized gains.
So the bigger question is not just who is selling.
The bigger question is who is buying those coins.
Bitcoin is currently moving inside a range between roughly $76K and $80.5K. Until that range breaks the market can keep moving sideways.
A move above $80.5K would give buyers a better signal. The next major area to watch would be around $82.85K.
On the other side $76K is the level I would watch closely.
If BTC loses $76K then the current strength starts to look weaker. It could open the door for a deeper pullback.
September could also bring more price swings because the US rate decision is coming on September 15. The CLARITY Act vote is also expected around the same date.
For now Bitcoin is facing heavy selling but the price is refusing to give way.
That is the part I find most interesting.
Sometimes the real strength of a market is not shown by how fast it goes up.
It is shown by how well it holds when people are selling.