Anjali Belgaumkar

Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg said he expects XRP to emerge as the leading protocol for institutional financial infrastructure, pointing to newly announced lending plans on the XRP Ledger and a sharp rise in South Korean trading activity as supporting evidence.

Crypto prices are pausing today after a powerful week of gains, and the timing lines up with a major geopolitical announcement out of Washington.

Bitcoin has pushed past the $80,000 mark, trading at $80,677.39, up 2.7% over the past 24 hours and 24% over the past week, moving through a resistance zone traders had been watching closely.

Bitcoin surged toward $80,000 this week as billions of dollars in short positions were liquidated and spot demand returned to the market, prompting renewed debate over whether the recent downturn has already bottomed. But while Bitcoin dominated headlines, analyst John Gillen on

Brad Garlinghouse says XRP has already cleared its legal hurdle. Ripple's CEO pointed to a federal judge's ruling from the company's four-year fight with the SEC: XRP itself is not a security.

XRP is trading at $1.47, down 2% on the day, after a 46.8% surge over the past week. The pullback comes despite strong onchain signals: receiving addresses spiked 698%, according to data shared, alongside three straight days of record trading volume for Bitwise's XRP ETF, topping $80 million today alone. However, XRP remains well above levels from earlier this month despite today's dip.

Grayscale withdrew its ETF applications for Cardano, Hedera, and Polkadot this week, prompting questions about whether altcoin ETFs are losing momentum.

Bitcoin pierced the $80,000 mark overnight, reaching as high as $81,300 before pulling back to roughly $79,000, according to chart analysis from Verified Investing chief market strategist Gareth Soloway. The pullback has raised a question for traders. Does this rally confirm a new bull market, or is Bitcoin simply testing resistance in an ongoing bear market?

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission opened a public comment period on Monday for draft regulations covering crypto exchange-traded funds, marking a formal step toward introducing regulated Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF products in the country. The proposal covers two areas. A regulatory framework for establishing crypto ETFs in Thailand, and revised qualification standards for foreign custodians handling digital assets on behalf of mutual funds and private funds. The SEC said the goal is to broaden investment opportunities for investors, support product diversity in Thailand's capital market, and set consistent standards for offshore digital asset custody.

XRP is trading at $1.41, down 1.61% today, as heavy leverage on Bitfinex begins to unwind. XRP long positions on the exchange surged from 4.9 million in June to a peak of 6.45 million in late August, one of the largest leverage buildups this cycle, according to trading data. Positions have since fallen back to 5.62 million as longs get flushed out of the market. Bitcoin traded at $78,762.19, up 0.4% over 24 hours, while Ethereum held near $2,494.76, up 2.2%. Traders are watching whether XRP finds support here or extends its pullback further.