Bitcoin's jump to $74,050 on Thursday quickly attracted selling as short-term holders moved more than 27,000 BTC in profit to exchanges over the past 24 hours. On-chain metrics cited by CryptoQuant contributors show that investors who bought within the last one to four weeks, around a realized price near $68,000, are realizing gains instead of holding, adding fresh supply near the range highs. Separate analysis highlights repeated failed breakouts above resistance near $71,000, where recent deviations have been followed by sharp pullbacks.

Apollo Crypto has designated Hyperliquid (HYPE) as its biggest altcoin allocation, with head of research Pratik Kala highlighting the exchange's traction and its revenue-backed token model. Kala emphasized that Hyperliquid channels roughly 97% to 99% of revenues into transparent buybacks, while HIP-3 has enabled event-driven trades on assets like OpenAI and Anthropic during weekend market closures. HYPE was last changing hands at $30.485.

In a March 2 thesis, Joe Burnett, VP of Bitcoin Strategy at Strive (Nasdaq: ASST), argues that bitcoin could climb to $11 million by the first quarter of 2036 as artificial intelligence drives structural deflation while policymakers keep expanding liquidity. He projects a bitcoin network value of about $230 trillion by 2036, or roughly 12% of an estimated $1.97 quadrillion global financial asset base, with scarcity, monetary debasement and AI-led productivity gains channeling capital into BTC as a long-duration savings asset.

Versan Aljarrah of Black Swan Capitalist argues that XRP’s long-term potential goes beyond payments and bridge liquidity, proposing it as a neutral settlement layer in a digitized global financial system. He outlines a three-pillar path involving sovereign adoption, regulatory clarity through measures like the CLARITY Act, and eventual institutional recognition by bodies such as the IMF. In his view, XRP’s value would ultimately be driven by settlement utility and liquidity corridors rather than speculative price predictions, and at press time the token was trading at $1.3576.

US-Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend have, according to Will Taylor of CryptoInsightUK, turned the conflict into a volatility shock for crypto rather than a straightforward bearish trigger for XRP. In his Week 184 note, Taylor says Bitcoin and Ethereum still have downside liquidity to explore, while XRP has already tapped key liquidity pools and recently showed relative strength with an upside spike. He argues that if selling pressure fails to deepen and Bitcoin eventually moves to new highs, XRP could outperform and potentially be setting up for a powerful move against both BTC and ETH.

XRP is facing heightened sell pressure after more than 472 million XRP, valued at about $652 million, moved into Binance over the past week. Analyst Darkfost links these unusually large inflows to rising geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, noting that the first strikes occurred shortly after traditional markets closed. He warns that such exchange transfers can signal investors positioning to sell or keep liquidity ready during broader risk-off episodes, even if immediate spot selling has not yet occurred.

Ari Paul, founder of BlockTower and former Wall Street market maker, has pushed back on claims that Jane Street has been holding down Bitcoin’s price, arguing that recent weakness is better explained by spot selling. He acknowledges that market makers can influence intraday moves and add small costs to BTC ETF investors, but says they rarely keep an asset below fair value for long. Paul and on-chain analyst James Check instead point to large Bitcoin holders selling tens of thousands of coins, while BTC currently trades around $66,090.

A Feb. 24 research note argues Bitcoin's familiar four-year bust cycles may be fading, citing lower realized volatility and a larger market. By Jan. 30, 2026, spot ETFs held nearly 1.3 million BTC (~6.4%) and public companies held over 1 million BTC (>5%), suggesting a steadier market structure. The study says this could reduce the odds of deep drawdowns.

Ethereum's derivatives flow on Binance is showing early signs of a changing market structure, with the Taker Buy Sell Ratio moving away from persistent sell-side dominance while ETH price remains in a corrective phase. CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost notes that the monthly ratio, previously below 1 with readings such as 0.95 and a weekly 0.92, has recovered toward 0.99 and recently posted daily spikes above 1.12. At the time of reporting, ETH was trading around $2,028, as traders watch whether a sustained move in the ratio above 1 could confirm a shift toward buyer control in the futures market.