The digital asset market experienced a notable revival over the last week after the slump at the end of September. Investor interest has begun to resurge, driven by a renewed demand for safe-haven assets amid the uncertainty surrounding the US government’s first shutdown in six years.
The increasing appetite for safe-haven assets could see Bitcoin (BTC) mirror gold’s surge, potentially reaching a new all-time high of $150,000 before the year concludes, according to Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments. Bitcoin crossed the $120,000 threshold on Thursday for the first time since August 14, continuing to trade above $120,122 at the time of writing on Friday.
In another development, the escalating financial deficit of France’s central bank may act as a further catalyst for Bitcoin, potentially triggering “trillions of euros” in money printing by the European Central Bank (ECB), which could signal an influx of liquidity into Bitcoin, according to Arthur Hayes, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX.
Bitcoin $120,000 breakout will lead to “very quick move” to $150,000: Charles Edwards
Bitcoin is projected to hit a new all-time high of $150,000 before the end of 2025 as investors increasingly gravitate towards safe-haven assets like gold, according to Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments.
The recovery above the $120,000 psychological level may trigger a “very quick” breakout to a $150,000 all-time high, Edwards explained in an interview with Cointelegraph during Token2049 in Singapore. “It wouldn’t surprise me if we reached $150,000 in a fairly short time, as we break out of the $120,000 range. That could happen potentially in the next few days.”
Bitcoin climbed over 6% in the past week, surpassing the $118,500 threshold for the first time since August 15, data shows.
Edwards’ perspective is more conservative than that of several analysts projecting the current cycle could propel Bitcoin beyond $200,000.
André Dragosch, head of European research at Bitwise Asset Management, told Cointelegraph that integrating crypto into US 401(k) retirement plans could unlock an additional $122 billion in new capital. Even a mere 1% allocation by retirement managers could potentially elevate Bitcoin above $200,000 by year-end.
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Cathie Wood: Hyperliquid “reminds me of Solana in the earlier days”
ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood likened Hyperliquid to Solana’s initial promise, dubbing it “the new kid on the block.”
“It’s exciting. It reminds me of Solana in its early days, and Solana has proven its value and is now among the major players,” Wood stated during a recent interview on the “Master Investor” podcast.
ARK Invest currently holds three primary crypto assets in its public funds: Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and Solana (SOL). Wood explained that the company’s exposure to Solana is through Breera Sports, which is linked to the Solana treasury and backed by Middle Eastern investors. She further mentioned advisory connections to the project through economist Art Laffer.
While Wood did not confirm any position in Hyperliquid, she described the protocol as one to keep an eye on. Her comments come in the wake of escalating competition among perpetual futures DEXs, following Aster’s launch of a token earlier this month, which saw its trading volume and open interest surpass Hyperliquid.
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Roman Storm seeks acquittal of Tornado Cash money transmission charge
Roman Storm, co-founder of Tornado Cash, has requested a US federal judge to acquit him of his only conviction for unlicensed money transmission and the counts of a hung jury regarding money laundering and sanctions violations, arguing that prosecutors did not establish that he intended to assist bad actors in misusing the crypto mixer.
As per legal documents filed on September 30 with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, which were reviewed by Cointelegraph, Storm’s defense claimed prosecutors failed to demonstrate intent to aid bad actors in utilizing Tornado Cash. This argument, according to the defense, would invalidate the justification for his conviction based on negligent inaction.
“Storm and bad actors were alleged to have been aware of the misuse of Tornado Cash and that he did not take adequate measures to prevent it. This is a negligence theory,” the motion asserted.
Furthermore, the defense contended that “in the absence of affirmative evidence proving Mr. Storm acted with the intent to aid bad actors,” the government tried to meet its willfulness burden by arguing that he failed to prevent misuse. “This claim contradicts the willfulness standard and lacks legal support,” the motion stated.
A motion for acquittal requested that the judge dismiss charges and the verdict, asserting that the prosecution’s evidence, even if assumed to be accurate, is legally insufficient.
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SEC’s tokenized stock push has unclear benefits for crypto: Dragonfly Exec
Tokenized equities are poised to offer significant advantages to traditional markets, but may not provide the anticipated benefits for the crypto industry, according to Rob Hadick, general partner at crypto venture firm Dragonfly.
“There’s no denying it will have a substantial impact on TradFi,” Hadick told Cointelegraph at the TOKEN 2049 conference in Singapore. “They want 24/7 trading to enhance their economics.”
However, he noted ambiguous advantages for major crypto players in the real-world asset tokenization arena, such as Ethereum.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly working on a plan to permit blockchain-based versions of stocks to trade on crypto exchanges, responding to numerous financial institutions urging the regulator to allow perpetual markets.
Hadick mentioned that these institutions “do not wish to be directly on these general-purpose chains,” citing Robinhood and Stripe as examples of firms developing their own blockchains.
“They are reluctant to share economics. They do not want to share block space with memecoins. They aim to maintain control over privacy [and] the validator set, along with the operational environment,” he added.
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Centralized exchanges will be DeFi front ends in 5–10 years: 1inch co-founder
Centralized crypto exchanges could become obsolete within the next decade as decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregators rise to prominence, according to 1inch co-founder Sergej Kunz.
In an interview with Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore, Kunz expressed confidence that exchanges will gradually morph into frontends for decentralized exchanges (DEXs). “I foresee it happening in around five to ten years,” he stated.
Kunz explained that while centralized exchanges operate as isolated markets, 1inch and its aggregator function as a global liquidity hub. His comments coincided with 1inch announcing a partnership with major US crypto exchange Coinbase, integrating its service to provide DEX trading to its user base.
Kunz noted that centralized exchanges investing in onchain systems indicates their awareness that the technology they rely on “won’t remain dominant forever due to the rise of decentralized exchanges and digitalized finance.”
“They don’t want to miss the train and fall behind, hence their adoption of our technology, which we believe will empower the overall finance sector,” he said.
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DeFi market overview
Based on data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization finished the week positively.
Zcash (ZEC), a privacy-centric token, surged over 157% to become the biggest gainer among the top 100, followed closely by DeXe (DEXE), which saw a weekly rise of over 34%.
Thank you for reading our summary of this week’s significant DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more news, insights, and education in this rapidly evolving sector.
