Bitcoin Kicks Down The $100K Door

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Alright, DegenDen, buckle up, Dr.P is here!

If your screen isn't a blinding shade of green this week, from Bitcoin ($103,041, +3.7%) to Ethereum ($2,348, a whopping +19.3%!) and even old reliable XRP ($2.38, +7.9%) getting a pump, you might want to check your internet connection.

The big story?

Bitcoin didn't just knock on the $100,000 door; it took a battering ram to it.

And ETH?

It decided to remind everyone it's still a contender with that massive Pectra-fueled (or just FOMO-fueled) surge.

The hopium is flowing, the charts are looking like rocket launches, and even your no-coiner uncle is probably texting you about 'those Bitcoin ETFs.'

THE RUNDOWN

🔸Coinbase's Big Buy

Coinbase coughed up a cool $2.9 billion in cash and stock for Deribit, the crypto options behemoth. M&A season is officially hotter than a Bitcoin miner in an unventilated room.

🔸ETH's Pectra Party

Ethereum's much-hyped Pectra upgrade went live, promising to make things "feel better" with smoother staking and UX. With ETH blasting up 19.3% to $2,348, it seems the market’s feeling it too.

🔸Stablecoin Senate Snafu & Stripe's Salvation

The GENIUS Act, aimed at giving stablecoins a federal rulebook, got body-slammed in the Senate, partly over fears of President Trump’s crypto dalliances. But while DC fumbled, Stripe casually launched stablecoin accounts for businesses in over 100 countries. One step back, two steps forward.

🔸Institutions Still Apeing

Bitcoin ETFs are basically a black hole for fiat now, sucking in over $40.6 billion. BlackRock’s IBIT is leading the charge. RWAs are booming on Ethereum, and the OCC just gave banks a clearer green light for crypto services. The suits are so in.

🔸States Get Bit-Pilled

New Hampshire made history passing a Bitcoin Reserve Bill, and Arizona quickly followed with its own crypto fund. As Dennis Porter says, state adoption paves the way for federal. Game theory, baby.

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MAIN EVENT: Bitcoin Smashes Six Figures: Party Time or Peak Insanity?

So, Bitcoin. The big orange coin finally did it.

Not a polite tap on the $100,000 door, more like a Kool-Aid Man-style 'OH YEAH!' straight through the wall. We saw it dance around $103,041 as of my typing this, briefly touch $109k, and in the process, casually flip Amazon the bird to become the fifth-largest asset globally with a $2.015 TRILLION market cap.

Let that sink in. Your magic internet money is now bigger than the everything store.

What lit the fuse on this rocket?

It wasn’t just one thing; it was a cocktail potent enough to get a whale drunk.

First, the insatiable hunger of Spot Bitcoin ETFs. These things have hoovered up over $40.6 billion.

BlackRock's IBIT alone is on a 16-day inflow bender, making gold ETFs look like quaint relics. As Standard Chartered's Geoff Kendrick succinctly put it, "flows are the key dynamic in this latest move."

No kidding, Geoff.

Then you’ve got the macro tailwinds.

Whispers of a U.S.-UK trade deal (even if it's more of a "framework for talks" than a done deal), lingering anticipation of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and even President Trump's administration apparently warming up to Bitcoin.

Eric Trump confirmed his father owns a 'substantial amount,' and there's talk of a federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, following the lead of pioneering states.

Add to that corporate treasuries like 'Strategy' (yes, MicroStrategy, we still see you) and Japan's Metaplanet continuing to stack sats like they're collecting rare Pokémon – Metaplanet just nabbed another 555 BTC.

The mood? Electric. "Feels less like a top, more like the gates just opened," one observer gushed.

Bitcoin isn't just touching $100k; "it's making itself comfortable." We saw $224 million in shorts get absolutely liquidated. Green candles, as they say, "have a way of putting everyone in a good mood."

But hold your horses before you remortgage the doghouse for a fraction of a Bitcoin. CryptoQuant is waving a little yellow flag, noting that $1 billion in daily realized profits might be signaling we're "edging into 'late-stage bull market' territory," drawing parallels to the overheated euphoria of late 2024.

So, are the gates truly opening for a new paradigm, or are we just at that wild part of the party right before the noise complaint brings the authorities?

For now, the music's loud, the punch is spiked with institutional cash, and Bitcoin is the undisputed star. Enjoy the ride, but maybe keep one hand on the emergency brake.

That’s your weekly dose of organized chaos, folks.

Bitcoin’s rewriting its ATH playbook, ETH is finally stretching its legs (though some whispers suggest the real alpha’s hiding in TradFi equities now - we’ll see), and the institutions are officially part of the degen army.

Stay sharp, and for the love of Satoshi, don’t forget to take some profits.

– Dr. P, for DegenDen

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