The cryptocurrency market recovered quite well on Sept. 11, pushing new boundaries of the bearish market further and potentially making even more progress than anticipated. The surge in RLUSD volume could suggest more careful positioning, though. In our most recent market prediction, we broke down how bulls started coming back.

RLUSDT volume spike

Around $200 million have moved through Ripple’s stablecoin, RLUSD, in the past day, marking a huge spike in trading volume. This spike is garnering attention throughout the cryptocurrency market, for a token that normally keeps a low-key, stable profile as a USD-pegged stablecoin.

There could be a number of causes for this kind of movement. In order to protect themselves from the volatility of more risky assets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, institutional players may be moving their money into RLUSD. Stablecoins are probably being used as a safe haven by some traders due to recent volatility in altcoins and significant inflows into exchanges.

• The volume might indicate early activity from payment corridors opening up behind the scenes, given Ripple’s continuous push for adoption in cross-border payments and settlements. The main lesson learned from the spike is that RLUSD remains steady, bolstering trust in its peg mechanism.

• If the volume rise continues, it may signal the start of a larger uptake of Ripple’s stablecoin on payment and trading platforms. Investors should monitor whether the higher demand results in deeper liquidity across exchanges in the near future, as this would make the RLUSD a more dependable trading pair.

In general, speculation is less important than the overall positioning of the cryptocurrency market when it comes to RLUSD’s $200 million volume surge. In a way, it draws attention to the rising need for stability on an unpredictable market and suggests that Ripple’s stablecoin might become more significant in future global liquidity flows.

How good can DOGE be?

Dogecoin has performed surprisingly well, breaking through the $0.24 mark, which few had predicted given its slow performance in recent months. DOGE — which was once thought to be a meme-driven asset vulnerable to hype cycles — is now exhibiting resilience, defying general market uncertainty and proving its capacity to surprise both ardent supporters and doubters. 

The 100-day and 200-day EMAs of Dogecoin have been a solid base for buyers, and the cryptocurrency has continuously respected important support zones in the $0.21-$0.22 range in recent weeks. With bulls intervening at pivotal points, the recovery from these levels and the break above short-term moving averages suggest that momentum is improving. 

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Additionally, there has been a slight increase in trading volume, which could indicate that fresh market interest is emerging. The RSI, which is close to 59, indicates that bullish pressure is increasing without being overbought. This allows for more upside before reaching harsh circumstances.

If DOGE stays above $0.24, the next logical resistance is located between $0.27 and $0.28, where earlier rallies this summer were capped. A run toward $0.30, which would represent a major psychological milestone, might be possible if that zone is successfully broken. The fact that this rally coincides with a decline in the enthusiasm surrounding meme coins is what makes it so intriguing. 

It appears that technical strength and accumulation rather than speculative mania were the driving forces behind DOGE’s move. Dogecoin may start to establish a reputation as a reliable mid-cap cryptocurrency with steady investor support if this trend keeps up. In summary, Dogecoin has resurfaced as a contender in the current market cycle after its unexpected breakout above $0.24 has dispelled bearish expectations.

Ethereum too quiet

With price action settling in the $4,300 range and volatility at all-time lows, Ethereum is exhibiting an unusual calm. The second-largest cryptocurrency believes that this quiet time is misleading and could be a risky prelude to a storm.

With tight candles and little volume, ETH has been trading sideways on the charts for more than a week. The market seems to be losing liquidity, which suggests that traders are holding off until something clear happens. In the past, these periods of inaction frequently came before violent outbursts.

Ethereum is holding at high levels without either buyers or sellers controlling the market, which is more concerning than just the lack of movement. This implies that it might release a surge strong enough to destroy everything in its path when momentum eventually returns.

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The thesis is supported by technical indicators. There is still plenty of opportunity for growth as the RSI is neutral but balanced at 51. Ethereum, meanwhile, is still trading above its 50-day EMA, indicating that the bullish structure is still in place even in the absence of any immediate action.

Failure to hold current levels could result in a retest of $4,100 or even $3,800, while a clean breakout above $4,500 could pave the way to the eagerly anticipated $5,000 mark. Because there is less liquidity, there is a greater chance that a sudden surge in buying pressure will lead to a series of short liquidations, which would send ETH skyrocketing.

On the other hand, if bears take advantage of the situation, the same lack of liquidity may accelerate a sharp decline. Although Ethereum’s silence is unsettling, it also prepares the market for the next pivotal action.

The storm has the potential to propel ETH to new heights with $5,000 as the main target if bulls make a strong comeback. The calm should be interpreted as a warning rather than a sign of safety until that time.

The general state of the market is cautiously positive. With the comeback of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other grands, smaller assets are gaining more traction and might show us long-awaited recoveries. Unfortunately, if stablecoin volumes keep on growing, it would be a sign of a bearish shift.

The US government can still retry Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm on counts of money laundering and violating sanctions due to a hung jury, according to attorneys.

“The Department of Justice (DOJ) will decide in the coming days if it wants to retry those charges in a new trial,” Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer at venture capital firm Variant Fund, wrote on X.

Storm was convicted on one felony count for his involvement with Tornado Cash on Wednesday. The jury found him guilty of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.

However, jury members did not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions.

Attorney Aaron Brogan told Cointelegraph that Storm’s verdict still carries broader legal implication for decentralized protocols.

“The problem with this broad application of federal money transmitter law is that, frankly, many in DeFi worry they could apply as strongly to them as to Tornado Cash. And while the government probably won’t bring charges against all of DeFi, the broad exposure gives them a powerful stick in any negotiations.”

The case’s potential for lasting implications has drawn close attention from the crypto industry and privacy advocates. Attorneys say the precedent-setting trial is critical for digital privacy and could have a significant impact on open-source software developers in the United States.

Related: SEC’s Peirce defends transaction privacy as Tornado Cash verdict looms

Attorneys react to the partial verdict

The US can still bring Roman Storm back to court on the unresolved charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate North Korea sanctions. The decision would depend on several factors, including the likelihood of securing a conviction in a second trial.

“If the Trump administration wants the USA to be the crypto capital of the world, then the DOJ must not be allowed to retry the two deadlocked charges,” Chervinsky said.

Chervinsky described the partial verdict as “a sad day for DeFi,” warning that section 1960 under the US Code, which prosecutors used to charge Storm with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, represents an existential threat to decentralized finance applications.

“All in all, this leads to a pretty depressing conclusion,” attorney Zack Shapiro wrote on X, but said that it was good the “draconian” prison sentences for the money laundering charges were off the table for now.

I think it’s reasonable to conclude that the government might not retry the mistried counts of money laundering given the political posturing

A US court overturned the Tornado Cash sanctions in January 2025, handing decentralized crypto and privacy-preserving protocols a major legal victory.

The sanctions were imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2022, accusing the crypto mixing service of money laundering.

DOJ officials claimed the Tornado Cash protocol helped launder over $7 billion in crypto between 2019 and 2022 and was instrumental to North Korean state-sanctioned hackers laundering funds stolen through hacking.

Magazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixers

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/us-doj-could-still-pursue-money-laundering-sanctions-charges-against-roman-storm/feed/ 0 51860 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/is-1-dogecoin-inevitable-analyst-cites-perfect-storm-of-factors/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/is-1-dogecoin-inevitable-analyst-cites-perfect-storm-of-factors/#respond Sat, 26 Jul 2025 02:21:29 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/is-1-dogecoin-inevitable-analyst-cites-perfect-storm-of-factors/

Dogecoin could be approaching a structural breakout that carries it to the long-discussed $1 threshold, according to crypto analyst Stephan Burns, who in a July 24 livestream described a “perfect storm” of monetary design, market structure and what he characterizes as rare astrological alignments. Burns framed the move as an “inevitability,” while acknowledging timing uncertainty, arguing that the next parabolic advance could emerge within months.

Is $1 Dogecoin Inevitable?

Burns built his case first on tokenomics. Dogecoin’s fixed issuance of 10,000 DOGE per one-minute block—approximately 5.2 billion DOGE annually—translates today into an inflation rate of roughly 3.3% against a circulating supply he placed at 150 billion. With that supply base, he said, the network simultaneously sustains miner incentives, gradually replaces lost coins and avoids the periodic “supply shocks” embedded in Bitcoin’s quadrennial halving schedule.

“It’s beautiful because of this inflation rate,” he said, calling Dogecoin “better as a currency than Bitcoin” precisely because of its predictability. By contrast, he argued, Bitcoin’s declining issuance—on track to fall below half a percent after the 2028 halving—forces a future reliance on transaction fees. “Eventually Bitcoin will be completely mined… the network has to be maintained by transaction fees. That’s probably not enough to incentivize miners at the end of the day,” Burns claims.

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He also asserted that Dogecoin’s governance surface is harder to co-opt than Bitcoin’s as large institutional and governmental actors accumulate BTC exposure. In his view, Dogecoin remains “the people’s currency,” with economic dilution limited by social and technical difficulty of altering code. The flat nominal issuance, he added, produces a declining percentage inflation rate over time without rendering the asset strictly deflationary or, in his words, vulnerable to miner attrition.

Beyond economics, Burns devoted extensive time to what he calls “crypto astrology,” arguing that Dogecoin’s natal chart—anchored to its genesis block—now sits under exceptionally favorable transits. He highlighted Pluto’s conjunction with Dogecoin’s natal Moon, describing it as “a once in a roughly 250-year transit,” and an impending Jupiter return with the planet “exalted” near the project’s midheaven point.

These, he claimed, historically correspond to phases of visibility, capital inflow and wealth symbolism. “Dogecoin is being activated… more than any other cryptocurrency this year,” he said, labeling the configuration a catalyst for renewed global attention.

Burns linked those internal transits to a broader macro cycle, citing the approaching Saturn–Neptune conjunction at the first degrees of Aries in early 2026, which he associated—through earlier historical recurrences—with milestones such as the emergence of coinage and trade networks.

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In his view, that backdrop reinforces the plausibility of another speculative wave. A logarithmic review of Dogecoin’s price history, he said, shows three prior “parabolic” expansions separated by lengthening consolidation phases; the current basing structure, including what he described as an ascending W-pattern supported by long-term moving averages, could precede a fourth. “Just based off of that it looks like we may be due for another one of these parabolic moves up in the next few months,” he said, while conceding that “just because I think it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”

He further projected that a Dogecoin exchange-traded fund “will get approved” and place the asset “in the spotlight,” though he did not provide documentation beyond his expectation. Burns also contrasted Dogecoin’s relative resilience on its Bitcoin ratio with altcoins that have reverted to prior ranges, arguing that structural holding above pre-2020 levels supports his thesis.

Summarizing his outlook, Burns reiterated what he called the “inevitability of Dogecoin going to $1,” framing that level as the maximal target in his public analysis for the forthcoming cycle. The timing, he implied, hinges on the interplay between tokenomics-driven accumulation and the unfolding of the transits he tracks. “I do think it’s going to moon,” he concluded.

At press time, DOGE traded at $0.23.

Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Roman Storm, the co-founder of the crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, has asked for help to raise an immediate $500,000 ahead of his trial on Monday on charges of money laundering and sanctions violations.

Storm posted on X on Saturday that he faces a “critical shortfall” and needs to raise $500,000 in the next few days, and will need another $1 million within the next few weeks to cover the cost of his legal battle.

“My team is working nonstop to defend code as free speech, protect software development, and push back against government overreach that threatens us all,” he added.

In May, Free Pertsev & Storm, an organization set up to provide legal aid to the Tornado Cash founders, projected that the total legal costs for Storm’s trial would be $2 million.

However, Storm said on Friday that his legal fees will mount to $3.5 million as his trial could last up to four weeks, double the initially anticipated two weeks, due to “complex legal arguments and unforeseen witnesses and evidence.”

Storm was arrested in August 2023 on counts of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter, and conspiracy to violate US sanctions and faces up to 45 years in prison if found guilty.

On Friday, Storm’s legal team attempted to postpone the trial, arguing that prosecutors disclosed a witness after the scheduled deadline had ended.

The judge overseeing Storm’s criminal trial, Judge Katherine Failla, said she would not allow any mention of the US Treasury’s sanctions levied against Tornado Cash, which were withdrawn in March.

Related: Ethereum Foundation pledges $500K to Roman Storm’s defense

In April, the crypto lobbying group the DeFi Education Fund petitioned the Trump administration to end the so-called “lawless prosecution” of open-source software developers, including Roman Storm.

57% of goal raised for Tornado Cash trial

Storm is attempting to raise $3.5 million in total. At the time of writing, Storm has managed to raise $1.96 million, approximately 57% of the goal.

Since the donations are made in Ether (ETH), the amount raised can fluctuate. Currently, ETH is trading at $3,030, up 2.9% in the past 24 hours, according to Nansen.

Last month, the Ethereum Foundation said it would donate $500,000 and match community donations up to $750,000 for Storm’s legal defense.

MetaCartel’s Bill Warren said that the MetaCartel DAO has given all the funds it had left in its treasury to support the cause.

Magazine: Inside a 30,000 phone bot farm stealing crypto airdrops from real users

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/tornado-cashs-roman-storm-makes-urgent-plea-for-500k-as-trial-looms/feed/ 0 47539 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/urgent-appeal-to-help-defend-tornado-cashs-roman-storm-and-the-right-to-financial-privacy/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/urgent-appeal-to-help-defend-tornado-cashs-roman-storm-and-the-right-to-financial-privacy/#respond Sun, 13 Jul 2025 21:06:48 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/urgent-appeal-to-help-defend-tornado-cashs-roman-storm-and-the-right-to-financial-privacy/

Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm took to Twitter with an urgent plea for support, ahead of his high-profile trial date tomorrow. Storm, who has been battling legal charges for nearly two years, is calling on the crypto community to help raise $500,000 in the next few days and $1.5 million in the coming weeks to cover escalating legal fees, expert witnesses, and research costs as the case stretches beyond its initial two-week projection.

Who is Roman Storm, and what is Tornado Cash?

Storm, for the uninitiated, is a prominent blockchain developer and co-founder of Tornado Cash, a privacy-focused Ethereum mixing service. Tornado Cash enables users to obfuscate the origin and destination of crypto transactions, providing a layer of privacy on public blockchains.

He has been entangled in legal proceedings since his arrest in August 2023, when U.S. authorities charged him with conspiracy to commit money laundering and sanctions violations related to Tornado Cash. He has spent nearly two years under restrictive conditions, facing mounting legal and financial pressure as his trial date approaches on July 14, 2025.

In a recent urgent appeal, Storm revealed a critical funding shortfall: $500,000 needed within days and $1.5 million required in the coming weeks.

Why this case matters for crypto, privacy, and freedom

Storm’s defense centers on the principle that writing and publishing open-source code is a form of free speech protected under the First Amendment. The outcome of this case could set a precedent for how governments treat software developers and open-source contributors worldwide.

Tornado Cash and similar privacy tools are essential for safeguarding user anonymity in a financial system that is increasingly surveilled. The prosecution of Storm is seen by many as a direct challenge to the right to financial privacy and the legitimacy of privacy-preserving technologies.

The case also raises concerns about government overreach and the potential criminalization of software development. If Storm is convicted, it could have a chilling effect on innovation and deter developers from working on privacy-enhancing technologies.

Community support and how you can help

The crypto community has rallied around Storm, viewing his case as a battle for fundamental freedoms. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum and a leading voice in the blockchain space, publicly donated $170,000 to Storm’s legal defense fund earlier this year, and many other prominent crypto members have also joined the cause.

Storm’s team has set up a donation portal at freeromanstorm.com to collect contributions for his legal defense. Every donation, large or small, supports the broader fight for privacy, free speech, and the right to develop open-source software.

Storm’s trial is more than a personal legal battle. It’s a referendum on the rights of developers, the future of privacy in digital finance, and the limits of government power in the age of open-source technology. The outcome will resonate far beyond the crypto world, affecting anyone who values privacy, innovation, and freedom of expression.

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The XRP price and its trajectory have been one of the most debated in the crypto community after a rapid surge that saw its price rise 600% back in 2024. Since then, the altcoin has slowed down and has been skirting support around the $2 level, with bears unable to break this level so far. With support holding so strong, expectations are that a renewed and sustained bullish momentum will begin, and this time, analysts are putting the XRP price in the double-digits.

XRP Price Forms Classic Bullish Flag Pattern

Crypto analyst Persian Blockchain has made bold predictions for the XRP price as the altcoin has seen the formation os a classic bullish flag pattern. This pattern emerged with the rise and subsequent fall in the XRP price and has continued to show signs of more bullishness to come.

One important factor that the crypto analyst points out is the fact that classic bullish flag patterns are a continuation structure. This means they often signal the start of an upward movement, most likely to push toward the previous peaks seen with the last rally.

As expected, there are still some resistances on the chart that the XRP price will have to clear. In this case, the crypto analyst highlights a level like the $2.7 resistance, which is the level to beat. As they explain, if the XRP price is able to successfully break above the resistance and then enter the buy zone, then a breakout could be expected.

The crypto analyst said: “A retest of the breakout area followed by bullish confirmation could signal the beginning of a larger move toward the $10 psychological level.” This would mean an over 400% move from the altcoin to push it toward brand new all-time highs.

Ripple Vs. SEC Lawsuit Plays A Role

So far, the long-running Ripple vs. SEC lawsuit has played a huge role in suppressing the XRP price over the years, and even now, continues to loom over the digital asset. There is yet to be a final conclusion to the legal battle, although the court’s rulings have been leaning toward a favorable outcome for Ripple.

The crypto analyst points to the SEC’s 60-day deadline coming to an end on June 16, and if the courts rule in favour of Ripple, then this could spark a fresh rally. Moreover, there has also been a rise in global liquidity, and as the stock market and Bitcoin are expected to rise, the XRP price will rise in tandem as one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the market.

A positive outcome and final conclusion to the SEC battle would renew confidence in XRP and possibly drive new investments. “The alignment of a legal breakthrough, improving macro liquidity, and a bullish chart structure makes this a scenario worth watching closely,” the analyst concluded.

Featured image from Dall.E, chart from TradingView.com

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