Cryptocurrency
Maddow Slams Trump and Calls Bitcoin ‘Scam’ – She Got These 5 Facts Wrong

The Rhodes Scholar and liberal media commentator said in a segment that aired Thursday, March 6, that cryptocurrency is a scam. She also slammed the White House for “playing this game.”
MSNBC Host Rachel Maddow calls Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve a ‘deeply old-fashioned simple scam.’
She draws a striking comparison between crypto and Beanie Babies, saying, “Cryptos operate on the same idea. They have no inherent value at all, but people speculate, hoping… pic.twitter.com/KnJrRWRnDd
— Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) March 8, 2025
President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier that day establishing a national digital asset reserve.
White House crypto czar David Sacks said, “The US will not sell any Bitcoin deposited into the Reserve. It will be kept as a store of value. The Reserve is like a digital Fort Knox for the cryptocurrency, often called ‘digital gold.’”
“It’s worth looking at this crypto thing a little bit,” Maddow said on her show. “Only because it is a deeply, deeply old-fashioned simple scam. At this point, which points right to the White House.”
Here’s what Maddow said about Bitcoin and what she got wrong.
1. Unlike Beanies, Bitcoin’s Price Goes Up
“Helpfully, the broad strokes of crypto trading are not complicated,” Maddow said. “It’s like when there was the Beanie Baby craze in the late 1990s.”
“It was a Beanie Baby trading bubble,” she explained. “Other than some emotional value if you had one as a child, Beanie Babies did not have much inherent value.”
“But it was worth buying up a bunch of them because there was speculation on the premise that as collectibles, maybe one day your Beanie Babies collection could be worth a lot of money.”
There is, however, a key difference between Bitcoin and Beanie Babies. While Beanie Babies debuted in 1993 at the World Toy Fair in New York City, this toy fad reached its height six years later in 1999.
Following the dot com crash in 2000, the auction price frenzy for Babies never recovered to those levels again.
To get a realistic idea of the aftermarket value of stuffed toys, one need only study a local thrift store in their city. But unlike Beanie Babies, Bitcoin’s price has been going up ever since it launched on Jan. 3, 2009.
That’s 16 years of growth in daily exchange rate for the dollar that dwarves comparable ROIs from the highest- flying tech stocks in the stock market’s entire history.
During its periodic bear markets, which have so far occurred on a fairly predictable 4-year cycle, critics have repeatedly called Bitcoin a fad and declared it dead.
But every time the skeptics have turned out wrong when the price sets new all-time high records within four years. When it comes to historical records, there is no sensible comparison between Beanie Babies and Bitcoin.
While the toy collectibles peaked in 1999 and never recovered, Bitcoin created 84,000 new crypto millionaires in 2024, according to a report on CNBC.
2. Beanie Babies Markets Are Not Liquid or Transparent
“Cryptocurrencies operate on the same idea,” Maddow went on in her segment to say.
“They have no inherent value at all. The only value they have is that if you have some reason to believe that somebody else might want to buy them from you in the future.”
“What that means in very practical terms is that convincing other people that your crypto is popular and in demand— that is key to actually making money.”
But it’s not true that cryptocurrencies operate on the same idea as toy and fashion manias or that assets like Bitcoin have no inherent value.
Beanie Babies are not a financial product and do not bear qualities that would make them suitable for use as one. It is not as easy as sending an email to exchange a truckload of toy plushies, but it is very nearly that easy to exchange Bitcoin.
It’s also unfeasible to keep track of how many Beanie Babies are in the market and post up-to-the-minute daily trading data about each one.
It is not only feasible with Bitcoin and other cryptos like the ones going in the national reserve— computer developers engineered them that way.
That’s part of the value they provide that makes it possible to use these digital commodities as financial products and investment vehicles: liquidity and transparency.
3. Beanie Babies Are Not Durable and Fungible Like Crypto
Meanwhile, Beanie Babies are not durable and fungible like cryptocurrencies. Who wants someone else’s stuffed toy that they’ve been blowing their nose on and rubbing Cheeto grease into?
These inventories have market values that are highly sensitive to wear and tear, and the products are very vulnerable to deteriorating into a condition with a resale value marked well below retail.
Even when maintained in mint condition, after-market values for toy collectibles are more like the market for used automobiles. After being driven off the lot, they immediately and sharply depreciate.
The inventors of crypto assets BTC, on the other hand, paid careful attention to designing their economics or “tokenomics” to optimize them for resale value over time and for the foreseeable future.
Cryptocurrencies like the two mentioned above have supply limits that introduce scarcity economics. They are also not subject to deteriorating physical condition.
In fact, any unit of Bitcoin is always equal to any other equivalent unit in market value. This is called fungibility, and it is a system requirement for an asset to function as a currency.
4. Beanie Babies Are Not Scarce Like Bitcoin
“The idea of hyping cryptocurrency is that people should buy in soon, right?” Maddow continued on her show.
“Get in on the ground floor while it’s cheap because it’s about to go way up in value because there’s so much interest in it. If you get in on the ground floor now, then you’ll make a bundle. It’s the whole hype. It’s the whole scam.”
While it is true that participants in crypto markets may engage in inauthentic, hyped-up marketing tactics, that doesn’t make the underlying assets a scam.
Nor does it mean there aren’t more intelligent reasons why financial geniuses like BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Shark Tank panelist Kevin O’Leary, or Strategy’s Michael Saylor believe investing in Bitcoin and the blockchain is not only not a scam— but the next phase of developing the Internet and human civilization.
5. Bitcoin Commands Real Demand, Not Just Hype
After making all these mistakes in her broadcast, Maddow finally undid her own case completely with her closing thoughts on this segment.
“Imagine Trump had just announced that the US government was going to buy up tons of Beanie Babies,” the MSNBC host said. “We are going to establish a federal government reserve of billions of Beanie Babies.”
“What do you think would happen to the value of Beanie Babies? Turns out there’s a huge guaranteed buyer for these things. They’re buying billions of them.”
The answer to her question is: Their value would probably go up like most analysts expect of Bitcoin. Since there’s a huge guaranteed buyer and that buyer is the US government.
Not bad for a scam.
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Cryptocurrency
BONK Explodes by 20% Daily as Bitcoin (BTC) Remains Solid at $108K: Weekend Watch

Bitcoin’s stagnation continues as the asset has made little to no attempt to move away from the $108,000 level.
While most larger-cap alts have produced insignificant gains, TON and BONK have emerged as the biggest gainers on a relatively calm Sunday morning.
BTC Calm at $108K
It has been a quiet period for the primary cryptocurrency. In fact, the latest major price moves came about two weeks ago – on June 23 and 24 – when it dumped to $98,000 before it soared past $105,000 a day later as the Middle East war was going rampantly.
Ever since then, though, the asset has been stuck in a tight trading range between $105,000 and $110,000. It tested the lower boundary on Wednesday, where the bulls stepped up and pushed it south toward the upper one.
On Thursday, BTC showed signs of a breakout attempt when it spiked to a multi-week peak of $110,500, but the bears stepped up at this point and didn’t allow a surge to a new all-time high.
The landscape has been somewhat unchanged since then, as bitcoin quickly returned to $108,000 and has not moved from that level for a few days. Its market capitalization stands strong at $2.150 trillion, while its dominance over the alts is at over 63% on CG.
BONK on the Run
As the graph below will demonstrate, most larger-cap alts are slightly in the green on a daily scale. Such minor increases are evident from the likes of ETH, BNB, SOL, TRX, DOGE, ADA, BCH, LINK, and XRP. In contrast, HYPE and PI have lost some traction over the past 24 hours.
The biggest gainers are TON and BONK. The former has risen by over 9% and sits at $3, while the meme coin has exploded by 20% and now trades at $0.000022.
The cumulative market cap of all crypto assets has remained relatively stable at $3.4 trillion on CG.
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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.
Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.
Cryptocurrency
We Asked 4 AIs How High Ripple (XRP) Will Go in 2025: The Answers Might Shock You

TL;DR
- Ripple’s price actions are a big prediction topic within the cryptocurrency community, with analysts and believers rushing to offer their insights and forecasts.
- However, we decided to take a different approach this time and asked four of the biggest AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, and Gemini) about their take on the matter.
2025 Price Targets
All four AI solutions seemed very coherent about XRP’s price potential this year, as Perplexity explained it:
“Ripple’s (XRP) price in 2025 is broadly expected to rise significantly from current levels, with expert forecasts varying but generally bullish.”
Although Ripple’s cross-border token has stalled in the past few months and is actually slightly in the red since the start of the year, all AIs had similar conclusions about its price moves until the end of the year.
ChatGPT laid out three potential scenarios, with the conservative one being at $3.4, which would match the asset’s all-time (and yearly) high. The optimistic is set at $5-$6, and the “aggressive forecasts” put the token at $10-$15 by the end of the year.
Google’s Gemini had similar ideas in mind, saying that “a realistic high could be in the $5-$10 range.” Perplexity also joined the $5-$10 club, which could be reached under “favorable conditions” (more on that later).
Grok was slightly more specific and was the only one that said XRP can finish the year lower than its current price tag. It noted that a “realistic price range” for the asset this year is somewhere between $1.8 and $5.81. Although that’s a pretty wide range, it concluded that the most likely peak will come somewhere between $3 and $4.5.
The Favorable Conditions
When it came down to outlining the factors that could impact XRP’s price moves this year, the AIs were once again aligned in their answers. First, they mentioned regulatory clarity and the official conclusion of the lawsuit against the SEC.
Although Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse stated in March that the case had been resolved and there had been several developments on the matter, the judge overseeing the case has yet to agree fully.
Second, the AIs brought up institutional adoption and bullish partnerships, such as those with Santander, SBI Holdings, and others. A spot XRP ETF will also play a significant role in the asset’s price trajectory this year, if approved, said the chatbots. According to ETF experts, the current odds stand at nearly 100%.
Lastly, the AI solutions highlighted the overall crypto market trends:
“Bitcoin’s post-halving performance and a pro-crypto U.S. administration under President Trump could fuel bullish sentiment across the crypto market, benefiting XRP,” – answered Grok, which was similar to what the others had to say.
Despite these bullish predictions for 2025, all four chatbots clarified that these are just that – speculative forecasts that might or might not come to fruition. Investors should do their own research before allocating funds to any cryptocurrency (or other asset, for that matter).
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Cryptocurrency
Ethereum Price to Hit $6K This Year? Analysts Make Bold Call

If pseudonymous analyst Weslad is to be believed, Ethereum (ETH) is caught in a tug-of-war between wildly differing futures: a historic surge past $6,000 or a soul-sapping plunge to $1,800.
The market technician claims that ETH is completing a massive ABCDE wave structure within a years-long “symmetrical pennant,” which can only mean one thing: explosion.
The Roaring Bull Case
In a recent breakdown, Weslad explained that Ethereum’s price action since its $4,851 all-time high has formed a giant consolidation pattern. According to him, this structure is now approaching a critical inflection point known as wave D, testing its upper boundary.
At the same time, a bullish Inverse Head and Shoulders (IH&S) pattern is emerging on the daily chart, with its neckline acting as stubborn resistance near $2,855.
This technical confluence suggests a coiled spring ready to unleash tremendous energy into the market, leading the analyst to state unequivocally:
“A confirmed breakout above the neckline [$2,855] would likely validate both the IH&S and the breakout from wave D, setting the stage for a potential expansion move toward the $6,000 target and beyond.”
Weslad’s audacious target found an ally in fellow strategist Jeremy Fielder, who declared in a video posted on X:
“We’re looking at $6,500 Ethereum by the end of the year and then a possible 10,000 Ethereum in early next year… Regulation is now pro-crypto. That’s all you need to know.”
He based his argument on the accelerating adoption of Web3 and a favorable regulatory shift, dismissing granular metrics in favor of a sweeping bullish tide.
While not as lofty a milestone as Weslad’s and Fielder’s, market watcher Titan of Crypto’s $4,100 target is not far off the ballpark. His thesis is hinged on Ethereum’s successful recovery back inside its crucial weekly trading range, noting that momentum is building towards the range high.
Looming Bear Trap
But don’t celebrate just yet. Weslad’s otherwise bullish analysis also comes with a stark warning for the downside scenario. He suggested that if ETH faces rejection at the critical $2,855 neckline resistance or the upper boundary of the pennant, a retracement into wave E becomes highly probable.
According to him, this trajectory would drag the price down towards a “high-confluence demand zone” spanning $1,400 to $1,800. That’s a potential 40% collapse from current levels.
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