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Crypto firms won’t leave US despite apparent hostility: Merkle Science CEO

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Despite recent narratives suggesting differently, the United States won’t be losing its allure as a crypto hub, according to the CEO of blockchain analytics firm Merkle Science.

A swathe of hostile regulatory actions leveled at crypto firms in the United States in recent months has led many top crypto executives to turn their gaze elsewhere.

Despite this, Mriganka Pattnaik, the co-founder and CEO of Merkle Science, believes that crypto activity will remain in the country, at least in the medium term.

“My opinion is a little bit contrarian here, but I do think that five years down the line, the majority of activity will still be in the United States.”

While Pattnaik noted that regions like India, China and the United Arab Emirates have “strong consumer markets,” the U.S. commands a much higher level of innovation and has a “deeper talent pool.”

Pattnaik also pointed to the “general market dynamics” of the American economy — specifically the clarity around taxation — as the key reasons why crypto firms will likely choose to maintain the bulk of their operations in the United States.

Recent moves by U.S. regulators — namely the Securities and Exchange Commission against crypto firms — have created a narrative of “innovation” going offshore. In the wake of the FTX collapse, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong blamed unclear regulations for driving “95% of trading activity” away from U.S. soil.

On April 18, Armstrong revealed that Coinbase might consider relocating its headquarters to the United Kingdom.

While Pattnaik admitted that recent government policymaking and the enforcement actions against Coinbase and Binance are undeniably harsh, all of this has been an “overreaction to everything that happened with FTX.”

“Over time, things will become moderated, and there’ll be a lot more clarity in the U.S.,” he added.

Related: Crypto industry ‘destined’ to be BTC-focused due to regulators: Michael Saylor

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is inclined to agree with Pattnaik.

In an interview with Cointelegraph, Binance Dubai general manager Alex Chehade said that all large crypto firms — particularly those in the U.S. — desperately need clear and consistent regulation.

“You don’t want to set up where the goalposts move. For big businesses, you need predictability, you need to plan and you need to budget.”

Earlier in the year, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse claimed that the crypto industry had “already started moving outside” of the U.S., given that its approach to regulation had fallen behind other crypto-friendly regions like Singapore, the UAE and Switzerland.

On March 20, it was revealed that more than 80 firms from around the world applied for a crypto services license in Hong Kong amid renewed efforts from the region to become a leading Web3 hub. 

Months later, on June 1, Winklevoss-owned crypto exchange Gemini announced it would pursue a crypto services license in the United Arab Emirates. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss cited “hostility and a lack of clarity” on crypto regulation in the U.S. as the reason for the move. 

Opinion: GOP crypto maxis almost as bad as Dems’ ‘anti-crypto army’

Cryptocurrency

Ethereum (ETH) Price Decline, Recent Cardano (ADA) Predictions, and More: Bits Recap August 1

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TL;DR

  • ETH slumped by 6% amid the broader market correction, but whale accumulation, a nine-year low in exchange balances, and steady ETF inflows hint at a possible rebound in the near term.

  • ADA dropped even more, yet analysts remain bullish, with some predicting a surge beyond $4 if the asset clears key resistance at $0.92.

  • BTC briefly dipped below $114,500, but an RSI near 30 suggests oversold conditions, while optimistic traders eye a breakout to $145K-$150K.

ETH Heads South

The past several hours have not been pleasant for the cryptocurrency market, which has registered a significant pullback following the latest tariffs implemented by the Trump administration.

Ethereum (ETH) is among the losers with its price dropping by 6% on a daily scale to around $3,600 (per CoinGecko’s data). Historically, August has tended to be a bearish month for the asset, with gains recorded only in 2017, 2020, and 2021. It will be interesting to see if this year proves to be among the exceptions.

ETH Monthly Returns
ETH Monthly Returns, Source: CoinGlass

On the other hand, some key factors suggest that this might be only a temporary correction, followed by another rally. Whales have scooped up thousands of ETH in the past days, signaling strong confidence and reducing the amount of coins available on the open market. 

Additionally, the number of tokens stored on crypto exchanges plummeted to a nine-year low of under 19 million. This means that investors have shifted from centralized platforms toward self-custody methods, which reduces the immediate selling pressure.

ETH Exchange Reserve
ETH Exchange Reserve, Source: CryptoQuant

The flow of capital into spot ETH ETFs remains solid, while those interested in exploring more bullish factors and optimistic price predictions can refer to our article here.

ADA’s Next Targets?

Cardano’s native token has performed even worse than ETH in the past 24 hours, slipping by 8% to approximately $0.72 (its lowest point since mid-July). 

Despite the downtrend, many analysts foresee a renewed uptrend knocking on the door. The popular X user, Ali Martinez, believes ADA’s current price structure resembles that of the last bull cycle, which was later followed by a massive rally. 

Hardy and Smith are also among the optimists. The former claimed ADA’s bull run has yet to begin, while the latter argued that the valuation could skyrocket to a new all-time high above $4 once it surpasses the breakout target of $0.92. 

What About BTC?

The primary cryptocurrency briefly dipped under $114,500 before recovering some of the losses. As of this writing, it trades at around $115,000, representing a 3.2% drop on a daily basis. 

Its negative performance coincides with the broader correction of the cryptocurrency market, as well as the actions of retail investors who appear to have shifted into selling mode.

However, many members of the crypto community believe BTC’s bull run is far from being over. X user CRYPTOWZRD forecasted a pump to $145,000 if it breaks $120,000, whereas Grypto GEMs set a target of $150,000.

Bitcoin’s Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the latest speed and magnitude of price changes, supports the bullish thesis. Currently, the ratio is hovering around 30, meaning the asset is oversold and may be due for a resurgence. Conversely, anything above 70 could be interpreted as a precursor of a pullback.

BTC RSI
BTC RSI, Source: CryptoWaves
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ETH Price Falls, But Ethereum ETFs Keep Breaking Records

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Ethereum spot ETFs have recorded net positive flows for 20 consecutive trading days.

This accumulation streak, highlighted by a $17 million net intake on July 31, stands in stark contrast to Bitcoin ETFs, which saw a $115 million exit on the same day, their first outflow after five days of gains.

Institutional Appetite

The latest run of 20 days surpassed an earlier one of 19 green days between May 16 and June 12, cut short by $2.18 million in outflows on June 13. This was followed by a few days of intermittent flows before the current spree kicked off in earnest on July 3.

It has since pushed cumulative allocations to $9.64 billion, per SoSoValue data, with July alone seeing $5.41 billion in net capital directed toward ETH ETFs, more than the combined total of the previous 11 months.

BlackRock’s ETHA remains the market leader, attracting $18.18 million on July 31 and now holding $11.37 billion in assets, representing 2.52% of ETH’s market cap. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s ETHE reported $6.8 million in withdrawals, though its $4.22 billion asset base shows its continued relevance. Fidelity’s FETH recorded a $5.62 million boost, bringing its net assets to $2.55 billion.

The momentum is striking when viewed against historical trends. The last recorded outflow was on July 8, after which funds posted some of their largest single-day gains, including $726.7 million on July 16, $602 million on July 17, and $533.8 million on July 22. These inflows helped Ethereum ETF assets climb to $21.52 billion, roughly 4.77% of the cryptocurrency’s market cap.

Ethereum Price Action

Despite the ETF-fueled demand, ETH slipped 2.4% in the last 24 hours to around $3,786, following a brief rally to $3,933 earlier this week. However, the token is up 53% in the past 30 days, outpacing Bitcoin’s rangebound movement between $116,000 and $119,000.

Industry analysts see these ETF flows as structurally bullish. Recently, QCP Capital cautioned that overheated funding rates could introduce near-term resistance around $4,000, but it stressed that continued institutional demand, paired with corporate treasuries like SharpLink Gaming and BitMine accumulating billions in ETH, may underpin further upside.

Meanwhile, on July 31, the total value traded across ETH ETFs stood at $1.28 billion. If this pace holds, it could help ETH challenge its November 2021 all-time high of $4,878 sooner than expected, potentially cementing its role as the frontrunner in an altcoin-led cycle.

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BlackRock Ripple (XRP) ETF Coming Soon? Here’s What You Need to Know

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Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store, believes that the world’s largest asset manager – BlackRock – will file for an XRP ETF.

If true and if history is any indicator, this could have a long-term positive impact on XRP as an asset, following in the footsteps of ETH and even BTC.

BlackRock XRP ETF a Possibility According to Expert

Geraci believes that it’s only logical for BlackRock to file for an XRP ETF. He cited the asset manager’s attempt to position itself as a “thought leader,” and thinks that it wouldn’t make a lot of sense for the financial behemmoth to ignore a top-five non-stablecoin cryptocurrency by means of total market capitalization. He also thinks the firm will file for a spot Solana (SOL) ETF.

He also believes that they will be filing for an index-based crypto ETF:

If launching index-based crypto ETF (which I’m highly confident they will), then you’re launching individual spot ETFs. I get the “BlackRock is all in on ETH,” or “they think XRP is scam.” This is all about business. They open up flank not pursuing additional spot ETFs IMO.

To this, he also added that by failing to add more individual spot ETFs, BlackRrock would essentially send a message to their clients and prospective investors that “there will only ever be two winners in crypto: BTC and ETH.”

He also said that they are still early because one of their main competitors is still following the “blockchain, not bitcoin” meta.

XRP ETFs The New Meta?

It’s perhaps safe to assume that a major deterrent for large-scale asset managers to file for XRP ETFs was the ambiguity surrounding its legal status amid the case between the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Ripple Labs.

Now that this has almost been resolved, and following the Commission’s newfound crypto-oriented focus, investors and asset managers are far more confident in the US-based crypto company. This has also largely been reflected in XRP’s price, which is up by a staggering 400% in the last year.

Multiple companies have already filed for a spot XRP ETF, including Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Canary Capital, Grayscale, 21Sharse, and WisdomTree.

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